London Broil

London broil is more technique than cut. You take an affordable flank steak (or brisket if that is what the butcher has), hit it with a lemon and garlic brush, and push it under a blistering broiler just long enough to brown the outside and leave the middle rare.

The slicing is where cheap beef turns tender. Cut across the grain, on a hard slant, as thin as you can. That short-fiber cut is what separates a chewy steak from one that melts at first bite.

A pile of butter-softened sweet onions goes under and over the slices. They catch the juice running off the steak, and the whole plate ends up richer than anything this budget deserves to be.

Kitchen Tips

• Get the broiler fully preheated before the meat goes in. A cold broiler steams the surface instead of searing it, and you lose the crust.
• Pat the flank dry before brushing on the oil mixture. Wet meat will not brown.
• Use an instant-read thermometer and pull at 125°F (52°C) for rare, 130°F (54°C) for medium-rare. Carryover heat does the rest.
• Let the steak rest 5 to 10 minutes before slicing, loosely tented. Cutting too soon dumps all the juice onto the board.
• The homemade seasoning in the notes (equal parts garlic powder and onion powder, half as much pepper) is worth mixing up in a jar and keeping for steak and roasts.

Variations

• Add a handful of sliced mushrooms to the onions for a classic steakhouse topper.
• Swap lemon juice for soy sauce and a spoon of brown sugar to push it in a teriyaki direction.
• Use skirt steak instead of flank. Same slicing rules apply, more beefy flavor.