Tag Archives: steak

Porcini-Seasoned Steak au Poivre

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For a decadent but easy “date-night” dinner, splurge a little on some decent steaks, then make this au poivre sauce to take it to the next level. Another hack to ensure great steak is to dry-age it. The dry-aging process allows the meat’s natural enzymes to break down the connective tissue, resulting in a more tender steak. The process also causes the meat’s moisture to evaporate, intensifying the beefy flavor and creating a unique taste and texture.

About the sauce. “Mushroom powder sounds illicit, but it’s actually a secret-weapon umami bomb.” Here, dried porcini mushrooms are pulverized, mixed with salt and pepper, then rubbed all over steaks for intense seasoning. Additionally, some water is stirred in for an instant broth, making a full-flavored pan sauce. Crème fraîche, instead of heavy cream, gives the sauce body and richness. And what a treat they are!

Avoid moving the steaks until halfway through cooking. They will release easily when properly seared. *We thought the amount of black pepper was pretty intense and would cut it back to 1 tablespoon, but that’s a choice we’ll leave up to you…

The extra sauced can be spooned over your sides such as pasta, mashed potatoes or vegetables. Our sides were porcini tagliatelle and sautéed spinach and garlic.

Porcini-Seasoned Steak au Poivre

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1/4 oz. dried porcini mushrooms, broken into pieces
  • 1½ Tbsp.* whole black peppercorns
  • 1 ½ tsp. Kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp. neutral oil
  • 2 1-lb. beef strip steaks or ribeye steaks, trimmed
  • 2 Tbsp. salted butter
  • 1 medium shallot, minced
  • 4 Tbsp. brandy, divided
  • 1/4 cup crème fraîche
  • Finely chopped fresh chives, to serve

Directions

  1. In a spice grinder, pulverize the porcini to a fine powder; transfer to a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of the porcini powder to 1½ cups water; set aside. In the spice grinder, pulse the peppercorns until coarsely ground. Stir the pepper and 1½ teaspoons salt into the remaining porcini powder; sprinkle and rub over the steaks. (Dry-age the steaks for 24 to 48 hours prior, if desired.) Add any seasoning that falls off to the porcini water.
  2. In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, heat the oil until barely smoking. Add the steaks, reduce to medium and cook until the centers reach 120°F for medium-rare, 10 to 12 minutes; flip halfway through. Transfer to a platter, and tent with foil while you make the sauce. Discard any fat in the pan.
  3. In the same pan over medium, melt the butter. Add the shallot and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Off heat, add 3 tablespoons of the brandy. Return to medium and cook, scraping up the browned bits, until slightly reduced. Add the porcini water; cook over medium-high, stirring, until a spatula drawn through leaves a trail, 8 to 10 minutes.
  4. Whisk in the crème fraîche, remaining 1 tablespoon brandy and any steak juices; cook, whisking, until slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Off heat, taste and season with salt and pepper. Slice the steaks, return to the platter and pour the sauce over them. Sprinkle with chives.

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Recipe by Hisham Hassan for Milk Street

Steak with Olive White-Wine Pan Sauce

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Craving a quick red meat meal? Rib-eye steaks are front and center here, while pimento-stuffed green olives and white wine provide a salty, briny component. With just the two of us for dinner, only one steak was necessary, but it was big and thick—we even had some leftovers. We did not cut back on the other ingredients, and intentionally used more than a half cup of the olives.

Oh, an addition to the recipe was dry-aging our steak. Dry-aging, improves flavor and texture while making cuts easier to cook simply and beautifully. Tenderization occurs when enzymes naturally present in the meat act to break down some of the tougher muscle fibers and connective tissues. A well-aged steak should be noticeably more tender than a fresh steak.

As you are well aware, dry-aged meat at a restaurant or grocery store can cost twice as much as its younger counterparts, but you can do it at home, better—and for free. Exposing meat to cold, circulating air for an extended period of time gently dehydrates it, concentrating flavor and increasing the ratio of fat to muscle. It’s best to dry-age a steak on a rack, uncovered, overnight and up to several days.

Don’t slice the steaks until they have rested for 10 minutes. Resting not only permits the meat to finish cooking with residual heat, it gives the muscle fibers a chance to relax, thereby allowing the juices forced to the surface during cooking to redistribute throughout meat. This results in less moisture loss during slicing.

A little history behind this recipe: This is a riff on a dish from the new edition of “Spain: The Cookbook” written by Simone Ortega and first published in Spain in 1972. The 1,080-recipe tome has since become a bible of Spanish home cooking. We use pimento-stuffed green olives to add pops of bright color and flavor to the white wine pan sauce. Serve with warm, crusty bread to soak up any sauce left on the plate.

Steak with Olive White-Wine Pan Sauce

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 2 1-lb. boneless ribeye steaks, each about 1 inch thick, trimmed and patted dry
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. grapeseed or other neutral oil
  • 3 Tbsp. salted butter, cut into 1-Tbsp. pieces, divided
  • 1 medium garlic clove, smashed and peeled
  • ½ cup pimento-stuffed green olives, finely chopped, plus 1 Tbsp. olive brine
  • ½ cup dry white wine
  • 1 Tbsp. sherry vinegar

Directions

  1. Season the steaks on both sides with salt and pepper. If possible, dry age the steak on a rack, uncovered, overnight and up to several days.
  2. In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, heat the oil until barely smoking.Add the steaks, reduce to medium and cook until well browned on the bottoms, 5 to 7 minutes.
  3. Flip and cook for 3 minutes, then add 1 tablespoon of butter and the garlic. Swirl the pan to distribute the butter and continue to cook until the second sides of the steaks are well browned, another 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.
  4. While the steaks rest, remove and discard the garlic, then set the pan over medium-high. Add the olives and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Add the wine, bring to a simmer and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the liquid has almost evaporated, about 3 minutes.
  5. Remove from the heat, stir in the olive brine, vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then stir until melted. Remove from the heat, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.
  6. After the steaks have rested, cut them on the diagonal into ¼- to ½-inch-thick slices. Transfer to a platter, pour over any accumulated juices and spoon on the sauce.

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Adapted from a recipe for Milk Street

Grilled Flap Steak, Mushroom and Onion Kebabs

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As you are aware, Shish kebab is a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat that is popular all over the Middle East, and made of lamb, beef or chicken, they also are commonly found in the United States. When selecting the type of beef to make your kebabs, you have unlimited choices but ultimately you want your beef on the skewer to be tasty, tender and not break your budget.

If cost is not a hindrance, the best cut of beef for kebabs is definitely filet mignon. Other excellent beef options include Porterhouse, and if it looks good at the butcher or in the meat counter, also try a rib-eye. They all grill nicely and don’t require a marinade to make them tender. But while those cuts meet the criteria of best tasty beef, they’re pricey and will take a chunk out of your wallet.

For those looking for great flavor on a budget, sirloin tips work well if they are marinated ahead to make them more flavorful. Our choice, flap meat. Historically, flap meat was one of the cuts of beef that butchers kept out of the meat case for a reason: they were saving it for themselves. Much like skirt steak and hanger steak, it’s becoming more widely known and popular, and therefore easier to find in markets everywhere. (Costco carries flap meat.)

With its great beefy flavor, flap steak has a similar texture and grain to flank, hanger and skirt steaks. It tends to come to the market at 3 to 4 pounds, whereas skirt and flank steaks average around 2 pounds or less. Price-wise, flank and flap steaks are about the same.

We had 2 pounds of flap meat instead of the 18 ounces originally called for, so we also increased the mushrooms from 8 to 12 ounces. Another alteration to the recipe was adding 6 whole smashed garlic cloves to the marinade. Our kebabs were served with a minted couscous (recipe below), and a baby arugula side salad that also contained mint.

Grilled Steak, Mushroom and Onion Kebabs

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 6 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 6 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. minced fresh rosemary
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
  • 2 lbs. flap steak, cut into 24 cubes
  • 12 oz. baby bella (cremini) mushrooms, trimmed of stem
  • 1 large Vidalia onion, sliced into 12 wedges

Directions

  1. Whisk oil, vinegar, mustard, garlic cloves and rosemary into a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add steak to a bowl, and mix to coat. Cover with plastic wrap (or place in a ziploc bag) and transfer to the refrigerator to marinate for a minimum of 1 hour (longer is better).
  2. While beef is marinating, soak 12 bamboo skewers in water.
  3. To assemble skewers: Add 1 piece of steak, 1 mushroom and onion wedge. Continue by adding the same. Continue until all 12 skewers are complete.
  4. Preheat the grill on high for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high and clean and then oil grates. Add skewers Cook for approximately 2-3 minutes and then flip skewers. Continue cooking for additional 2 minutes.
  5. Transfer to serving plate. Garnish with fresh rosemary if desired.

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Adapted from a recipe from Paula of Bell’alimento for The Mushroom Council

Minted Couscous

Minted Couscous

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 3⁄4 cup tri-colored couscous
  • 1⁄2 cup frozen peas, thawed
  • 1⁄4 cup fresh mint, chopped
  • 1 cup water
  • 3⁄4 tsp. salt
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced

Directions

  1. In a small bowl combine the lemon juice, olive oil and garlic.
  2. While the kebabs are grilling, bring 1 cup water and 3⁄4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
  3. Stir in the couscous, peas, and lemon juice mixture. Cover, remove from heat and let stand at least until the peas are tender and the couscous has absorbed all of the liquid, at least 10 minutes.

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Steak Au Poivre

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Bringing back a classic. Want to impress your significant other with an impossibly fancy-sounding dish that really isn’t all that complicated? Then Steak Au Poivre (pronounced oh-pwav) is your guy, …er recipe. Even though we made it for our Valentine’s dinner, you can make it for any special occasion, or just because.

Steak au poivre sounds as if it would be difficult, but it is actually quite simple to prepare, and makes an easy and elegant (perhaps somewhat pricy) meal. Essentially it is a sautéed steak, with a quick pan sauce. This version made with black peppercorns tastes bright but not overpoweringly peppery or boozy.

Although the classic cut of beef for this dish is filet mignon, other cuts of boneless steak can be prepared au poivre, including boneless ribeye, strip steak (our choice), or sirloin. Just remember, a bad or tough steak will still be tough, so select a decent piece of beef with good marbling. It’s best if you season the raw steaks with salt and pepper then place them on a rack without covering in the fridge for 8 up to 24 hours. Take them out of refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.

Because pepper is such an important part of the dish (at least one teaspoon of whole peppercorns per steak), it’s applaudable to splurge on high quality peppercorns. Crush the peppercorns with a light hand. They should be “just-cracked” into big pieces, so it’s best to use a mallet, or mortar and pestle, but not a pepper grinder. The au poivre sauce is made from pan drippings, liquor, and cream.

Steak Au Poivre

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 2 1½”-thick New York strip steaks (about 1½ lb. total)
  • Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
  • 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  • 4 Garlic cloves, 2 smashed, 2 thinly sliced
  • 3 Sprigs thyme
  • 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 Large shallot, finely chopped
  • ⅓ cup cognac, dry sherry, or brandy
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • Flaky sea salt

Directions

  1. Pat steaks dry with paper towels. Season all over with kosher salt and a generous amount of ground pepper. Let sit 15–30 minutes.
  2. Coarsely crush peppercorns with a mortar and pestle or place in a resealable plastic bag and crush with a small saucepan (they should be a lot coarser than ground pepper).
  3. Heat oil in a large skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high. Cook steaks, undisturbed, until a deep golden brown crust forms underneath, about 3 minutes. Turn over and cook on second side until golden brown, about 3 minutes. If the steaks have a fat cap, stand them on their sides with tongs and cook until browned, about 3 minutes.
  4. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add smashed garlic cloves, thyme sprigs, and 1 Tbsp. butter to the pan. Cook, basting steak continuously, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of each steak registers 120°, about 2 minutes. Transfer steaks to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes.
  5. Meanwhile, combine shallot, sliced garlic, crushed peppercorns, and remaining 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet and cook, stirring often, until shallot and garlic are softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
  6. Remove from heat and add cognac to pan. Set over medium heat and cook until cognac is mostly evaporated and spoon leaves streaks in skillet while stirring, 1–2 minutes. Add cream, bring to a simmer, and cook until sauce coats spoon, about 1 minute. Season with kosher salt.
  7. Slice steaks against the grain and transfer to a platter. Pour any juices from cutting board back into skillet and stir into sauce. Spoon sauce generously over steak; sprinkle with sea salt. 

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Adapted from recipe in “Cook This Book” by Molly Baz

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Flank Steak

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With the end of summer holiday on the horizon, a grilled steak is always a fan favorite. While there are some steaks that need nothing more than a little salt and pepper to bring out their beefy goodness, flank steak is not one of them.

This bold marinade is just the sort of seasoning the brawny cut begs for: lime juice and zest add brightness, brown sugar sweetness, and jalapeño and sriracha a complex heat. Just whiz it all together in a food processor and slather it on the meat.

Marinate overnight preferably, or a minimum of 2 hours, before tossing it on the grill. Lastly, always make more flank steak that you think you want. Leftovers are the best part—we used ours as part of a steak salad. For an extra boost of flavor, try adding 1/4 cup of bourbon and a little Worcestershire.

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Flank Steak

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp. scallions, coarsely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 fresh jalapeño chile pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
  • 1/2 lime, zested and juiced
  • 2 tsp. lime juice
  • 1 tsp. sriracha, or other hot sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 lbs. flank steak

Directions

  1. In a food processor, pulse together scallions, ginger, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, lime zest and juice, and sriracha. With the motor running, pour in oil until smooth
  2. Season steak with salt. Place in a large bowl and pour marinade over meat. Turn to coat well with the mixture. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
  3. When ready to cook the steak, heat the grill to medium-high heat. Transfer the meat to the grill and cook, covered, until it reaches the desired doneness (about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare). Let rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes, then slice thinly.

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Original recipe from NYTimes Cooking

Strip Steaks with Spicy Tomato-Basil Sauce

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In a recent Milk Street article we found this Strip Steaks with Spicy Tomato-Basil Sauce recipe which pairs a meaty steak with the sort of tomato sauce that might typically be used on pizza. There are many ways to prepare the dish, but this simple version is perfect for a weeknight meal.

The sauce is made with canned tomatoes, a punchiness from garlic and pepper flakes, and the umami quotient gets a kick up with a few anchovy fillets (in case you’re worried, the sauce won’t taste fishy at all). Slice and sauce the seared strip steaks, then finish the dish with torn fresh basil and fruity olive oil.

Our steaks were actually grilled because we wanted to take advantage of the nice weather, but either stovetop or hot grill sears the meat nicely. We served ours with orzo treated with olive oil and parsley; another option is thick slices of warm, crusty bread to dip in the sauce. And if you are lucky enough to have any of that fabulous sauce leftover, use it on pasta.

NOTE: Don’t use extra-virgin olive oil to sear the steaks; its smoke point is too low. Use grapeseed or another neutral oil to achieve a deep sear and to avoid the off flavor of overheated olive oil.

Keep in mind, the original recipe from Milk Street indicated this recipe would serve 4 to 6. The portions would be rather paltry if trying to feed six people. Our two strip steaks were smaller and a bit thinner, weighing in at just over a pound for two of them which rendered three servings.

Strip Steaks with Spicy Tomato-Basil Sauce

  • Servings: 2-4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
  • 2 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2-3 oil-packed anchovy fillets, chopped
  • 1/2-3/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
  • 1/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • 2 1-lb. beef strip steaks, each about 1 inch thick, trimmed and patted dry
  • 1 Tbsp. grapeseed or other neutral oil

Directions

  1. In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until beginning to turn golden, 30 to 60 seconds.
  2. Add the anchovies and pepper flakes; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds.
  3. Stir in the tomatoes with juices, a few basil leaves and ¼ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until a spatula drawn through the sauce leaves a trail, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and set aside; wipe out the skillet.
  4. Season the steaks on both sides with salt and black pepper. In the same skillet over medium-high, heat the neutral oil until barely smoking. Add the steaks, reduce to medium and cook until well browned on the bottoms, 5 to 7 minutes.
  5. Using tongs, flip the steaks and cook until the second sides are well browned and the centers register 120°F for medium-rare, another 5 to 7 minutes.
  6. Transfer to a platter, tent with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes.
  7. Transfer the steaks to a cutting board and slice them on the diagonal ¼ to ½ inch thick. Return to the platter and spoon on some of the sauce.
  8. Tear the remaining basil and sprinkle it over the top, then drizzle with additional olive oil. Serve the remaining sauce on the side.

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Recipe by Calvin Cox for Milk Street

Skirt Steak with Paprika Butter and Sagey Potatoes

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A new take on your steak and potatoes menu is this thinly sliced skirt steak with a lightly smoky, tangy paprika butter. While the steak recipe is enough to feed 10, and the potato recipe feeds 6-8, we halved both of them and still had leftovers for another meal. Both the meat and potato recipes hail from Food & Wine, neither of which employ a long list of ingredients.

Adobo Seco was our seasoning of choice for rubbing both sides of the steak(s), although just using salt and pepper works fine too. Remember, skirt steak is a very thin piece of meat so it will cook quickly on the grill, just a couple of minutes per side for medium rare. Make sure to slice against the grain when cutting it.

If desired, go ahead and make the paprika butter which can stand at room temperature for up to 4 hours; reheat the butter gently. We took the opportunity to do this step ahead of time, so we wouldn’t be rushed at the last minute.

  • Rub with oil and season
  • Grill over high heat
  • Slice across the grain
  • Spoon the paprika butter over meat
  • Serve right away

Skirt Steak with Paprika Butter

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
  • 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 tsp. smoked hot paprika
  • 2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • Salt
  • 5 lbs. skirt steaks
  • Vegetable oil, for rubbing
  • Freshly ground pepper

Directions

  1. Light a grill or heat a grill pan. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook over low heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add the paprika and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice and season with salt; keep warm.
  3. Rub the skirt steaks with oil and season with salt and pepper (or Adobo Seco seasoning). Grill over high heat until nicely charred and medium-rare, about 3 minutes per side.
  4. Transfer the steaks to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steaks across the grain.
  5. Spoon the paprika butter over the steak and serve right away.

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Recipe compliments of Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo for Food & Wine

We also added ratatouille made a few days ago and reheated for tonite’s dinner.

Smashed Sage-Butter Potatoes

Among the BEST potatoes we’ve ever eaten!

Smashed Sage-Butter Potatoes

  • Servings: 6-8
  • Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

  • 4 lbs small Yukon Gold potatoes, about 1 1/2″ diameter
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter (4 ounce)
  • 1/2 cup fresh sage leaves (about 1/4 ounce)
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • After cooling slightly, gently smash taters
  • Pour sage butter over smashed potatoes

Directions

  1. Add water to a Dutch oven to a depth of 1/2 inch; place a steamer basket in Dutch oven. Bring water to a boil over high. Place potatoes in steamer basket. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and steam until potatoes are tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet over medium. Add sage leaves, and cook, stirring constantly, until leaves turn dark green in spots and butter is light golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
  3. Place potatoes on a baking sheet, and gently smash using the bottom of a measuring cup. Transfer to a large serving bowl, and gently toss with sage butter. Season with salt to taste.

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Recipe compliments of Brian Marcy for Food & Wine