Stuffed Flank Steak

This was last night's dinner.  I didn't post last night because I wasn't jumping up and down for joy on this one.  I'm really critical of myself when it comes to cooking most of the time, so if I'm not a big fan then I'm hesitant to share.  Brandon said it was ok.  There was good flavor, but something was just missing.

Flank steak is a tough meat to work with.  If you don't cook it and slice it just right then you have the toughest meat possible.  I did something wrong last night because it was tough.  Juicy, but tough.  I think that was the biggest misstep.  Also, I feel like there should have been some sauce.  Brandon suggested something creamy.  Maybe we'll work that direction next time.  Definitely a recipe in need of modification!!!

Here's what I used:
1.5-2lb flank steak
2 carrots, sliced in half longways, then cut in half again
4 stalks of celery, cut to match carrots
garlic salt
pepper
oregano
red wine vinegar
2 tbs butter

Step 1: Prep Veggies

I sliced up all the vegetables first because I wanted to try and avoid dirtying up too much stuff.  I think like that.  So I used only 1 cutting board and 1 knife for both the meat and veggies.  Easy step.

Slice carrots down the middle and then half.

Step 2: Prep Meat

So I took my knife and 'fileted' it.  I cut it so I opened it up and made it a long rectangle.  This worked ok, until I was sort of out of it and just sliced all the way through.  Oh well.  I made it work.

Not paying attention - basically just sliced all the way through!

Step 3: Prep for Grill

I sliced the butter up into thin piece and line put down on a large piece of foil.  Then I laid the piece of meat on top of the butter.

I then put the spices on the meat: the garlic salt, pepper, oregano, and red wine vinegar on the meat.  Add as much or as little as you'd like.  You can definitely try some different combos too.

After the spices, I lined the carrots and celery on the meat from end to end.  Then I carefully rolled it up like a jelly roll.  I wrapped the foil around the outside and tightly twisted up the ends. 

Step 4: Cook

I put the 'meat roll' on the pre-heated grill, off direct heat, for about an hour and 25 minutes.  The temp on the grill was around 400F. 

Step 5: Slice & Eat

So, there was nothing that really 'binded' my flank steak together.  The veggies were not completely soft, but they were super crispy either.  I think next time I'll make these thinner to help them cook faster. 
My meat was a little tough.  Like I think a cream sauce would have made it better here.  I was trying to keep the fat level low or I could have tried putting some cheese in the middle too.

I don't know - a work in process to say the least.  Its one of those things that makes you realize that you are going to have bad nights cooking and that everything you make is not going to be gourmet. 

But one thing I know for sure - Gordon Ramsey would have definitely thrown my dish in the trash.  I think mostly from how chewy the meat was.  Flavoring ok, meat not so much.  I will take any suggestions on how to make this thing better, just fire away!