London Broil with Cherry Balsamic Sauce

This was a great dinner to make on a weeknight.  Because it's easy, quick, and filling!  The sauce is absolutely delicious and compliments the meat perfectly.

London Broil with Cherry Balsamic Sauce

Source: Food Network
Serves 6

Ingredients:
(I recommend doubling this top batch of ingredients and then dividing them)
1/3 cup, dry red wine
1/4 cup balsamic vinigar
2 Tbsp cherry preserves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste


1 1/2 lbs London Broil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp butter


Whisk wine, vinegar, cherry preserves, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Place meat in a shallow glass dish. Pour the marinade over the meat and turn to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator, turning several times, for at least 1 hour (or up to 8 hours).


Remove the meat from the marinade. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan (I made a second batch and threw this original marinade away); add shallot and set aside. Oil a cast iron skillet and heat on medium-high. Add the meat and cook for 6 to 8 minutes per side for medium-rare, or until it reaches desired doneness. (Cooking time will depend on thickness.  It may appear that the meat is burning but don't worry, it will form a pleasant crust.) Transfer meat to a cutting board and let rest for 5-10 minutes.


While the meat is cooking, bring the marinade to a boil.  Cook over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes, or until it is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Remove from the heat; add butter and whisk until melted.




Slice meat thinly against the grain. Add any juices on the cutting board to the sauce. Serve the meat with the sauce drizzled on top.

This was really great and serves plenty!  I love doing London Broils because start to finish (not including the marinade time which I recommend doing for as long as you can.  It will really help this tough cut of meat to tenderize and become that much more flavorful!) this meal takes less than 30 minutes.  It doesn't get much easier than that and it tastes amazing.  The flavors really mesh in the sauce and makes the house smell spectacular.

Grilled Artichokes with Lemon Mayonnaise Dip

The only way to make an artichoke any more delicious is to grill it.  Jeff and I love to eat out at a restaurant here in Denver called the Cherry Creek Grill.  They have the most amazing seasonal grilled artichokes on their menu and I've always wanted to recreate them at home.  (Although whatever sauce they use is absolutely amazing and I have no idea what is in it.  I will have to see if the waiter will give me some insight next time we're there.)

Grilled Artichokes

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf


2 large artichokes
garlic powder
parsley
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 lemon, halved
olive oil for drizzling


Fill a large pot with about 1" of water and add the garlic cloves and bay leaf to the water.  Place a steamer basket in the water and bring to a boil.


While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the artichokes by washing them then cutting about 1/4" off the end of each stem.  If you like, you can use a vegetable peeler to peel the tough outer layer of the stems away.  Cut about an inch off the tops and trim the pointy tips of the leaves with kitchen shears. 


Place on steamer basket and steam for 20-30 minutes depending on size of artichoke.  You will be able to insert a knife easily into the end of the stem when they are done.  Remove from the pot and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.  Cut in halves or quarters depending on how many people you will be serving.  Using a sharp knife remove the choke and any purple leaves on the inside of each artichoke.


Preheat your grill.  I like the flavor of a charcoal grill but a gas grill works just fine.  Lightly spread leaves apart and sprinkle garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper in between the leaves and on the inside.  Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top and drizzle the flat parts of each artichoke with olive oil. 


Grill the artichokes leaf-side down.  Then turn them over and grill just until the tips of the leaves char a little and get some flavor to them.  Remove and serve immediately(with lemon mayonnaise!).

(I forgot to cut out the chokes and inside leaves before we grilled these, so I just did it afterward.)

Lemon Mayonnaise 

Source: Emeril Lagasse, Food Network, slightly adapted by Amy's New Kitchen
Serves: 6-8 portions

2 lemons, halved
1 large egg*
2-3 Tbsp water
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne


Squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl of a small food processor.  Add the egg* and 1 Tbsp water and process for 20 seconds.  With the processor running slowly pour in the olive oil and vegetable oil through the feed tube and process until emulsified.  (Add additional water, 1 Tbsp at a time to thin the mayo if you like.)  Add the salt and cayenne, pulse to blend.  Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.  (Mayo can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.)

*RAW EGG WARNING (from FoodNetwork.com)
Food Network Kitchens suggest caution in consuming raw and lightly-cooked eggs due to the slight risk of Salmonella or other food-borne illness. To reduce this risk, we recommend you use only fresh, properly-refrigerated, clean, grade A or AA eggs with intact shells, and avoid contact between the yolks or whites and the shell.

BBQ Meatballs

I love meatballs.  They're bite size and fun!  And they're easy too, which I really like.  I found this recipe browsing the Pioneer Woman's website and thought it looked interesting so I decided to make it.

BBQ Meatballs

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

For Meatballs:

• 1½ lbs Ground Beef/Ground Pork mixture
• ½ cup Oats
• ½ cup Panko Bread Crumbs
• ¾ cup Milk
• 3 Tbsp Very Finely Minced Onion
• 1½ tsp Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper, to taste

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
• canola oil, for frying

For Sauce:

• 1 cup Ketchup
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 3 Tbsp Vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire
• 4-6 Tbsp minced Onion
• Tabasco (or your favorite hot sauce)

 Preheat oven to 350°


Combine all meatball ingredients. Roll into medium-sized balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in freezer for five minutes.


After 5 minutes, remove meatballs from freezer and immediately dredge in unseasoned flour.
Brown meatballs in canola oil in skillet on top of stove until just brown. Place into a baking dish.


Combine all sauce ingredients. Pour over meatballs and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Serve on their own, on a bed of rice or mashed potatoes, or on a bread roll!

I changed a few tiny things from the original recipe.  I used half ground beef and half ground pork.  When I was adding the milk-an entire cup seemed like too much so I stopped at 3/4 cup.  It was the perfect amount.  I also used less oats and added panko bread crumbs because I love them in meatballs.

The bbq sauce is really, really good.  I am a big fan!  I might even suggest to make a double batch of sauce so you have extra for adding sauce on to your bread roll or even just to dip into.

Enjoy!

Apricot Ginger Glaze for Ham

I wanted to do something a little different for our Easter Ham this year rather than the usual brown sugar glaze....and I was pointed in the direction of this Mango Ginger Glaze and was intrigued. I couldn't find a few of the ingredients so I turned that recipe into an Apricot Ginger Glaze and it was still amazing. So tasty.

Apricot Ginger Glaze

Original recipe from Steamy Kitchen, slightly adapted by Amy's New Kitchen

1/2 cup apricot nectar or juice

1 1/2 cups apricot jam
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine the apricot nectar, jam, brown sugar, ginger and cloves in a small pot and cook over low heat until the glaze is thick and sticky.

I also cooked my ham just as the Steamy Kitchen recommended.  In a roasting pan actually, with about 2 cups of the apricot nectar in the bottom of the pan.  Covered in foil for 15min/lb on 275 degrees.  I took the ham out about 10 minutes before it should have been done (at 110 degrees internal temp) and then added a layer of the glaze all over the outside of the ham and continued cooking uncovered for an additional 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  It turned out moist and flavorful! 

The glaze was such a fun and colorful addition to the dinner plates and everyone loved it.  It is always a gamble when adding something different to what is normally a traditional meal, but I was glad I changed it up a little this year.  We will make this glaze year after year from now on.

Mango Mustard

We were having brats for my dad's birthday dinner and I wanted to have all the toppings.  So I put out a little shout out on Facebook and asked what were people's favorite toppings that I needed to have.  Mango Mustard came up.  I hadn't heard of it before but I'm so glad I made it!  It is soooo good.  I don't like regular mustard much, but this was a fresh, vibrant flavor and was absolutely delicious on a brat with some sauerkraut and cheese.

Mango Mustard

Ingredients:
1 Mango, peeled, cored and cubed
Honey
Apple Cider Vinegar
Rice Wine Vinegar
Garlic Powder (Good Quality)
Yellow Mustard (Good Quality)

Blend all ingredients together in a blender until flavor and consisitency is the way you want.

The amount of ingredients to add to your mango just depends on how big the mango is and what flavors you like.  I eyeballed all of my ingredients but if I had to estimate, I would say that I used 1 mango, 1 Tbsp honey, 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 tsp Rice Wine Vinegar, 1/2 tsp good Garlic Granules, 2 Tbsp good Yellow Mustard.

This recipe can grow like a weed until you find that perfect flavor you are looking for.  Luckily for me-I hit it right off the bat.  But, don't be afraid to keep adding ingredients until it is to your liking. Start small, and work your way up.  You can always add more of something, but you can't take it back once it's all blended together.  If you find you made quite the amount, don't fret-this is great on grilled fish, or chicken, just use it like a satay sauce.