Steak Night

It’s hard to beat “steak night”, it’s a meal that pleases everyone in the family. In our house the favorite cut of steak is filet, and tonight that’s for dinner.

To me there are only two ways to cook steak, sous vide (if you have 6 or more people) or reverse sear (5 or less people). These two techniques are the best to ensure a even cook and the proper temp. For tonights steak, I did reverse sear, finishing the filets in a carbon steel skillet.

Filet doesn’t have a lot of fat, it is very tender (why its expensive), but sometimes the addition of something can add to the enjoyment of the filet. Tonight I did mushrooms, we love mushrooms.

These are whole baby bella mushrooms that I brown in a skillet with a little oil. Once I get good color on mushrooms I will add two tablespoons of bourbon. Then burn off the alcohol, add in 1 cup of beef stock and let reduce, stirring frequently. Once the sauce thickens, I add another cup of beef stock and continue to reduce. Once reduced I add qtr. cup of heavy cream, get to a consistency I like, add a little thyme, salt and pepper, combine and its ready.

I like to plate the mushrooms on the side and use the sauce to drizzle on the filet. I will tell you, each bite is heavenly.

I also believe (well exectued) sides are important to make this meal sing. Mashed potatoes are always a great choice. Tonight we had gruyere mashed potatoes. The potatoes were put through a potato ricer to get perfect delicate consistency. Asparagus is a classic side with a steak, it’s hard to be the classics. Again, the key is cooking these sides perfectly. The asparagus was baked and finished with parmesan reggiano, so good.

You can’t go wrong with steak night, but you better use the right cooking technique and make delicious sides.