The Chicken Was Awesome BUT . . . Where's The Beef?

So yesterday I talked about my trip to Sam's Club and the awesome deal I got on chicken. The chicken thighs soaked in the sweet sauce all night. I cooked 6 chicken thighs at 400 degrees for 35 minutes just like the recipe said to do. It was delicious and I served them with fresh sliced peaches and homemade rolls that a sweet lady from church made for us. Thanks, Nora! We have 2 pieces leftover that I am shredding for Tuesday's chicken quesadillas. Here are the 2 that are left after we had dinner.

And this is the picture from Food Network's site of Robin Miller's chicken. Mine didn't brown like hers. Maybe she put them under the broiler for a couple of minutes or something. OR Maybe the orange marmalade would have browned better than my peach preserves? Who knows? Anyway, They were still sticky and delicious and I will make it again (with my changes of course).

What I failed to mention yesterday was that I also scored some awesome deals on beef. I got a 4+ pound pack of short ribs REDUCED FOR QUICK SALE which I promptly repackaged and put into the freezer. I also got 2 chuck roasts (which I wrapped and froze) and 2 top round roasts for London Broil. My husband is a Midwest boy who loves his meat and potatoes so we are having London Broil tomorrow for his birthday dinner.

London Broil (despite what some may think) is not a cut of meat but actually a method of cooking. The cut of meat that people are really getting when they asked the butcher for London Broil is Top Round Roast (cut at least 2 inches thick and weighing 5-6 pounds). Now that that's out of the way . . . Top Round can be tough and London Broil is a relatively quick cooking method so you need to tenderize the roast. I pounded the roast using the spiked side of a meat mallet for about a minute or 2 per side. Then I sprinkled on a nice layer of Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt. I bought this once when I was out of seasoned salt because it has no MSG and we like it on everything. We even sprinkle it on popcorn and use it as table salt. Now I won't buy anything else. I also sprinkled on a layer of Pampered Chef's Greek Rub. This stuff is delicious. It has lemon peel and oregano in it. So I sprinkled both on a side and then pressed it with my hand into the meat. I flipped the meat and repeated the process. Here is a picture of my tools.

Here is the roast seasoned in a Zip Loc bag. I was not done yet. I had tenderized with a mallet and salt but I still needed a marinade to keep the meat moist and juicy and tenderize it some more with an acid.

Here are the ingredients that I used to make a flavorful marinade that would also tenderize the meat:

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos (you could use soy sauce if don't have Bragg's)
a few generous dashes of Worcestershire sauce
about a Tablespoon of minced garlic

I stirred the ingredients all together in the measuring cup and tasted to see if it needed anything else. I thought it tasted great.

I poured the marinade over the roast in the bag, pressed all the air out and sealed it. It is sitting in the refrigerator overnight and tomorrow, I will broil it in the broiler of my oven for 4 minutes per side for Medium rare.

I plan to serve the steak with potatoes of some sort . . . mashed, sliced and fried, twice baked . . . I haven't decided yet. We'll also have a spinach salad and probably some form of chocolate dessert (his favorite).

Yesterday, I went to pick up my oldest son from his friend's house and his mom handed me a bag of produce from her garden. I will probably grill these and serve them with the leftover chicken on Tuesday in the quesadillas. Thanks, Tanya! Aren't they pretty?

I will let you know how the birthday dinner goes. Stay tuned . . .