The Pinery Grill is actually a London Broil, except that purists (aka Mr. Whats-Cooking) will tell you that a London Broil is never grilled. So, being that I grilled the London Broil at the Pinery Provincial Park, I have decided to call it the Pinery Grill. It is a variation on a true london broil, mostly because I have some tarragon I need to use up.
London Broil is a cooking technique, not a cut of meat. You can probably buy a cut called 'london broil' at the grocery store, but in all likelihood you are paying more money for a run of the mill flank steak. The steak is marinated in a solution of vinegar and oil, then pan fried to a rare or medium rare. Just a note: if you like your steak well-done, then this may not be a recipe for you. London Broil or Pinery Grill needs to be well seared on the outside but still pretty rare on the inside, or you will feel like you are chewing an old shoe. If all you have ever eaten is well done steak, than this may seem like the norm, but a round steak can be a little extra chewy if you're not careful.
This steak does need to marinate overnight for flavour - it probably won't tenderize the meat too much, as it's a bit of an old wive's tale that marinating will fix a tough cut of meat. The picture below doesn't do the steak much justice, since I couldnt' get the small tabletop grill hot enough to sear the outside as dark as I would like it.
Pinery Grill.
marinating time - 6 to 24 hours
cooking time - depends on thickness of steak
serves about 4
1/4 cup oil
1/8 cup vinegar
1/8 cup lemon juice (I just use the 1/4 cup measure, and try to eyeball the split)
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. dried tarragon, or 1 Tbsp bruised fresh tarragon leaves
pinch basil
pinch oregano
1 tsp. pepper or Montreal steak spice
2 tsp. garlic powder
2lbs (approximately) of round steak or flank steak
Mix all ingredients together in a large resealable bag. Add steak, seal the bag, and turn bad until all pieces are completely coated in marinade. Beat some frustrations out on the steak, using the heel of your hand (possibly helps tenderize it, jury is still out on that one. Good for mental health.) Refrigerate steak, turning bag occasionally to make sure all of the meat gets marinated.
Heat grill to hot. The trick here is to sear the outside so the juices can't escape, and the steak will be slightly more tender. Place meat on a hot grill, sear quickly and flip once. Allow to cook to rare or medium rare - meat should feel 'spongey' to the touch, about 4 to 6 minutes.
London Broil is traditionally served sliced across the grain. To do this, lay your knife so that it is almost flat on the steak and slice thinly downwards on an angle. You could skip this part, but it does add to the presentation and helps the 'chew' factor of the beef.
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