Korean Style London Broil and the Secret Recipe Club

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club where food bloggers are assigned another member’s blog “in secret” and select and prepare a recipe that is then shared on a designated reveal day. I was fortunate to have been assigned Hezzi Ds Books and Cooks. Heather (aka Hezzi D, her hubby’s rock & roll nickname for her, which made me chuckle) just celebrated her first year of blogging, and she has been quite busy based on the number of posts about both food and books. Her blog is filled with many delicious recipes, and I particularly enjoyed her 2011 canning inventory. It’s obvious she enjoys baking too with numerous sweet treats (33 chocolate recipes!), but I was intrigued with the “best of” list she posted on her blog’s anniversary that features her favorite recipes from the last year. I debated between the jalapeno popper dip and Korean Short Ribs and finally settled on the short ribs.

The only problem was when I went to pull the ribs from the freezer, I figured out Connor had grilled all we had when I was travelling on business a few weeks ago. With a quick Google search, I realized London broil can be substituted for boneless short ribs, and we were in business. I’m learning how to cook lean, grass-fed beef, and my research indicates it does best with a long, low temp, slow cook (such as in the slow cooker as with this recipe), or braised, or done with a high temp for a quick sear. I’ve also discovered grass fed beef benefits greatly from a marinade, so I soaked the beef in the sauce portion of the recipe overnight in the frig to both tenderize it and impart additional moisture in the meat. The house smelled divine by the end of the day, and the flavor of the sauce was outstanding, a mix of Asian and barbeque. I also added onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes to make it a more well-rounded pot dish. We served it over Udon noodles and with Korean coleslaw as a side. Leftovers make fantastic bulgogi-like sandwiches for lunch the next day. The recipe below reflects the changes I made. And I will get around to making the jalapeno popper dip soon. Thanks Hezzi D for such inspirational recipes.

Korean Style London Broil

Serves 4

• 1/2 C. soy sauce
• 1/2 C. packed light brown sugar
• 2 T. sesame oil
• 3 T. rice wine vinegar
• 2 T. fresh ginger, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 C. water
• 1 t. red pepper flakes
• 1 t. ground ginger
• 1 t. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound London broil or boneless beef short ribs
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 2 bell peppers, coarsely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped or 1 14ounce can tomatoes
• Sesame seeds
• 2 green onions, sliced (I forgot these)

Score the London broil.

Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, vinegar, fresh ginger, garlic, and water in the a small bowl, stirring until the brown sugar is well incorporated. Sprinkle in the red pepper, ginger, and black pepper. Mix well. Place the meat and sauce in a heavy duty Ziploc and refrigerate over night.

Scatter half the onion slices on the bottom of the slow cooker. Cover with the London broil and spoon the sauce over top the meat. Cover with remaining onions, bell pepper, and tomatoes. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove the meat (which I shredded with two forks) from the slow cooker and serve over Asian noodles or rice. Top with green onions