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before building a quick sauce in which you can finish cooking the meat. This is such a good technique, with so many options, that you’re sometimes likely to eschew the grill just to do it this way. Use fairly thin steaks for this recipe. Judging the doneness of thicker ones can be tricky, and inevitably the sauce evaporates before the meat is cooked through. The ideal setup for four people is four small, boneless steaks, cut from the top blade, sirloin, or rib. But two larger steaks will work nearly as well, as long as they’re thin. And though it isn’t necessary to use butter in this preparation, a small amount—there is little more than a teaspoon per person in the recipe—adds not only creaminess but also flavor.

1 to 1½ pounds boneless top blade, skirt, sirloin, or rib-eye steak, ¾ inch thick or less

1½ tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1. Preheat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Add the steaks and cook until nicely browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn and brown the other side, another minute or two. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the steaks to a plate.

2. When the skillet has cooled slightly, return it to the stove over medium heat. Add the butter and, when it melts, the ginger. About 30 seconds later, add the soy sauce and stir to blend. Return the steaks to the skillet, along with any of their accumulated juices. Cook the steaks for a total of about 4 minutes, turning three or four times. (If at any time the pan threatens to dry out entirely, add a couple of tablespoons of water.) At this point, the steaks will be medium-rare; cook for a little longer if you like and serve with the pan juices spooned over.

VARIATIONS

• Use garlic or shallots and a few leaves of tarragon instead of the ginger, and vinegar in place of the soy sauce for a French flair. Season the steak well with salt before you add it to the pan.

• Go Mediterranean: Substitute extra virgin olive oil for the butter, garlic for the ginger, and fresh lemon juice for the soy sauce. Be sure not to forget to salt the steaks.

• Give it a Thai accent: Substitute minced lemongrass for the ginger and nam pla for the soy sauce. You can substitute peanut oil for the butter or not.

• Add any minced herbs you like to the sauce, at about the same time you return the meat to the skillet.

GRILLED FLANK STEAK WITH PROVENÇAL SPICES

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

FLANK STEAK, MORE than most others, is tolerant of medium doneness, but in any case it must be thinly sliced. Slicing meat against the grain is especially important for tougher cuts like flank and skirt: it cuts the long, tough muscles into shorter, easier-to-chew pieces, giving the impression of tenderness.

If you have a garden or a windowsill, both rosemary and lavender are easy to grow and maintain (and the small investment you will make in those plants will save you from paying the king’s ransom supermarkets charge for fresh herbs). If you can’t find any lavender, up the rosemary to 2 tablespoons. In any case, do not substitute dried herbs for fresh in this recipe: they will rob it of its charm.

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¾ teaspoon salt

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1½ teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves

1½ teaspoons fresh lavender leaves

1½ teaspoons fennel seeds

1½ teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1½ to 2 pounds flank steak

1. Start a grill or preheat the broiler. Combine all ingredients except the steak in a small food processor and blend until minced (you can, of course, mince by hand) but not pureed. Rub all over the steak.

2. When the fire is hot, grill for about 4 minutes per side, or until nicely browned, for medium-rare, turning only once. Remove from the fire and let rest for about 5 minutes before slicing thinly and serving.

GRILLED STEAK WITH ROQUEFORT SAUCE

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 20 MINUTES

THIS DISH, WHICH often appears on bistro menus in France, fits the need for a good steak served with something powerfully salty and rich (anchovy