London Broil

Ingredients

1 Flank Steak

1/4 Cup Worcestershire Sauce (Plus more for finishing the sauce)

1 Pack of Good Seasons Italian Dressing

1/4 Cup of Balsamic Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Water

1/2 Cup of Oil

Salt

Directions

Make the Italian Dressing

Good Seasons makes a dressing bottle that is iconic to my childhood in the 90’s. It’s very convenient and shows how much vinegar, water and oil to add. So add the balsamic vinegar to the line, the water to the line, add in the pack of italian seasoning and then fill up with oil and shake to emulsify. If you don’t have the bottle, I have rough estimations above and you can just stir to combine.

Marinate the Steak

In a large, high rimmed, 4.5 quart Pyrex glass baking dish or something to hold the flank steak. Season both sides of the flank steak and place in the baking dish. Then coat the flank steak on both sides with the Worcestershire sauce followed by most of the bottle of the Italian dressing. Let marinate covered in the fridge for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

Broil or Grill The Steak

If Using The Broiler

This is the method my Mom used to use. Which can be tricky as she often overcooked the steak. The steak cooks in the marinade so if there’s too much, the steak might end up boiling. So first, make sure the marinade only goes up no more than halfway up the steak. You don’t want too much, but you do want enough sauce at the end, trust me.Turn on the broiler and set the oven rack to the highest level. Once the broiler is cranking, set the steak with the presentation side facing down and broiler the steak for around 13-15 minutes depending on the thickness but cook on the first side for only about 3-4 minutes or until the edges start to curly up. This is why we start the presentation side down. After a few minutes and the sides curl, flip the steak and broiler for the rest of the time with that presentation side up. This is quite an unconventional way of cooking a steak but what is happening is the sauce is reducing while the top of the steak browns and chars. And I do like some nice char, after slicing thin the charred bits are my favorite. Once the top is charred and the internal temp of the steak is around 130F-135F degrees in the thickest part of the steak, remove the steak and let it rest on a plate. What’s remaining is what will become our sauce. If the sauce is overproduced at this point, deglaze with a little water to bring it back to life. If it’s too loose, pop it back under the broiler and reduce until it’s bubbly and thickened. Then remove and finish with a little more Worcestershire sauce and any of the resting juices of the steak and with a whisk, scrape up any caramelized bits and re-emulsify the sauce again until it's almost like a glaze. It’s ready to be sliced.

If Using The Grill

Fire up your grill of choice. If using charcoal, set up two zones, one for searing, one for roasting. Once hot, remove the steak from the marinade and sear on the first side until it’s caramelized and charred. Flip and sear the other side. Once both sides are seared and charred, move the steak over to the cooler side and cook until the internal temp of the steak is around 130F-135F degrees in the thickest part of the steak, remove the steak and let it rest on a plate.Then either place the baking dish with the marinade under the broiler to replicate the boiler process, or pour in a pot and reduce the same way and finish the sauce the same way as the broiler method.

Serving the Steak

Once the steak is rested it has to be sliced thin, and as they say, “on the bias” which simply means cut on an angle. So I hold my knife at about a 45 degree angle with the sharp edge of the knife facing outward and slowly saw the knife back and forth on an angle to try and slice the steak as thin as you can against the grain.

Once all the steak is sliced, toss them in the sauce to glaze them. This is the secret and my favorite thing about this recipe. I even store them in the sauce and eat them cold the next day, something you DO NOT see me do with leftovers often.