type='text/javascript'/> A Latte Talk: Foody Friday - Company Food

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Foody Friday - Company Food


I almost always break the rules and make something new when we have company. It's an excuse to do something "different" and a little more extravagent, with more ingredients or specialty spices, etc..

Or I love doing a funky soup, salad, and bread for company.

In the summer, we often grill.

So, at the risk of being redundant, I'll share my favorite grilling recipe of all time. I don't make it often at all since it's an expensive cut of meat, but for fancy friends and special occassions, we do it.

London Broil

1/2 c. canola oil
1/4 c. worchestershire sauce
1/2 c. white wine
fresh garlic, minced - 2 cloves
salt and pepper, generous amount

Place a large flank steak or london broil (2 pounds or so) in a large glass dish. Mix marinade and pour over steak. Marinate, turning several times, for 8 hours.

Grill over med-high heat until desired doneness is reached. The rarer you can handle it, the more tender :)

*edited to add slicing instructions: london broil is served sliced in very thin slices, against the grain.

note: you can use this marinade on any cut of meat. We just made it last night and put it on tri-tip steaks. They had really good flavor, but they weren't as tender as the flank.

double note: I made this meal last night so that I could take a picture and show how impressive it would look to serve to company. I FORGOT to take the silly picture. So you'll have to imagine:

French rolls, sauteed pea pods with red and orange bell peppers, baked beans, and steak. Mmmmm....

triple note: IF you set out all of the parts to the meal in their correct pans before you leave the house to take your child to swimming lessons, so that when you return home, you will be able to cook the meal fast, and IF your husband gets home before you and sees that it is all out, and IF he is hungry, he just MIGHT make your entire dinner for you, so that when you walk in the door, he will say, "It's all ready. Come sit down and eat". And you may walk in and look, and see that all the food is cooked and ready and beautiful. And you may see the table set, all ready to sit. down. and. eat. And, IF this all happens, you MAY just be so dizzy with happiness that you MAY stand with your mouth gaping open, speechless. Because it has never happened like this before.

My husband never ceases to amaze me. More on him next week.

Bon Apetit.

What do YOU serve to guests?


10 comments:

Annika said...

Ohhh, sounds so tasty! I will have to try this. Do you have a gas grill? Approx how long do you let it go for med rare? Annika

Jenny said...

We use gas.

It depends on how thick the cut of meat is... we always tend to cook it a little too much, and I haven't perfected the timing. Your best bet would be to use a meat thermometer.

My best guess is 10 min on one side, 5 min on the other.

Anonymous said...

My mouth is watering. I love steaks! :) Thanks!

Kelly @ Love Well said...

My husband would never do that. He is capable in so many ways, but the cooking? He's still learning to whip up some scrambled eggs.

That's OK with me, though, because I love to cook. I'd rather not have the competition. :-)

This marinade sounds a lot like one I make, only I throw in a small can of crushed pineapple as well. It adds a nice tropical touch.

By the way, Jenny, I made your carna asada last week, and it was AMAZING! I've tried cooking with flank steak before, and it's always turned out chewy and tough, so I was timid about trying it again. But your advice to leave it as rare as possible is spot-on. When I did some research, most chefs say that marinade with acid (lime juice, in the case of the carna asada) is key, as well as grilling as little as possible. I think we did ours 10 minutes total on the gas grill, and it was divine.

In fact, I'm making it again this weekend when my brother comes over for dinner.

So that's what I'm making for company. :-)

(Thus ends the longest comment of the year.)

Elena said...

Your recipe sounds wonderful. I bought the stuff for your cherry dump cake recipe this week and I am going to serve it for company this weekend!

J mom said...

Thanks for hosting such fun! I love the new ideas and getting to see what others are doing in the kitchen too.

Shari said...

Looking forward to trying all of these great recipes!

Shari said...

P.S. Can someone help me figure out how to get blogger not to skip two spaces when I'm listing my ingredients?

Jackie said...

Thanks, Jenny! I'm glad you gave those tips on keeping the meat tender....I have trouble with that sometimes. Fortunately we both like rare meat, so that should work for us!

Carolina Mama said...

I'm in with my Asian Noodle Salad. It's about all we can do with 100 degree weather. ;) Also, join my "Win It Wednesday" giveaway before June 11th. http://carolinamama1.blogspot.com/2008/06/welcome-to-win-it-wednesday.html