London Broil w/ Butter-Lemon Broccoli

I made this for dinner on June 1, and I think it will go down in my recipe books as a keeper! I was sceptical of marinating the beef in wine (or marinating it period). It turned out amazing with a very subtle wine and herb flavor. The broccoli was very good, but I used a touch too much lemon. The potato is just a plain jane baked potato with real butter. For the London broil, I used a cheap $8.99 bottle of dry red wine from the local grocery store.

London Broil Ingredients
1-1.5 pound London Broil (cut is a Flank Steak)
1 cup dry red wine (any red wine is fine, but go cheap since you are using it to cook)
1/2 cup olive oil
2tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper (fresh ground is better)
dash of salt (I prefer sea salt)
1 tsp oregano
dash of seasoning salt
1 tsp italian seasoning (like McCormick or something similar)

Directions
Mix the marinate ingredients together in large bowl or ziplock bag. Poke meat with fork and place into marinate. Coat meat. Let stand about 30 minutes to 1 hour, massaging meat frequently. Place meat on grill (be careful, between the wine and olive oil, the grill will flare up). Grill to desired doneness (I prefer rare). Cut and serve.

Lemon Butter Broccoli Ingredients
1-2 large brocolli heads chopped
1-2 tbsp fresh minced garlic
Juice of 1/2 large lemon
2 tbsp butter

Directions
Steam brocolli until it is tender but crunchy. On high heat, put butter, garlic and lemon juice into saute skillet and saute until garlic turns a white color. Place broccoli into butter mixture and toss to evenly coat it. Dish it up.

Hearty Spaghetti

I make a nice hearty spaghetti every now and then, and normally from scratch until I figured out that it is so much easier and less messy to just use a "traditional" ragu (you know, that jar crap you get at the grocery store). I know, "gasp"! Really though, its just plain tomato sauce and a good base to build on. I am going to post my traditional recipe, but rather than making the sauce from scratch, omit the sugar and tomato sauce/paste and use Traditional Ragu (this is good, especially if you don't have time for the full "homemade" version).

Ingredients

4 (15) ounce cans tomato sauce

1 small can of tomato paste

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1lb ground beef

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped

1-2 green peppers, chopped

Mushrooms (if you care to ruin the sauce by adding them)

1-2 tbsp olive oil

to taste:

Salt

Black pepper

Cracked red pepper

Oregano

Basil (I prefer sweet)

Garlic powder (if you add garlic salt, omit the salt from above)

Fresh or dried parsley

Directions

Brown the beef and drain the grease. Heat the olive oil in large stock pot and add the chopped onion and green pepper. Sautee the peppers and onions enough to make them "sweat". Add ground beef, seasonings, tomato sauce, tomato paste and sugar. Stir completely to combine. Simmer on low for 4-5 hours (or put this into a crock pot). Stir occassionally. Serve with your noodle of choice and garlic bread. Yum!