Grilled London Broil with Lemon-Garlic Marinade

This has been a crazy week, cooking wise. We've eaten restaurant food every night.

It started Sunday evening as we arrived home from the show in Pleasanton. Takeout from Diamond Chinese Restaurant kept us from cooking that night. Monday take-and-bake pizza filled our plates. Tuesday was Mexican food night at Colina De Oro. Last night supermarket Chinese kept us going. And I think we ate leftover cold pizza Wednesday.

Then I received my free copy of Cook's Country charter issue. Grilled flank steak caught my eye during quick search of 27 recipes (more when you consider variations). Now that the IDOS newsletter is off to the president for proofing and printing (look for it toward the end of the month), I thought it was time to become a cook again.

Instead of preparing the recipe as printed, I marinated a London broil cut from the top round it in a lemon-soy sauce marinade that I've used for years. I use it when I crave the lemony saltiness of this Asian-inspired marinade. Minced garlic and chopped green onions add an aromatic quality that's hard to beat.


A baked potato with sour cream and chives rounds the steak. Spoon reserved marinade over the sliced London broil on plate.

GRILLED LONDON BROIL WITH LEMON-GARLIC MARINADE

"London broil is not a cut of meat," according to the Cook's Illustrated Internet site, "but a recipe in which a steak is grilled, broiled, or pan-seared and then sliced thinly on a bias across the grain." London broil is traditionally cut from the flank, though shoulder and top round steaks are more often sold as London broil today. Shoulder steak is a good, flavorful alternative if flank steak offends your pocketbook.

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 plump lemons)
3 tablespoons cup soy sauce
2 green onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds London broil

Combine all ingredients except beef in zipper locking plastic bag. Reserve and refrigerate 1/2-cup sauce before marinating. Place beef in marinade and seal container, pressing air out. Refrigerate about 1 hour.

Grill steak over very hot fire until browned on both sides and slightly less done than you want, about 10 to 15 minutes on each side. Place steak in baking dish and coat with reserved marinade.

Cover dish with foil and let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Slice steak thinly against grain and serve with sauce remaining in dish.

The hot fire creates a crust that's hard to beat. A 1-1/2 inch thick London broil will take 10 to 15 minutes per side for medium rare. Let the steak rest 5 to 10 minutes before thinly slicing on the bias.