Another easy, peasy but tasty dinner for those harboring a love affair with red meat should try Sirloin Tip Steak Sauté with Leeks and Asparagus. For some reason, sirloin tips are not abundant in our locale, so if you encounter a similar difficulty in finding them, just use a regular whole sirloin or flap meat strips (although flap may be as difficult to find), it gets sliced down toward the end anyway.
FYI, steak tips can come from two areas of the cow. One kind comes from tender, expensive cuts in the middle of the cow, such as the tenderloin. These tips are a superior cut but not considered to be a true steak tip, which should be a more pedestrian cut that is magically transformed into a desirable dish through marinating and/or cooking, such as here.
If the steak tips at your market cost upwards of $15 or more per pound, the meat likely comes from the tenderloin. Hey, if money is no object for you, this may be the way to go! However, true steak tips come from various muscles in the sirloin and round and cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $6-7 per pound.
For seasonings, a splash of cream adds rich flavor to this simple sauté, while lemon zest enhances the leeks and asparagus. One reviewer noted that he added a heaping teaspoon of coarse ground mustard to the sauce which added some texture and a pleasant piquancy. I might try that next time, although we thought the finished dish was fine as it was.
The two organic leeks that I bought were quite large and when sliced down amounted to around 5-6 cups as opposed to two, which suited us just fine, and actually made a substitute for a side of egg noodles (which we didn’t make.) Our opinion was that it was filling enough without the addition of a starch, but it would certainly stretch the meal if you included egg noodles.
Sirloin Tip Steak Sauté with Leeks and Asparagus
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 lb. sirloin tip steaks (about 4)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2-1/4 oz. (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 oz. (2 Tbs.) unsalted butter
- 2 large leeks (white and light-green parts only), trimmed, halved lengthwise, and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 3/4 cup chicken broth, homemade prefered
- 8-12 oz. asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces on a sharp diagonal
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
- 1-1/2 Tbs. thinly sliced fresh chives
Directions
- Pat the beef dry with paper towels and season on all sides with 1-1/2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. black pepper. Dredge the beef in the flour, shaking off the excess.
- Heat the oil and 1 Tbs. of the butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the butter melts and the foam subsides.
- Add the steaks and cook, turning once, until browned, 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board.
- Add the remaining 1 Tbs. butter and the leeks to the skillet. Season lightly with salt and cook, stirring often, until softened and browned in spots, about 3 minutes.
- Raise the heat to high, add the wine, and cook, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spatula to release any browned bits, until almost evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the broth and boil until reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, cut the beef crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
- Add the asparagus to the skillet and return the sauce to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until the asparagus is just tender, about 3 minutes.
- Add the cream and beef to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the beef is just pink and heated through and the sauce thickens slightly, 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, stir in the zest, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve alone or over cooked egg noodles and garnish with the chives.
from Fine Cooking
Accounting for Taste 