London Broil

This recipe wasn't as good as the other London Broil I tried recently, but was a serviceable one.  Unfortunately, I over-cooked the meat.  I won't keep this recipe because the other one was preferable to me.

London Broil

1 beef flank steak (1 1/4 to 1 3/4 pounds)

1/4 c. salad oil

1 T lemon juice

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

1. Combine salad oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper for marinade. Place steak in plastic bag or flat utility dish and pour marinade over it. Close bag securely or cover pan with foil and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

2. Pour off and reserve marinade. Place steak on grill and broil at moderate temperature for 5 minutes. Turn, brush with marinade and broil 5 minutes or to desired doneness (rare or medium). To carve, slice diagonally across the grain in thin strips. Make 4 servings.

London Broil

This marinade was perfect, I have a couple others to try, but this one is definitely a keeper. I used this beef in many other dishes this week.  It would have made a great sandwich, but I am off gluten for now so perhaps next time.

London Broil

1 1/2 t. salt

1 t. sugar

2 T minced onion

1/2 t. dry mustard

1/2 t. Italian seasoning

1/4 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. pepper

1/4 c. lemon juice

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1 flank steak (about 2 lb.)

1. Combine all ingredients except the steak, blending well. Place steak in a glass or enamel baking dish. Cover with the marinade mixture and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight, turning the steak occasionally.

2. Preheat broiler. Remove steak from the marinade and broil about 5" from the heat for 5-6 minutes on each side. Meat should be rare.

3. Cut steak diagonally across the grain in thin slices. Serve with buns, mustard, and mayonnaise. Serves enough for about 36 buns.

Fajita Marinade

I love fajitas and, although there are over 10 Mexican restaurants in my small home town, I only like the fajitas at one!! Needless to say I am particular about my fajitas. I thought that this marinade had way too much vinegar taste for "authentic" fajitas, so I won't be keeping it. I didn't grill the chicken, rather I sliced it when raw and marinated the slices. I cooked them in a frying pan with the marinade. My mom makes fajitas at home and she slices up onions and bell peppers in them, I always pick the chicken out of the mix for my fajitas. I also feel the lime and cilantro overpowered this marinade. I think my favorite restaurant uses lemons or oranges, and perhaps wine. I will have to experiment with other recipes next time!!

Fajita Marinade

1/2 c. Italian dressing
1/2 c. salsa
1 t. finely shredded lime peel
2 T lime juice
1 T snipped fresh cilantro
1/4 t. bottled hot pepper sauce

1. For marinade, in a small mixing bowl stir together ingredients.
2. Pour the marinade over beef or chicken in a plastic bag in a large mixing bowl and seal bag.
3. Marinate in the refrigerator about 4 hours for chicken or overnight for beef, turning bag occasionally.
4. Remove meat from the bag, reserving marinade.
5. Grill meat, brushing occasionally with reserved marinade.
6. Slice to serve meat as a fajita filling. Enough for 1-2 pounds of meat.

Fluffy Meat Loaf

It is raining cats and dogs so I thought I'd whip up some comfort food. This was the meatloaf of leftovers!! I had some ground veal and ground pork left over from my last meatloaf, I had some saltine crackers for the cracker crumbs, I had an onion that was almost "overdue", and some half-and-half to use up. I enjoyed this recipe, it wasn't as greasy as my grandmother's meatloaf recipe. I used three of my vintage half-loaf-pan sized refrigerator dishes, and the meat went almost to the top. I will have the leftovers from this meatloaf warmed up or in sandwiches for the rest of the week!!

Fluffy Meat Loaf

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground lean pork
2 c. cracker crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 c. milk
4 T minced onion
2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/4 t. dry mustard
1/8 t. sage

1. Moosh all the ingredients together in a large bowl and press into one large loaf pan or 6 individual loaf pans.
2. Bake at 350ºF for 1 1/2 hours (large pan) or 45 minutes (small pans).

Grandma's Meatloaf

I found this recipe in my box, it had been typed by me from another hand-written recipe. I had to call my mom to see if this was, indeed, Grandma's recipe for meatloaf. I had hand-written "add some Worcestershire sauce, too" at the bottom. My mother said that she never made her meatloaf with pork and veal, only ground beef. I don't think I have ever had pork and veal in a meatloaf before, in fact I prefer not to use veal (philosophical issues). But, I figured I needed to do it Grandma's way the first time.

I grated the onion instead of chopping, I don't like eating onions but I like the flavor. I used 1 pound ground beef, 1/2 pound ground pork, and 1/2 pound ground veal. I didn't have any milk, so I used some half-and-half instead. I think I might have used too much salt, so I will actually measure next time!! Needless to say, this is of course a keeper recipe!! I will try it without the veal next time, and then without the pork to see the difference. This was quite tasty and I am looking forward to sandwiches tomorrow.

Grandma's Meat Loaf

2 lb. ground beef, veal, and pork
1 egg
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1 T chopped onion (or more)
1 t. salt
pepper
1 c. milk

Bake 2 hours in moderate oven.

That is how the recipe reads. I mooshed all the ingredients together with my hands until incorporated. I placed the meatloaf into a loaf pan and baked at 350ºF for about 2 hours until the top was crispy. The juice overflowed the pan a little, so make sure you have a pan on the bottom shelf to catch the juices. I let it set for a couple of minutes, and then I cut off a piece to photograph. I noticed that there was a lot of juice in the bottom of the pan so, tilting the pan to make the grease go to the end, I removed the loaf to a piece of foil to store it in the fridge. I had to wipe off the meat before I ate it, it was really greasy (but tasty!!)

Individual Beef Wellingtons

For New Year's Eve I decided to make some individual Beef Wellingtons. I don't prefer mushrooms, which is what most recipes called for, so I decided to try this recipe instead because it called for pate or cream cheese. I followed the recipe, making one with pate and one with an herb & garlic-flavored cream cheese.

I liked the taste of the cream cheese, but both the pate and the cream cheese versions had soggy bottoms!! Most of the other recipes called for the fillets to be seared on all sides and chilled before they were put into the pastry. I will do this next time, for sure. Also, the pate or mushrooms were all around the meat, some called for it to be spread onto the pastry, others called for you to spread around all sides of the meat. Some even called for bread crumbs to be added. I assume this will prevent the sogginess, but the searing could achieve this I suppose. Next time I might try the cream cheese, after searing the meat, and hope for a dry base.

Regarding the liver pate, it smelled just like wet dog food when I spread it on the meat. I was expecting not to like the flavor, and indeed I did prefer the flavor of the cream cheese version. However, it wasn't as bad as I expected!! I still have most of the little can (which was found in the canned fish section in the supermarket) and am going to see if I can find some other recipes to use it up. Or, perhaps I will give the rest to the neighbor's cat ...

2011 followup: I tried the cream cheese on both sides of the beef, as well as spreading it on the middle of the pastry. The bottom was still a bit soggy, but it seemed better than last year. The beef seemed to cook slower, though, and I ended up having to cook them longer. Don't know if the filets were thinner than last year or what. Even the pastry cooked up a bid different, not as shiny. I layered the leftovers and cut up some 2" squares and baked alongside the Beef Wellingtons as rolls.

2012 followup: I tried garlic- and herb-flavored soft rindless brie this year and was quite pleased. I seared the beef until the sides started to turn gray. I spread the cheese almost to the right and left edges of the puff pastry and folded over both sides. I trimmed off the ends a bit and folded up and over the base. Then I turned the packets over and placed the years on the top, using egg all over. I think I might go more light on the seasonings in this recipe, as it was a little too spicy for me. Success!! I saved the extra puff pastry to use later as little dinner rolls.

Individual Beef Wellington

2 sheets of frozen puff pastry
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1/8 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. dried marjoram, crushed
2 beef tenderloin steaks (5-6 oz. each)
2 T liver pate or cream cheese or cheese spread of choice
1 egg white, beaten

1. Thaw puff pastry according to package directions, set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 425ºF.
3. In a small bowl stir together salt, pepper, garlic powder, and marjoram. Rub salt mixture over steaks, coating all sides.
4. Spread 1 Tablespoon liver pate, cream cheese, cheese spread of choice (or mushroom pate) over one side of each steak.
5. Place a steak, cream cheese side down, on the center of each pastry. Wrap pastry around the meat, trimming excess from ends. Seal with egg white.
6. Place seam side down in a greased, shallow baking pan. If desired, reroll trimmings to make cutouts. Brush with beaten egg white.
7. Bake uncovered for about 15 minutes or until pastry is golden and meat is medium rare.

Beef Pot Pie

This is a great way to use up left-over steaks. I created this recipe and feel that I have finished tweaking it!! You will probably have some left-over filling, I created a mini pot pie using the leftover pastry trimmed from the bottom and top of the main pie. I call for the pearl onions because, while I like the taste of the onions, I don't like eating them. You may substitute 1/4 cup chopped onions if you wish. I used ready-made refrigerated pastry, but you may make your own if you prefer.

Beef Pot Pie

1 pkg. refrigerated double crust pastry
1 1/2 c. cooked steak, cut into cubes
1/3 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1/2 c. frozen pearl onions
1 T butter
1/2 c. chopped celery, including leaves
1/2 c. chopped carrots
1 T butter
1 can new potatoes, cut into cubes
1/2 c. frozen peas
1 c. beef broth
1 c. milk or half-and-half

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Place one of the pastry rounds in a 9-inch pie dish, making sure that it is touching the bottom and sides. Trim the extra pastry off, at the outside edge of the pie dish. Reserve this extra pastry in case you have extra filling. Prick the bottom several times with a fork. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Do not over bake. Lower oven temperature to 400ºF after you remove the pie crust to a wire rack.
2. Mix flour, salt, and pepper together in a shallow dish. Add steak and roll pieces around until they are coated in the flour. Melt 1 T butter in large skillet. Add the steak and onions, reserving the flour for later. Saute until the steak and onions are browned, about 5 minutes. Remove steak and onions and place in a heat-proof bowl for later.
3. Melt 1 T butter in skillet. Add celery and carrots. Saute for 5 minutes. Add peas, potatoes, and beef broth. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a 2-cup measuring cup, stir together milk and reserved flour mixture. Whisk slowly into the skillet. Stir until thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in beef and onions.
5. Spoon carefully into bottom crust, stopping about 1/4-inch short of the top of the edge of the bottom crust. Top with remaining pastry, trimming the edge as you did for the bottom. Using a fork, press the top edge to the bottom edge all the way around. Don't use too much pressure, just enough to sort of seal them together. Using the fork, prick the top crust several times for vents. Place a baking sheet on the bottom shelf of the oven to catch the overflowing filling. Bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbly, about 15-20 minutes.
6. Let the pie cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before cutting. Serves 4-6.

London Broil

My paycheck ran out early this month, so I looked for a recipe that included ingredients I already had. Thus, London Broil. I was surprised to learn that "flank steak" seems to be the same as the "London Broil" cut of beef. This was a really simple recipe, also. I was thawing the steak, so I chose to marinade it while it defrosted instead of simply brushing on the seasoning. I have some steak leftovers that I will probably work into another recipe tomorrow night.

London Broil

1 1/2 lb. flank steak
1/4 c. Italian salad dressing
1 T dry white wine
freshly ground black pepper
salt

1. Wipe steak with a damp paper towel. With a sharp knife, score the steak 1/2-inch deep in a criss-cross pattern on both sides.
2. In a bowl, combine salad dressing and wine. Brush mixture over both sides of steak. Let stand for 15-20 minutes.
3. Place steak on rack in baking pan. Broil 2 inches from heat for 5 minutes on each side, or more if you desire more well-done steak.
4. With a knife in slanting position, cut diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired.

Marinated Flank Steak

First of all I apologize for the quality of the pictures. Somehow my camera got set to "landscape" setting and I didn't realize until the next day ...

My friends were camping and invited me to a BBQ dinner, so I found a marinade recipe that I could try on some tri-tip steaks I had in the freezer. Unfortunately, the steaks had been frozen and partially thawed so many times that even a good marinade like this one didn't help. The flavor of the marinade was great, and the steaks had a pinkish hue due to the fact that I chose to use the balsamic vinegar option. I will keep this marinade to try on a fresh flank steak like the recipe calls for the next time around!!

Marinated Flank Steak

1/2 c. malt vinegar or balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. chopped red onion
1/4 t. pepper
1 flank steak (1 1/4 lb.)

1. Combine vinegar, olive oil, onion and pepper in a heavy plastic bag.
2. Score the steak in a diamond pattern on both sides. Add steak to marinade, expell extra air from bag, and seal the bag. Place in a pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Turn bag over and marinade another 30 minutes.
3. Remove steak from the marinade.
4. Place the baking pan so that the steak is 4-5 inches from the source of the heat.
5. Broil steak for about 5 minutes on each side, more if you don't want it to be rare.