Pan Roasted Dry-Aged Rib-Eye Steaks

Today’s post is special, folks.  This is a guest post from none other than my wonderful husband, Christopher!  Over the next few weeks/months, Christopher will be occasionally guest blogging here on Bella’s Bistro with recipes from his new favorite cookbook – Momofuku.  I hope you enjoy it!

So, without further adieu…here’s Christopher.

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Hello everyone!

I have found a new love – no, it’s not another woman – it’s the Momofuku cookbook by David Chang.  Publishers Weekly gives a brilliant synopsis of the book… “Chang, master restaurateur and chef, and Meehan, a New York Times food writer, join forces in this stellar collection of recipes from Chang’s restaurants—Momofuku, Ssäm Bar and Ko. Chang is a man possessed with a deep love of ramen and a clear passion for food. This book pays tribute to the humble noodle, which Chang has elevated to a near art form, and the wide array of cuisine he serves. Filled with 150 gorgeous, full-color photos and an engrossing narrative, this book is a treat for the eye, mind and palate.”

I worried about using $40 worth of steak for my first Momofuku kitchen adventure…what if I screwed it up?

That’s pretty impossible to do with this dish (unless, of course, you cook it past medium).  The directions in the cookbook are very explicit and even a novice like me was able to pull this off with success.

This was the best steak I’ve ever eaten – at home or in a restaurant.  It’s definitely not something you’d want to make every week, but for special occasions, this will definitely be my go-to recipe!

INGREDIENTS
1 Bone-in Dry-aged rib-eye steak (we used two boneless steaks b/c that’s all the butcher had ready)
3 Cloves of garlic, crushed
2 Shallots, cut in half
6 Sprigs of thyme (did not use)
4T. Unsalted butter
Copious amounts of salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
Remove the steaks from the fridge 30 minutes before you are going to start cooking.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and season steaks very liberally with salt and pepper.

Heat cast iron pan over high heat until super hot.  Add steaks and cook 2 minutes.  Flip over and cook another 2 minutes.  Be warned – there will be A LOT of smoke.  Unplug the smoke alarm, open some windows and run the ceiling fan if you have one.  Just don’t forget to plug the smoke alarm back in when done.

Flip steaks again and immediately place pan in oven for 8 minutes (since ours were boneless, we went with 6 minutes).

Remove from oven and place pan on the stove top, on low heat.  Melt butter in pan and add garlic, shallots and thyme.  Once butter is melted, using a heavy-duty pot holder, hold the pan at a 45 degree angle and baste the steaks constantly with the butter for 2-3 minutes.

Remove steaks from the pan and let rest 10 minutes.  DO NOT think that you can skip this step and eat right away.  Just don’t do it.  Your patience will be rewarded.

Serve with a small cup of the butter mixture for drizzling all over your whole plate (the butter was amazing on our roasted asparagus side dish).

Wife Rating – 5 out of 5 – “If I could given this a higher rating, I would!”

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Classic Grilled Flank Steak

Last month I was contacted by The Nest Magazine asking if I wanted to be a guinea pig for a recipe and piece of cookware. Of course I accepted!

They quickly sent me a recipe for this classic grilled flank steak and informed me that I would be sent a new Calphalon indoor grill pan to make the dish. Yippie!

So, I patiently waited for the pan to arrive and when it did I got right to work.

I’ve never marinated beef in red wine before (we just never have it in the house) but this steak is really tasty and came together very quickly!  My only change might be to add more Worcestershire sauce. I love the way it tastes but didn’t taste it at all in the dish.

The grill pan was awesome, by the way. It was raining the night I made the dish and I would have been cranky if I had to grill in the rain – I know some people grill in any/all weather – but I’m not one of them.  And, as a huge bonus, the pan is oven safe to 500 degrees and dishwasher safe.  Score!

I will definitely be making this dish more often!

Recipe courtesy of Calphalon.

INGREDIENTS
3/4lb. Flank steak, trimmed
1/4 Large yellow onion
1/2t. Freshly ground black pepper
1 Sprig fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 Sprig fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
1 Clove garlic, minced
1/4C. Vegetable oil
1/2C. Dry red wine
1T. Soy sauce
1t. Worcestershire sauce
1 Bay leaf

DIRECTIONS
Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a heavy, self-sealing plastic bag.

Add the flank steak and refrigerate for four hours, or overnight (be sure to check on it and flip the bag over a few times so that the marinade gets even contact with all of the meat).

Before cooking the steak, preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat until the rim of the pan is hot to the touch.

Brush the grill generously with vegetable oil and allow it to heat for another minute.

Place the steak in the pan and cook, turning once, about 4 minutes per side for medium rare (I did 5 min so the steak would be closer to medium).

Allow the steak to rest for five minutes.  To serve, slice on the bias into thin strips.

Husband Rating – 4 out of 5 – “Very tasty alternative to our usual steaks.”

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Grilled Garlic Herb Flank Steak

While at Whole Foods the other day Christopher and I spotted some yummy looking marinade in front of the meat counter and figured “what the heck, let’s give it a whirl.”  So, we picked it up along with a great looking piece of flank steak.  It was SO good!

(I have not been compensated for recommending the marinade, I just thought it was super-tasty and wanted to share our new find)

INGREDIENTS
1lb. Flank Steak
1 Bottle, ‘Whole Meat’ Garlic Herb Marinade
White Rice, for serving

DIRECTIONS
Pierce meat with a fork and put in a large Ziploc bag.  Add marinade and let sit at least 2 hours.

Grill 5 minutes on each side or until desired doneness is achieved.

Let rest at least 5 minutes.  Serve over rice.

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Husband Rating – 3.5 out of 5 – “mmmm…meat!”

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Philly Cheese Steaks

When I saw this recipe, from LovesToEat, in my Google Reader I knew we had to have these this week!  So, I put it on our menu.  I’m so glad we did!  They were fabulous!  These are definitely going to be showing up in our regular rotation from now on.

My apologies for the crappy pic – my camera was dead and I hate posting without pictures.

INGREDIENTS
3/4lb. Top Sirloin (pretty much whatever cut of meat you enjoy)
1/2 Green pepper, cut into strips
1/2 Red pepper, cut into strips
1/2 White onion, cut into half moons
1 Clove garlic, pressed
S&P to taste
Cheese of choice (I used American, H used soy pepper jack)
Grinder rolls

DIRECTIONS
Add a small amount of oil to a large pan.  Add peppers and onions and cook 5 minutes.

S&P the steaks. Move veggies to the outside of the pan and add steaks to the middle.  Cook 3-4 minutes on each side.  Remove and rest.

Add garlic to pepper/onion mixture and stir to combine.

Slice steak and add to grinder rolls.  Top with peppers, onions and cheese.

Place under broiler to melt cheese and slightly toast the bread.

Enjoy!

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Husband Rating – 3 out of 5 – “It’s times like this when I miss real cheese.”

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Cilantro Lime Steak

My husband loves cilantro.  Probably more than any person should.  So, when I saw this recipe on Recipezaar I knew I had to make it.  The steaks were delicious and would make excellent fajitas!  We’ll definitely be making this again.

INGREDIENTS:
2-4 Steaks (whatever cut of meat you like is fine.  Our butcher had some good looking rib eyes…so that’s what we picked)
3T. Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
3T. Water
1T. Fresh Cilantro Leaves, chopped
1 Small Jalapeno Pepper, chopped and seeded
2 Garlic Cloves, pressed
1/4t. Ground Cumin

Directions:
Combine lime juice, cilantro, water, jalapeño pepper, garlic and cumin and pour into a large zip-top plastic bag.

Add steaks, seal and shake bag to coat meat.

Let marinate in refrigerator 1-2 hours,shaking bag every now and then.

Grill steaks over medium heat until cooked to your liking, turning once.

Serve and enjoy.

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Husband Rating – 4 out of 5 – “Oh, these are delicious!”

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Flank Steak with Vegetables

So, it’s Sunday night…time to clean out the fridge. This is usually when Hubs and I come up with some of our best recipes (taking random things from the fridge and throwing them together). Tonight we had some flank steak and a bunch of leftover veggies…so here’s the result.

I rubbed the meat with chili powder, sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Then I cooked it up in my stovetop grill pan.

Then, we took all the leftover veggies from the fridge (3/4 of an onion, a red pepper, a yellow pepper and various hot peppers (jalapeno, habanero…etc…) and cooked them up in a pan.

Once the steak was done, and rested, we topped it with the veggies.

It was a really simple and easy Sunday night dinner.

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