Griilled London Broil

Simple summer pleasures.

I love meals I can prep in advance and finish at the last minute. London broil benefits from long marinating and so yesterday I whipped up a flavorful dressing from a recipe I found online (form Gourmet magazine) of 4 cloves of garlic, 4 TB balsamic vinegar, 4 TB lemon juice, 3 TB dijon mustard, 1 1/2 TB Worcestershire sauce, 1 TB soy sauce, 1 tsp each dried oregano, basil, and thyme, 1/2 tsp crushed red chiles, and 2/3 cup olive oil. I whirled all those ingredients in the blender, put the meat in a zip lock bag, poured the marinade over top, and let it sit in the fridge overnight until it was time to grill.

London broil can be tough and if it isn't cooked carefully (and sliced carefully) chewy too. For advice I turned to the tireless recipe testers at Cook's Illustrated. Some cooks delight in trying new recipes and conquering new dishes, others, like the dedicated folks at Cook's Illustrated will test and tweak and test and re-test until they have achieved the best cooking method, the perfect recipe and then move onto the next. they are the kind of people who are always building a better mousetrap. I knew they would have useful advice. To combat the sometimes chewy texture of London broil, CI suggested cooking the meat over high heat and turning every four minutes (instead of 10 straight minutes on a side) saying it keeps the muscle from seizing up basically and keeps the meat more tender. Sure enough after twenty minutes total on the grill, almost ten minutes resting time and slicing very very thinly (as CI suggested) James had meat tender slices of juicy beef -- prime flavor at a budget price, and grass fed to boot.

On the side I whipped up a quick romesco sauce since I happened to have roasted piquillo peppers in the fridge I had been trying to use up. The Spanish sauce is great on grilled meats and fish, stirred into rice, over steamed vegetables anywhere you need a little extra flavor and couldn't be easer. I piled 2/3 cup of roasted peppers (most people use red but I had roasted green so I used those), 1/4 cup of rehydrated sun dried tomatoes (unusual for romesco but it's the way John Besh does it so why not), 1 1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika, 2 TB sherry vinegar, 1/2 cup toasted almonds, 3/4 cup olive oil, S&P, into the food processor and hit "on." In seconds I had a jar of tasty, use on everything sauce tucked away in the fridge. It's an easy make ahead party worthy sauce just right for James' dinner.

Soup and Sandwich Night

The bottom vegetable bin in our new fridge is just too cold. James says it's because I stuff them too full. Maybe true.

None the less we ended up with some partially frozen asparagus -- a shame to waste but too frosty to serve as a side dish. Soup was the only way to salvage it I figured. And so it seemed like a night for soup and sandwich dinner.

I chopped the asparagus (2 bunches), 1 large shallot, and 2 cloves of garlic and added them to a sauce pan along with chicken broth to cover, and a pinch of crushed red peppers. I brought the mixture up to a boil and allowed it to simmer for about 15 minutes until the shallots were tender. I put the contents of the saucepan, along with 2 TB of olive oil and a large handful of fresh spinach into the blender and pureed. I served James' soup with a dollop of fresh ricotta.

On the side some dressed up grilled cheese. Rosemary bread, prosciutto, parmesan cheese, butter and a extra thin layer of honey toasted in a pan and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Eggplant Pizza

"I like your pizzas honey, but you know it's not what most people think of . . . I mean asparagus . . . ????"

That's how James greeted my latest vegetable pizza creation -- eggplant. But I am so delighted with our nearly fool proof vegetable pizza recipe I just keep making them -- and my pizza lover, no matter what the topping, keeps on eating them.

After I've stretched the dough across the baking pan I dot the top with prosciutto (or pancetta) and cheese, today it was a mixture of mozzarella and goat cheese. On top of the cheese I put plenty of chopped garlic. Then I slice the vegetable of choice (today it was eggplant, last week zucchini) as thinly as possible using a vegetable peeler or a mandolin. I mix the sliced vegetable with herbs (tonight it was fresh oregano, dried oregano and thyme), S&P, and olive oil and lay the dressed vegetables on top of the crust in a tangle. I sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes at 500º. Maybe it's not what other people would call pizza, but it works for us.

Easy Summer Dinner

I'm getting used to fish for dinner, although it's still not my favorite. But, following the new theme of our healthy dinner summer I am trying to make fish (not seafood which James and I both love and prefer) at least twice a week.

Tonight I took a clue from the fishermen and fishermen's wives of Nantucket who, rumor is, spread a coating of seasoned (salt and pepper) mayonnaise on filets before cooking them on the grill. I took that idea just a bit further by adding chopped basil, garlic, capers, and lemon juice to the mayo and blending it in the food processor. After about six minute on each side the fish was tender and super moist with just a hint of appealing golden brown.

And yet, healthy summer or not, man can't live by grilled fish alone. Earlier this afternoon I had some girlfriends (hi cousin Randy) to lunch and made a quick pasta with sautéed zucchini, garlic, chiles, chopped mint, and cubed fresh mozzarella. To keep it a bit light, and because I wasn't ready for a whole new stack of dirty dishes, instead of a heavy cream sauce I whisked together milk, one egg, and 1 TB of cornstarch and poured it over the pasta leftovers sprinkled in some grated parmesan cheese and baked the mini casserole for 20 minutes at 350º.

Super easy, super fast, and even used up some leftovers. The perfect summer dinner.

The Beef Is Here

Finally, our cattle share from the Hearst Ranch is here, I unpacked a huge box of steaks, roasts, chops, and Heart Ranch's delicious ground beef and figured that James needed a break from joining me in my detox dinners. The perfect time for a steakhouse supper.

I rubbed the filet (James' favorite cut) with a drizzle of vegetable oil and then packed a combo of Maldon salt and cracked black peppercorns onto the meat and seared it on all sides in a dry cast iron skillet I'd heated on the stove for 10 minutes. After the meat was browned on all sides I popped the skillet into a 450º oven for about 8 minutes to cook through.

On the side some country style mashed potatoes with spuds from our garden and fresh steamed broccoli dusted with parmesan cheese.

"That was a really good dinner, honey" James said.

Mission Accomplished.

Fish for Dinner

Once again the diet called for a fish dinner. Pacific halibut is in season these days, and since it's best choice on my Monterey Bay Aquarium sustainable seafood guide, we've been eating a lot of it this year while trying to make lighter meals. For something just a little different I chopped eggplant, zucchini, red peppers, and for a change -- shallots, and mixed them up with a little olive oil, oregano, S&P, and thyme. I laid the vegetables on a baking tray and popped them, along with some sliced potatoes for James into a 450º oven for about 10 - 15 minutes. When the vegetables were getting tender I added a seasoned halibut file, drizzled with a bit of olive oil, to the tray and returned it to the oven for 10 minutes. I turned the fist over and cooked for 8 minutes ore (this was a pretty thick filet). For a little flavor punch and to play up the Provencal style I already had going I whipped up a basil vinaigrette (1 bunch basil, 1 clove garlic, 1/3 cup olive oil, 2 TB white balsamic vinegar, S&P, and a pinch of crushed red peppers) for a quick topping/ sauce.

Chicken Again

"There's a lot of chicken in dieting, huh?" James said as he looked down at his dinner plate heaped high enough with yellow rice and buttery naan to take it far away from any dieter's realm. Chicken two nights in a row -- pretty unusual for us.

For this grilled Tandoori style chicken I made a paste of chili powder (1/2 tsp), crushed fresh ginger (1 TB), crushed garlic (1 TB), 1 TB lemon juice, 1 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1 TB of mustard oil, and 1/2 cup yogurt and added in 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts and 2 skinless legs. I cut a few slits into the chicken before adding it to the marinade to help absorb the flavor. I let the meat marinate overnight and to get dinner ready I grilled the pieces along with some thick slices of onion brushed with the remaining marinade. A couple minutes before the chicken as cooked through I basted the meat with a little melted butter for extra flavor. There's a lot of grilling in dieting too.