I’m hopping some one out there has a good recipe.
I have a 2 1/2 pound london broil and no idea what to do with it.
Every time I’ve tried in the past to cook one it comes out all tough and chewy.
So how 'bout it doper cooks? Know any good recipes?
Thanks in advance.
Three things:
A marinade of some sort–red wine, rosemary and garlic with a bit of olive oil is good.
Broil under high heat until medium rare.
Slice thinly on the diagonal to serve. This is one cut of meat where how you slice it really matters.
3.1) Cut across the grain. I presume diagonal means tip the blade on a 45 degree angle. Yes? 
Yes.
I broil until rare and cut thin slices at 45 degrees to the vertical.
Leftovers are used for sandwiches.
Yep, those are the three secrets to a good London Broil – marinade; no more than medium rare; and sliced against the grain.
I always use a teriyaki marinade – you can buy one premade, but it’s easy (and tastes better) to make your own. I use soy sauce, garlic, ginger, whiskey and brown sugar in mine. Stab the hell out of the thing with a fork and put it in a ziplock bag with the marinade in the fridge. I try to put it in to marinade the night before I’m going to cook it.
Okay, so what, exactly, does “cut against the grain” mean? I get the concept but how do I actually do it?
I’ve never been able to cook a good London Broil although a couple of times it’s simply been overcooked.
I make a great LB
Marinade
Red wine (a cup)
Basalmic Viniger (two tablespoons)
chopped onion (yellow about 1/4 cup)
Olive Oil (2 tablespoons)
Worcestershire sauce (one or two tablespoons)
2 cloves of garlic minced
a teaspoon of sage (or thyme or both)
2 bay leaves
Salt (about two tablespoons, less if you need to keep the sodium down)
Slash the meat a few times across the grain to prevent curling. Marinade overnight, or a few hours. Cook on the broiler 3 to 5 minutes a side. Let it rest about 5 mins under some loose foil and before you cook, let the meat get up to room temp. You don’t want to go straight from the fridge to the broiler.
You cut it in strips. Place the meat so it is wider than tall on the cutting board. (the meat is kind of a rectangle) Then cut slices across the legnth of the meat.
Don’t overcook it. Do NOT over cook it.
Boy that sounds good.
I typically prepare a London Broil by walking past it and picking up a flank steak, which I am very intimately comfortable with.
I grilled a Chateaubriand (similar to London Broil, though a bit more tender, IMO) last week as a Father’s Day dinner for my husband since he was out of town on business on Sunday.
He’s not a huge fan of steak (somehow that slipped my mind while preparing a meal plan, probably because I am a huge fan of steak), but he really loved it and suggested I make it again soon.
I picked up the cut of meat on my way home after work, so I only ended up having a couple of hours to marinade it, and it seemed long enough, though I’d prefer overnight if possible.
The marinade:
2 tbs. or more of Cabernet Vinegar
A tbs. or so of EEOV
Danish Viking-Smoked Sea Salt & Kosher Salt (maybe 2 tbs., I used a little more of the smoked stuff since I love the flavor)
Fresh Ground Tellicherry Peppercorns (about a tbs.)
A tsp. or so of Minced Garlic
A dash of Onion Powder
A glob of Pickapeppa Sauce
A glod of Worcestershire Sauce
It sat in the fridge for about 30 minutes, then on the counter for a little over an hour before I through it on the grill (charcoal) and let it go until medium rare.
I also cut up some sweet onions and through them in a pan deglazed with red wine. (A Cab Sauv, we drank the rest with dinner.) 
Salad, and a few other sides and dinner was declared a success.
Marinade overnight in…
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Chopped shallots
Chopped garlic
Rosemary
Black Pepper
Grill it to medium rare at the most
Meanwhile, reduce the marinade down in a pan, cooking the shallots a little.
Add beef stock and dijon mustard, thicken while meat is resting.
Cut diagonally, across the grain.
Plate and serve.
This business of allowing a cut of meat to come to room temperature. Am I the only Doper who didn’t get this memo?
I’m going to get all nit-picky on you now.
London Broil is not a specific cut of beef. It is a method of preparation.
See here for the short definition.
So, Cartooniverse is on the right track by going for the flank steak.
You’ll find several different cuts of beef labelled for London Broil, but your market should be labelling them with the actual cut, and somehere on there they can put the information that it is approproiate for London Broil. If they’ve just labelled the cut “London Broil” the meat man is not doing his job correctly.
Everyone’s descriptions of how they prepare it (marinate, then grill or broil, then slice against the grain) are spot-on for the London Broil method.
You can use just about any cut for London Broil, but it is most useful when applied to a cut such as flank steak or top round, which are nice flavorful pieces of beef, but which will benefit from the tenderizing effects of marinating and slicing across the grain.
OK, I’m done with my nitpick, I guess.
Can’t be named after London, England - I have lived here most of my life (I’m 46) and have never heard of such a thing. Except perhaps when the weather’s horrible and hot, like it has been here since Sunday …
I suppose it’s possible that it is connected in some way with London, England, but the more likely explanation is that whoever invented it thought that calling it “London Broil” made it sound foreign & sophisticated. We Colonial Rubes like to do that kind of thing.
Sort of like American Cheese, which sounds like it ought to be connected, but in fact has not really anything much to do with cheese at all.
LOL
I recently got a new cookbook for steaks and chops and on all of them they instruct to let the meat get to room temp. Usually by marinading on the counter.
I thought it was strange too but the best steaks, london broil and lamb I’ve ever made came out of this book.
Cartooniverse, I got the memo. Check your spam filter, might be set too aggressively.
If you are overcooking your steaks, invest in a meat thermometer. Medium rare is when the center is 145 degrees, but note that you don’t want to cook until it is 145. You want to cook until it’s about 136-139 degrees, plate it and let it rest for 5-10 minutes under a foil tent. The residual heat will finish cooking the meat. Slice after the cooked steak has rested. If you are making a sauce, make it while the steak rests.
I often get asked by others when I cook “how long?” I always answer, “Until it is x temperature.” This can go in a circle, as I never time how long I cook meat most meats; it is strictly temperature based. Some chefs can go by feel; I’m not one of them.
Perhaps, perhaps. Then again, I did get the memo on how to properly prepare Spam, so go figure. :rolleyes:
These recipes are mighty tempting. If I wasn’t going away, I’d wanna cook one. Hmmmm. I do have tomorrow night’s meal open. Perhaps it’s the time to try it out. If I get the cut tonight and marinate it for 20 hours, is that acceptable or excessive? Is it okay to pound the meat a bit to tenderize it?
( now now folks, let’s keep it above the waist. we’re talking about beef here. 
)
I know this is not what you had in mind, but a London Broil is also excellent slowly smoked.
Use a good rub and smoke the meat SLOWLY for a good 3-4 hours or so. Barbecue sauce should NOT be applied while smoking, but it’s perfectly acceptable so use a little after you slice it.
Again I know it’s not exactly what you’re after but you might consider trying it one of these days.