Tag Archives: steak

Shallot Red Wine Steak Sauce

by Stephanie | 6 Comments

Sometimes I like to cook up a couple of big juicy steaks, mix up a salad, and call it dinner. David likes it, too. But sometimes, plain old steak gets boring. I’m not one to dip my steak in ketchup, but I want something to eat my steak with. Something good. Well, that brings me to our  next recipe: shallot and red wine steak sauce. This whole meal fits together quite nicely, almost like a puzzle where the steak fits into the sauce and then the sauce with the glass of red wine you are drinking with dinner. Because it’s the same wine, you see.

And that is a perfect night at home, good food, a glass of wine and great company.

Shallot & Red Wine Steak Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 2 steaks (make sure they have some fat on them, you’ll need it!)
  • 1 gigantic shallot, or 2 regular sized ones, cut into rings
  • 2 springs of thyme, leaves only
  • 1 cup red wine
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Turn on your broiler (this step is optional; you can really cook the whole steaks on the stove, but my tiny apartment + a lot of smoke = angry smoke alarm) and line a baking sheet with tin foil
  2. Sear the steaks in a little bit of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan for 4 minutes on each side (you may need to do this one at a time), or whenever they lift up easily. I used my dutch oven, because I have a limited collection of meat cookware.
  3. Remove the steaks to the prepared baking sheet and let them finish cooking in the broiler (or a plate if they’re done).
  4. Lower the flame, add the shallots to the pan with a pinch of salt and cook for 8-10 minutes until the shallots cook down and become soft.
  5. Add the thyme and wine and raise the fire. Reduce the sauce by about half.
  6. Spoon the sauce over the steaks and eat.

Steak Tacos

by Stephanie | Leave a comment

Wednesday is always Mexican night at our house. Well, not officially, but it seems that on Wednesdays we happen to eat tacos. It can be fish tacos, chopped meat or bean tacos, but this time it was steak tacos! And it was delicious.

Tacos don’t photograph that well, but I tried my best to show you what my dinner looked like above.

I marinated two sandwich steaks all day, and when I got home from work I “grilled” them in my cast iron pan before slicing them up and loading them into a tortilla with some complementing flavors.

These steak tacos were fun, and felt a little bit fancier than the chopped meat kinds we usually have on meat taco night, especially since I marinated the beef all day. Sure, it took some extra time before leaving for work, but I’d say it was worth it. It didn’t take that long!

Steak Tacos

Ingredients:

For the steak:

  • 2 sandwich steaks
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 small yellow onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • a few cracks of black pepper

For the salad:

  • 1 bunch of arugula, cleaned, dried, and chopped
  • a handful of cilantro, cleaned, dried, and chopped
  • 1 green pepper, chopped
  • juice of one lime
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

For assembling the tacos:

  • 8″ corn tortillas, toasted over the open flame of your stove – careful not to light them on fire!
  • your favorite salsa, taco sauce or homemade guacamole (I made some of that! I’ll share that recipe with you, too.)
  • sauteed onions and peppers, or whatever else you want to put on top of your taco…

Directions:

For the steak:

  1. Put all of the spices in a mini food processor (you can use a mortar and pestle) and pulse until it turns into a paste.
  2. Place steak in a glass dish and cover both sides with the marinade. Cover and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours or all day.
  3. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and cook the steak, only about 4 minutes on each side. Put on a plate and let sit for 10 minutes.
  4. Cut the steaks in thin strips against the grain.

For the salad:

  1. Add lime juice, salt and pepper to a small bowl. Whisk in some olive oil to make the dressing.
  2. Combine arugula, cilantro and peppers in a bigger bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat.

Assemble your tacos:

  1. After heating the tortillas, place them on a place. Smear some salsa or guac and place a few strips of steak on top. Finish with some salad on top, fold and eat! Don’t forget extra napkins!

So, what’s your favorite kind of taco? Do you prefer the meat kind, or do you miss melty cheese and sour cream too much, and prefer bean tacos?