Mom's Pan-fried London Broil Steak
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"London Broil" used to be a way of describing a method for cooking lean beef cuts such as flank or top round, which originally was to pan-fry it quickly on medium high to high heat, cook it only to medium rare, and then slice it thinly on the diagonal. The term has since evolved to a method of marinating, and then either grilling or broiling the steak. Furthermore butchers now sell a cut of beef that is called a London Broil which is typically a couple inches thick and is top round.
My mother has a method for pan-frying her steak which she calls London Broil, which does not involve marinating. The steaks we use are usually an inch thick. For the steak pictured however, we picked up a thick Prime London Broil cut from the local butcher.
Do you have a favorite way to prepare London Broil? Tell us about it in the comments.
Mom's Pan-fried London Broil Steak Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 lb top round cut of steak
- Dry mustard
- Salt
- Pepper
- Butter, softened to room temperature
Method
1 Remove steak from refrigerator 2 hours before cooking to bring to room temperature (only do this with whole cuts of meat, never with ground meat.) Rub dry mustard into both sides of the steak. Add salt and freshly ground pepper. Use a meat pounder to even out the thickness of the steak if necessary.
Cut away any tough connective tissue on the surface of the steak.
2 Heat a large, cast iron skillet to medium high heat. Rub soft butter over both sides of the steak and place in pan. Let cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, check before flipping to make sure it has nicely browned.
Click for larger view.
At this point, if you have a steak only an inch thick or less, you can take the skillet off the heat and just let the steak sit for several minutes in the skillet, which will retain enough heat to cook the steak to medium rare. You can test for doneness by using a small sharp knife and cutting into the center to check the color. Also, if the steak is brown on both sides and it is weeping red juice, it's done. Mom uses a finger pressure method to test for doneness.
3 If you have a thicker steak, as we did in the steak pictured, you can finish it off in the oven, at 325°F for 15 minutes or so. Use a meat thermometer to test the internal temperature of the steak. It will be done at 130°F for medium rare. If you are using the oven method, when done, remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
You want to cook the steak only to medium rare, as cooking it further will make it more tough.
4 Slice the steak thinly, against the grain, on a diagonal.
Serves 4.
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Looks great - One hint though, you want to start with the meat at room temperature. Take the meat out of the refrigerator 2 hours before cooking (however, don't do this for ground meat).