I picked up a London Broil the other day on sale at Publix.  I wanted to treat my husband to a good steak dinner….since that is his favorite…and since I’m watching my calories, I compromised by picking up a leaner cut of beef like this one so I wouldn’t feel too guilty eating it with him.  I love how economical London Broil is…it’s often on sale and you can get several meals from one good sized steak.

Like this easy London Broil recipe? Pin it here!

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Click here to Pin this Recipe!

I am desperately trying to change up the easy weeknight dinner game these last few weeks. I’m looking through cookbooks and magazines for ideas and something new to try. My friend Robyn of the popular blog Add A Pinch just released her new cookbook and it couldn’t have arrived at my doorstep at a better time.

Robyn is one of those friends I’ve known since my very early days of blogging, yet have never met in person. I think we have to change that this year Robyn!!! Her cookbook, the Add A Pinch Cookbook is one of the most beautiful cookbooks I’ve seen, filled with gorgeous photos of recipes that have a Southern flair using fresh, seasonal ingredients. I’m all about those fresh seasonal ingredients, as you know.

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The best part of grilling up a nice flank steak, like this Grilled Flank Steak with Brown Sugar Rub I grilled up a couple of weeks ago, is the leftovers. Throw a few thin slices on a salad like this Steak Spinach Salad with Grilled Peaches and Red Onion and you won’t hear anyone complain about leftovers for dinner, that’s for sure. You can use leftovers from this London Broil marinade recipe I love to make too.

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My husband loves his steak. I’m sure many of you do too. I personally don’t love steak, but I have nothing against it either. I just didn’t grow up eating it very often. As a matter of fact I actually don’t think I had my first “good” steak until I was dating my husband (hello filet mignon…).

When my mom did make steak back in the day, she always marinated it in homemade Italian dressing. I always remembered it having such a great zesty flavor when she made it that way. I actually really liked it, though now I know I prefer my steak medium vs well done (thinking back, I think there was a fear of undercooked meat in my childhood household).

My marinade is very basic: olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, thyme, crushed garlic cloves, onion powder, salt and pepper, no real measurements, I mostly eyeballed everything. I whisked it all together in a bowl and then added it along with two NY strips to a large zip lock bag. I let it marinate for about an hour in the fridge to let all those good flavors soak into the steaks. Feel free to marinate your steaks overnight.

We grilled our steaks, but these would be great under the broiler or in a cast iron skillet (or both).

(when I say “our” steaks…I actually mean my husband and my daughter’s, my son and I sat this one out.) 🙂

Sunday Steak Marinade

Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (I used Holland House Red Wine Vinegar)
small palm full of dried oregano
small palm full of dried thyme
big pinch of onion powder
big pinch each of coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
2-3 cloves garlic, smashed with your knife

2 NY strip steaks (or steaks of your choice)

Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl. Add steaks and marinade into large ziplock bag. Squeeze all air out and seal tightly. Gently massage marinade into steaks for about a minute. Place steaks and marinade into refrigerator for at least an hour, or up to overnight.

Grill steaks to desired doneness. (Here’s a great page of tips for grilling.)

Our steaks were served with homemade roasted peppers, grilled sweet potato wedges and garlic onion rolls.

“Get Grillin’ with Family Fresh Cooking and Cookin’ Canuck, sponsored by Ile de France Cheese, Rösle, Emile Henry, Rouxbe and ManPans.

I’ve partnered up with Holland House vinegars this month for their Everyday Cooking campaign that is simply about how to include Holland House vinegars in your everyday meals. I use different types of vinegar almost daily, whether it be part of a salad dressing or a marinade just like this one.

For more ideas on how to use vinegars to spruce up some of your everyday meals visit Holland House Everyday Cooking on Facebook!

(Disclosure: I received products and compensation from Holland House for this post, but my thoughts and opinions are always my own.)

The post Sunday Steaks… appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

We’ve been eating a lot of great veggie meals lately.  I gave up meat for the last two weeks of Lent and have kind of been on a roll since then.  I haven’t completely given it up, I won’t be able to resist my grandpa’s homemade Italian sausage or chicken parmagiana, but for the most part am trying to cut down a bit and incorporate more veg meals during the week for the whole family.  My husband has surprisingly embraced our “new” way of eating (he’s also been enjoying Jamie Oliver’s new show with me and thought Food, Inc was a huge eye-opener…so happy about that!)…and though he’s not complaining about our veggie meals, I know he’s missing his steak.

So the other night, I pulled a nice piece of flank steak out of the freezer and grilled it up.  It was seasoned nicely and simply with salt and lots of fresh ground pepper…and after it cooked and rested, I sliced it up real thin and assembled these Steak Fajita Enchiladas.  I actually made the enchiladas three ways that night to suit all of our tastes.  My husband ate his as shown…I opened up a can of vegetarian refried beans and used it as the filling along with the sauteed peppers and onions and of course cheese for myself…and for the kids, it was simply refried beans and cheese.  It was easy enough to accommodate everyone’s requests and we all really enjoyed our dinner.

Steak Fajita Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• flank steak, seasoned with salt and pepper, grilled or broiled, sliced thin against the grain
• 2-3 peppers sliced thin (red bell, poblano, hungarian - your choice - I used all three)
• 1 large onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano (or regular oregano)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 cups Pepper Jack cheese (or something milder), shredded
• can Old El Paso Verde Enchilada sauce
• 2 green onions, chopped (optional)
• whole wheat wraps or tortillas

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tb oil and add sliced onion and peppers.  Add chili powder, oregano, salt and pepper and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Warm tortillas in microwave (on plate with moist paper towel) for about 20-30 seconds.  Start to assemble tortillas by first adding a small amount of cheese, sliced steak and vegetable mixture.  Roll up tortillas to form a "cigar" and place into a baking dish sprayed with non stick spray.  Once all enchiladas are assembled, pour sauce over all of the wrapped tortillas.  Add a layer of cheese and place in oven.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned and sauce is bubbling.  Garnish with chopped green onion if desired.

Serve with Spicy Slaw Salad for a great meal!

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Not sure what I loved more about this sandwich…how unbelievably delicious it was or that I didn’t have to cook it!  🙂

If you remember this post, my sweet non-cooking husband had the urge to make something and blog about it. After watching Next Food Network Star with me one night he picked this recipe from the runner up Jeffrey Saad.  I must admit, I was pretty impressed by my hubby’s ambition and the outcome of it all.  If you can get your hands on some harissa (which we found at a local butcher/gourmet shop) please make this sandwich.  Make it exactly as it’s shown…the yellow tomatoes, the cuban bread…the harissa mayo.  It’s heavenly.  So heavenly that we decided it will be our last meal of 2009.  That’s right…Larry is going back into the kitchen for an encore, and I am thrilled!

Happy New Year to all of you!  Wishing everyone Love and Laughter in 2010!

See you next week with lots of new healthy recipes to kick of the New Year!

#1 Harissa Steak Sandwich

#2 Game Day Chili

#3 Roasted Vegetable Pesto Pizza

#4 BBQ Pulled Pork and Chipotle Onion Sandwiches

#5 Chorizo and Eggs

The post Top 5 Favorites of 2009….#1 Harissa Steak Sandwich appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

So a few weeks went by, and my guest blogging gig was falling lower and lower on my “to do” list. But then it hit me. I saw the finale of “The Next Food Network Star”, and my mouth was absolutely watering over Jeffrey Saad’s Harissa Steak Sandwich. I told my wife “THAT IS WHAT I AM GOING TO DO FOR YOUR BLOG!!!”, with the same enthusiasm that our four-year son exclaimed to us when he first decided he is going to be a professional basketball player when he grows up. So now I had to just follow through. I wasn’t going to let myself down. I was going to step up to the challenge, and prove all the naysayers wrong. Okay, so there really weren’t any naysayers, but come on!! I want you to feel my excitement here!!

I found Jeffrey’s recipe here. The next step was actually finding Harissa paste.

For those who didn’t watch the finale, you may be asking what is Harissa?

Harissa is a North African hot red sauce or paste whose main ingredients are chili peppers (often smoked or dried) and garlic. Though most closely associated with Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, it is a standard ingredient of North African cuisine.

So I called around to a few different local specialty markets in my area, with no luck. But low and behold, I ended up finding it at Petty’s Meat Market in Longwood, FL, on Friday. (who also by the way sells the most incredible Bourbon Pecan pies). I also purchased the NY Strip Steak from Petty’s. Petty’s ROCKS!! Also, the recipe calls for sandwich rolls or bread of your choice. I went with Cuban bread. Not because I meant to. I meant to pick up French bread, but picked up Cuban bread by accident.

So now I needed a side dish, so I did what any other amateur cook would do who was cooking a North African steak sandwich, I googled North African side dishes, and found the recipe of North African Spiced Carrots.

So here I was early Saturday evening. I had my ingredients lined up, I had Harissa paste, I had my steak, I had my carrots, I was ready to do this!!! I really wanted to show Aggie I could do this myself, but I pathetically had to admit I never peeled a carrot. Honestly, I didn’t even know I was supposed to peel carrots. So, Aggie peeled one for me and I was on my way. UH OH!! Another roadblock. I never minced garlic before. So Aggie showed me how to smash the garlic clove with a knife then peel the rest until the middle comes out. At this point, I am looking at my wife like she is a freaking culinary genius. So this went on for a little bit. How do you not bruise mint? What’s the best way to squeeze a lemon to get lemon juice? How do you rehydrate sun-dried tomatoes? So after all of the tutorials from Aggie, I was on my way. Aggie went outside to the pool with the kids, and I was ready to roll solo. I was pretty excited. I had picked up a couple six packs of Gordon Biersch beer. I had some 90s R&B music blasting on the Pandora machine. I even was wearing my 3W1M shirt for the extra power and internal agility.

This went on for a while.

Then finally after a couple hours, the meal was complete. And I have to admit, I did a bang up job. The steak sandwich was probably even better than it looked on TV. The Cuban bread perfectly soaked up the juice from the steak, and tasted great with the Harissa mayo. The carrots were very tasty and had lots of sweet heat.

So in summary, Jeffrey didn’t win. (which made me very Saad). LOL. But one thing he did do was get ‘ol Larry more involved in the kitchen. I hope they give him a show on the Food Network, because I’ll totally tune in. I think I may give this guest blogging thing another whirl. I had a lot of fun last night, and the best part of it all?? Aggie loved it! She was so proud of me and was so happy, and that made me very happy. As for my son?? I think the Orlando Magic may still need a back-up Point Guard. Never say never!

If you want to make this awesome sandwich, and side dish for yourself, you can find the recipes here and here.

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This sandwich has been staring at me for weeks from the front cover of last month’s issue of Cooking Light. Though I’m not a huge steak lover, my husband is and I knew he would be a happy guy if I made these one night. And looking at those sandwiches on the cover, I knew I wouldn’t be too disappointed either.

I love arugula and love fennel. I have to admit, I was more looking forward to eating the toppings on the sandwich then I was the actual steak part but that’s just me and my obsession with veggies. I don’t usually cook fennel, I like to eat it raw in salads with citrus and olive oil so this was a nice change for me as the recipe calls to caramelize it slowly. I also added some spring onions from my grandfather’s garden to the fennel for an extra layer of flavor.

The recipe also calls for beef tenderloin steaks, I wasn’t able to find these at the grocery store so I picked up some eye of round steaks instead. I’m not sure I would recommend these, I think next time I would prefer a lean sirloin instead. Instead of serving these sandwiches with regular mayonnaise, do what we did and throw in a couple of teaspoons of horseradish to your mayo for a homemade kicked up horsey sauce that pairs up perfectly with your steak. I roasted some asparagus on the side for our sandwiches, but am now wishing I would have made Jamie’s Day 4 recipe for New Potatoes with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette!

Steak and Fennel Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 3 cups thinly sliced fennel bulb (about 1 bulb)
• 2-3 spring onions, sliced thin
• 4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed (1 inch thick)
• 2-3 TB of mayo
• 2 tsp jarred horseradish
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 8 (1-ounce) slices ciabatta, lightly toasted (I used sourdough)
• 1 cup arugula

Directions:

1. Combine ground fennel seeds, salt, ground cumin, and black pepper in a small bowl.
2. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon spice mixture, fennel and spring onions; sauté 15 minutes or until fennel is tender and lightly browned, stirring frequently. Transfer to a bowl; wipe pan clean with paper towels.
3. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in pan; sprinkle steaks evenly with remaining spice mixture. Add steaks to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from pan; let stand 10 minutes. Thinly slice steaks.
4. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, horseradish, pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to make the horsey sauce.
5. To prepare sandwiches, spread 2 teaspoons of horsey sauce onto each of 4 bread slices. Top each with one-fourth of beef, one-fourth of fennel and spring onion mixture, and 1/4 cup arugula. Top with remaining 4 bread slices.

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

Follow AggiesKitchen on Instagram and show us what recipes you are making from the blog! Use the hashtag #aggieskitchen - I'd love to see what you are cooking up!

Did you miss any of this week’s other great Cooking Light recipes? Here they are if you did…

New Potatoes with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
Chicken with Cashew Cream and Mushrooms
Kung Pao Chicken
Turkey Burgers with Peanut Sauce

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