Monday, December 04, 2006

London Broil, Sauteed Green Beans and what?

Now the other night, I was all excited because I was going to have some red meat. Couldn't wait....big ol' slab of London Broil. Now I had to decide what to have with it. I had just purchased some fresh green beans (subconciously knowing what I was going to do with it). Next I was wondering what my starchy food was going to be. Mashed Potatoes, YUM! No, West, your potatoes are bad; what else do you have? Hmmmmmmmmmm, corn? no. Is there enough salad to have? Oh wait, the kids need to eat something, too. In the mean time, Monkey #1 asked what we were going to have and asked if we could have MacNcheese. "No," I said, "it doesn't go with what I am making." I look in the pantry and could find nothing else. so #1 got her wish. We had a beautiful meal of London Broil, Green Beans sauteed w/sweet onion and Kraft Macoroni & Cheese.

4 comments:

Trig said...

Don't apologise for your lack of culinary skills or your choice of ingredients. It sounds to me like you've found a love of food and you were clearly brought up in the traditions of a distinctive regional cuisine which you should be proud of.

Just because I'm about to graduate as a professional chef and I work and sometimes eat in top restaurants doesn't mean that I don't use processed cheese from Sainsburys or make toasted sarnies from time to time. My training just means that my tastes are developing and I now eat much less processed food and a much wider variety of quality products.

Keep it up, expand your knowledge gradually by reading food blogs and watching food programmes on TV, and cook what you fancy. Most important of all, enjoy eating and eat with others who enjoy eating.

There are some students at my college who cook all day and don't cook at home. A few even eat junk food at home. So who's the expert, then?

Keep cooking and eating
Trig

PS. My dad says he remembers London broil from when he lived in NY in the mid 80s. It's a way of cooking large cuts of topside or silverside without the traditional slow roasting. Here's a recipe from the very excellent Elise at Simply Recipes:

http://tinyurl.com/jzfem

Trig said...

I can't find a contact email on your site, but if you send one to me I will mail you some code to put into your blog template (with instructions how to do it) to give you a search engine that you can use to look things up in a large group of food blogs. You may find this very helpful when looking for recipes or other ideas.

Anonymous said...

I've never heard of London Broil despite living in England. I'd love to hear more - so tell us?

GODrums said...

London Broil is a beef-based food dish usually made by broiling or grilling marinated flank or round steak and then cutting it against the grain into thin strips.

Although many butchers will label a cut of meat "London Broil", the term does not refer to a specific cut. The cut of meat traditionally used is flank steak, but top round roast/steak is also commonly used. Because the muscle fibers run the entire length of these cuts, the meat can be tough if not tenderized via pounding or massaging. Do not score, stab, cut, penetrate, or otherwise mutilate the cut before sending it into the broiler - you'll only ruin an expensive piece of beef. All the bloody good juices will run out of the meat into the pan if you do it. Just put the piece in whole, and let it "set" for five minutes outside of the oven without cutting into it - give the juices time to congeal a little bit, otherwise said blood will just end up in the plate.

The preparation of London Broil typically involves marinating the meat for several hours followed by heating in an oven broiler or outdoor grill. In both heating methods the meat is placed approximately three inches from a direct heat source and turned several times to promote even cooking and avoid burning. It is commonly served in thin slices, cut across the grain.

Despite its name, this is entirely an American invention.[citation needed]