There are several things I love about this dinner.
1. Risotto is one of those dishes that isn’t really hard, but it makes you feel like an accomplished Chef-y pants when you do it right.
2. I love embracing the idea of doing one “challenging” item for dinner and having the rest of dinner be easy.
3. I love Jamie Oliver and all of his zany words. I now say whazz instead of blend thanks to him. Tonight I have added a new fun word. Apparently, British people commonly refer to about 2 tablespoons of butter as a “knob” of butter. Frankly, I find that much more entertaining and shall keep it in my foodie vocabulary.
4. I love it when my husband says it’s the best “insert recipe here” he’s ever had and that totally happened tonight with this dish! The light and tangy beef went perfectly with the creamy risotto. What a winner!
Garlic Dijon Grilled London Broil
1 1/2 to 2 pounds London Broil
3 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
The juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon herbs de Provence (don’t have this? you can substitute thyme)
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 teaspoon Montreal grill seasoning
1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Mince garlic in a food processor, next add Dijon mustard, lemon juice, herbs de Provence, grill seasoning, salt and Mrs. Dash. Pulse to combine. Next, while food processor is running, add olive oil and vegetable oil slowly. In a large bowl or in a gallon ziplock bag, add marinade to the meat. Marinate at least 30 minutes, up to 1 1/2 hours. (keep refrigerated while marinating).
Preheat your grill so that it is ready to sear. My gas grill was preheated to 500. Allow meat to sit at room temperature 10-15 minutes prior to grilling. Cold meat seizes up and becomes tough when put on a hot surface. Once you have the london broil on the grill, turn heat down to medium heat (400) and cover. WARNING: OVERCOOKING LONDON BROIL WILL LEAD TO DRY AND TOUGH MEAT, IT SHOULD BE COOKED TO NO MORE THAN MEDIUM. For medium rare, allow to cook 7 minutes on one side, turn once and allow to cook 6 minutes on the other. If you are concerned about the doneness of the meat, check the temperature medium rare would be between 130-140 degrees. Pull meat off grill and cover with aluminum foil, allow to rest 5-10 minutes. Then slice, thinly and against the grain.
Serve immediately.
Jamie Oliver’s Basic Risotto*I made a few changes to the recipe, I have edited it to reflect my changes.
• 5 cups of chicken stock
• 1 knob of butter (about 2 tablespoons)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
• 12 oz risotto rice
• 2 wineglasses of dry white vermouth (dry Martini or Noilly Prat) or dry white wine
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2½oz butter
• 4oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese
This is a great recipe for making risotto. You want it to be smooth, creamy and oozy, not thick and stodgy.
stage 1
Heat the stock. In a separate pan heat the olive oil and butter, add the onions, garlic and celery, and fry very slowly for about 15 minutes without colouring. When the vegetables have softened, add the rice and turn up the heat.
stage 2
The rice will now begin to lightly fry, so keep stirring it. After a minute it will look slightly translucent. Add the vermouth or wine and keep stirring — it will smell fantastic. Any harsh alcohol flavours will evaporate and leave the rice with a tasty essence.
stage 3
Once the vermouth or wine has cooked into the rice, add your first ladle of hot stock and a good pinch of salt. Turn down the heat to a simmer so the rice doesn’t cook too quickly on the outside. Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring and almost massaging the creamy starch out of the rice, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. This will take around 15 minutes. Taste the rice — is it cooked? Carry on adding stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite. Don’t forget to check the seasoning carefully. If you run out of stock before the rice is cooked, add some boiling water.
stage 4
Remove from the heat and add the butter and Parmesan. Stir well. Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes. This is the most important part of making the perfect risotto, as this is when it becomes outrageously creamy and oozy like it should be. Eat it as soon as possible, while the risotto retains its beautiful texture.
