Well I was lucky to come into my possession a couple of nice London Broils from my mate who came home from her mother with a cooler full of meat for the deep freeze. Well, I do like steak and rarely get it so I knew I had to do something with this nice piece of meat.

For those unaware London Broil is a long, thin, cut of meat that carries some similarities to Flank Steak as well. It is an excellent piece of meat for marinading and can be very tough if over cooked and if it is cut with the grain. Always cut a london broil across the grain.

Ever wondered why cutting London broil, flank steak, and skirt steak across the grain is important? In fact for a lot of meat it is very good. See, meat is from muscles, if you could actually look at your own muscle you'd see it's composed of long "Muscle fibers". They are all bundeled together. The more worked muscles are, tougher, lesser used muscles tend to be more tender. Now, the "Grain" of the meat is those fibers. If you cut with the grain, you are left with long, stringy, pieces. This makes it so when you try to break the meat apart it's almost like you are taking a string, long ways, and trying to just pull it straight apart, which is hard to do. Now, when you cut Across the grain you are left with basically a long piece that is a bundle of little small strings. Then, if you pull the fibers just, come apart, almost like an acordian stretching out, and leaving the meat very much more tender to chew and eat.

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Curried Carrot ribbons (Serves 2 to 4)

2 tbsp butter
4 to 6 large carrots
1/4 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp. garlic
1 Tbsp sweet curry powder
1 Tbsp honey,
1 Tbsp lemon juice.
3 cups fresh spinach leaves

Using a peeler, peel and discard outside peel of carrots then use the peeler to make long "Ribbons" of the carrots.

Melt butter in a saute pan on medium heat, cook onions and garlic for a couple of minutes until they start to become tender. Add in carrots, Curry powder, and honey. Saute for four to five minutes, stirring often, until carrots soften. Mix in Lemon juice.

Add spinach on top and saute for a couple more minutes until spinach is wilted and mixed with ribbons of carrots. Serve!

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Oriental Marinated London Broil

Now, I'll admit, I don't remember exact quantities of what I used in the marinade but I'll do my best to remember.

1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tbsp Wortschire
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Sesame oil
2 tbsp Five Spice powder
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
2 Tbsp dried onions
1 Tbsp dried basil

Combine all ingredients in ziploc bag. Add steak ( I used a london broil) and let marinate for three to four hours. ( Do put the bag in a pan, just incase, while ziplocs rarely spill, having a marinade run all over your fridge is NOT going to make for a good day. )

2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tsp Sesame seeds (Optional)

Preheat BROILER of your oven for ten minutes, making sure the oven great is around six inches from the top. Put steak on broiler safe pan and broil four to five minutes on each side. Let rest several minutes before slicing across the grain.

While steak cooks I like to make a sauce from the marinade. (Quick disclaimer on this, whenever cooking a marinade that has been in contact with raw meat, you MUST ensure it goes over 165 degrees. We'll be boiling this one so shouldn't be an issue. If you ever want to use a marinade, uncooked, for dipping make sure to set some aside in the beginning that won't be with the meat.) I bring the sauce to a boil in a small pan, letting it simmer down for several minutes then I mix in the Brown Sugar and Honey and let it cook down a little more. The mixture should be fairly thick and a little on the chunky side. It's fairly strong in flavor so it's best to serve it on the side for those with a want for a lighter taste.

On one further side note (Since, I am trying to be instructive as well) don't forget to wash your hands when handling raw meat. Use soap and wash for twenty seconds under warm to hot water.

Enjoy! If you have any questions please let me know.