Steak

Prime Rib

Ingredients:

1/4 cup fresh Rosemary
2 Tbsp Thyme
1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1-2 celery stalks chopped
1 can/box of Beef Broth
1 standing rib roast (prime rib), ~7 pounds
Freshly ground pepper
As much coarse salt that will stick to the meat

Pre-season meat 24 hours in advance. Place on a baking sheet and let sit uncovered overnight in the fridge. Then, 30 minutes to 1.5 hours before you are ready to cook, let it sit out on the counter and get to room temperature.

Preheat oven to lowest possible temperature setting, 150°F or higher if necessary. (Some ovens cannot hold a temperature below 250°F) Place roast, with fat cap up, on a V-rack set in a large roasting pan. Add onions and celery to the bottom of the roasting pan, and enough beef broth to cover the bottom of the pan. While it cooks baste with the pan juices every half hour or so.

Cook until center of roast registers 120-125°F for rare, 130°F for medium-rare, or 135°F for medium to medium-well. Remove roast from oven and tent loosely with aluminum foil and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes. The temperature will rise by about 5°F while resting. (At 250°F, our 7lbs roast took ~3 hours. We took it out of the oven at 129°F and after resting it had reached 134.5°F which was perfect.)

Take pan juices and transfer to a small pot and simmer until it reduces slightly. The Au Jus should be runny, so it does not have to reduce by much. Taste and add seasonings as necessary. Strain out onions, celery, and skim some fat from the top before transferring to a gravy boat for serving.

Beef Wellington

For the Duxelles:
3 pints (1 1/2 pounds) white button mushrooms
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Beef:
1 (3-pound) center cut beef tenderloin (Filet Mignon)
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 thin slices prosciutto
6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Flour, for rolling out puff pastry
1 pound puff pastry, thawed if using frozen
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Directions (preheat oven to 400)

To make the Duxelles: Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add butter and olive oil to a large saute pan and set over medium heat. Add the shallot and mushroom mixture and saute for 8 to 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

To prepare the beef: Season the tenderloin with salt and pepper and sear all over, in a hot cast iron skillet. When the beef is seared, remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, and then smear lightly all over with Dijon mustard. Meanwhile get out a sheet of plastic wrap. Shingle the prosciutto on top of the plastic wrap so it forms a rectangle that is big enough to encompass the entire filet of beef. Then spread a thin layer of duxelles on top of the prosciutto. Season the surface of the duxelles with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. Next place the beef on the duxelles covered prosciutto and roll up using the plastic wrap to tie it up nice and tight. Tuck in the ends of the prosciutto as you roll to completely encompass the beef. Set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Remove beef from refrigerator and take off the plastic. Set the beef in the center of the pastry and fold over the longer sides, brushing with egg wash to seal. Trim ends if necessary then brush with egg wash and fold over to completely seal the beef. Place the beef seam side down on a baking sheet. Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash then make a couple of slits in the top of the pastry. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until pastry is golden brown and beef registers 125 degrees F. Remove from oven and rest before cutting into thick slices.

NOTE: This can be made with a pork tenderloin as well. Follow the recipe exactly the same, just use pork instead of beef. And cook until internal temp is 140, aiming for 145 after resting.

Filet Mignon with Brandy Caramel Mushroom Glaze

Ingredients

4 (8-ounce) filet mignons
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons coarsely cracked black pepper
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
7 tablespoons brandy
6 tablespoons light brown sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Season beef with salt on all sides. Place coarse pepper in a shallow dish and dip the cut sides of the filets into the pepper, pressing lightly to coat.
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a large saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the steaks and sear on both sides until well browned, 2 minutes on each side. Transfer the steaks to an oven-proof baking dish and place in the oven. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes for medium-rare.
While the steaks are cooking in the oven, add 1 tablespoon of the remaining butter to the same saute pan used for the steaks. Add the mushrooms and cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown around the edges, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and reserve.
Remove the skillet from the heat and add the garlic cloves and 6 tablespoons of the brandy to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any browned particles from the bottom of the pan. Return the skillet to the heat, being careful that the brandy does not flame up. Cook until reduced by half; this will happen very quickly.
Add 2 tablespoons of the remaining butter and the brown sugar, stirring to combine.
When the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is bubbly, whisk in the cream, reduce the heat to medium-high and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until mixture is sauce consistency and coats the back of a spoon.
Add the reserved mushrooms to the pan and season with the salt, and pepper.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining tablespoon of butter and the remaining tablespoon of brandy. Serve immediately over warm steaks.

Asian Flat Iron Steak

Photo: SavorySweetLife.com

A delicious Asian-inspired grilled flat iron steak recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman by the blogger at SavorySweetLife.com. Her post can be found here. I gave this recipe a try, because we LOVE flat iron steaks. We like to buy them locally from a farmer that raises grass fed cows, and learned that our farmer’s market steaks were a little tougher than the store bought ones. So we tried a marinade on on and it was amazing!

Ingredients

1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Sherry
1/4 cup Honey
2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
2 Tablespoons (heaping) Minced Ginger
2 Tablespoons (3-5 cloves) Minced Garlic
teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
2 Flat Iron Steaks
Garnish: 2 Tablespoons Roasted Sesame Seeds and 2 Green Onions, slivered.

Instructions

Gather all ingredients together – soy sauce, sherry, honey, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and flat iron steak.
Whisk the ingredients in a bowl. Place the steaks and marinade in a ziplock bag and chill in the refrigerator for 3-6 hours.Grill steaks on high heat for 4 minutes on each side for medium rare steaks. Allow steaks to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds and green onion slivers on top to garnish.