Hanger steak is a cut of beef that seems to be popping up in French bistro menus all over the place. It's full of flavor but can easily be rendered dry and tough if overcooked—medium-rare is its happy place. Rumor has it that butchers wouldn't put hanger steak up for sale. Instead, they keep it for themselves, which is why this cut is also known as a Butcher's Steak. 

Hanger steak comes from the underside of the cow and is actually part of the diaphragm, located close to the kidneys. It gets its name because it hangs between the loin and the rib—which also means that there's only one hanger steak per animal. The flavor is powerful and beefy and can stand up to strong flavors. 

When I spied hanger steak on sale at my local butcher shop, I bought half a pound (good for about two people). Like skirt or flank steak, hanger is seen as a bargain cut. My butcher only stocks naturally-raised, local meats that tend to cost more, so buying a thrifty cut like the hanger steak was a great option. Since I don't cook a lot of beef, I hopped online to find out the best ways to prepare steak. I decided to quickly sear the meat in a hot-cast iron skillet and then finish it off in the oven until medium-rare using a technique I found over at Beyond Salmon. It seems like a complicated process, but it produced a tender slab of meat that just requires a bit of pre-planning ahead of time. (Be sure to read the entire recipe before you begin and you'll be fine). 

So how did it taste? While I could sense a liver-ish quality to the meat, my husband didn't detect it at all. It was a little chewy and quite a bit different from eating a standard sirloin. It seemed slightly gamey and had a more pronounced beef flavor—overall, I really enjoyed it. Maybe I'll marinate it next time or try just searing it on the stove top instead. If you have any hanger steak tips, I'd love to hear them! 

Go on to page 2 for the recipe.

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