The Perfect 15 minute Steak...Indoors!

The Perfect 15 minute Steak...Indoors!

Contained within the culinary diversions of the bachelor few food are as highly prized as the steak. Now although a perfectly grilled steak is often considered about as close to the divine as can be found on the earth that is an option available to many during only short periods of the year where outdoor grilling is reasonably feasible. That is where I step in with the admitted inspiration coming from celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.

First off a little history on how I came up with this recipe. A while back I was watching a lot of Top Chef (one might say I was becoming a bit of an addict) which is where I first became aware of Anthony Bourdain and while I was web surfing for more crap about the show I encountered a steak recipe that he used to use in his restaurant. Although I rarely cook from a recipe I decided to make an exception in this case as just reading the recipe was making my mouth water but low and behold his recipe called for cognac something which I miraculously didn't have on hand so to the rescue came some very nice blended aged scotch.

It was amazing one of the best steaks I had ever had definitely better than any I had ever had in any restaurant save one or 2 maybe but at the same time I knew I could improve on this. So over the next few weeks I tirelessly tested new tweaks using different varieties of steak, alcohol, seasonings and other additives and here is the final result...

Whiskey sauce seared butter steak

Dishes Dirtied- 1 Frying Pan, 1 Kitchen Knife, 1 Cutting Board, 1 Spatula, 1 Oven Pan

Ingredients

1- 12 to 14 oz Bone in Strip loin Steak

2- Ounces of Bourbon

1/8- Cup of Butter

2 Cloves of Garlic

4- Ounces of Mushrooms

1- Bundle of Green Onions

Salt and Pepper to your taste

First thing to do is get the prep work out of the way so we take the mushrooms and onions and slice them up keeping them separate then finely chop the garlic. While you are doing this prep preheat your oven to 350F and put the pan on to get hot at a medium/high temperature (around 7 on most stoves). Once this is done you are ready to begin cooking.

Now we go over to the frying pan and place in our butter, while it is melting we take a sprinkle of salt and pepper and put them into the butter along with the garlic. Once the butter is completely melted wait another 3 or 4 seconds or until the garlic begins to sizzle then place in the steak. Sear the steak on each each side for about 3-4 minutes or until some nice browning appear then take your steak put it into the oven pan and place it inot your preheated oven. The steak is now basically done depending on how well you like your steak leave it in the oven for 6-7 minutes for rare, 8-10 for medium rare, and 10-12 for medium any more than that and you are just cooking the steak to death.

With the steak in the oven we go back to the frying pan and put in our mushrooms and then carefully pouring in the whiskey (be very careful as you are pouring alcohol to a hot pan so as to avoid flare ups). We now just saute the mushrooms until they are about done and the liquid in the pan has started to reduce. Just before the mushrooms are done add your green onions to the frying pan as well.

Now that the mushrooms and onions are done and the steak is out of the oven garnish the steak with the mushrooms and serve with the potato or salad side dish of your choice. If you are anything like me you will find yourself in culinary bliss.

There are few really fun ways to play with this recipe as well. If you add a dry rub of chillies to the steak before cooking and replace the bourbon with 1-1/2 oz of Tequila and ½ oz of Lime juice and you have a lovely Margarita steak. Also using Sherry with a touch of cream instead of the Bourbon is fantastic as well and tastes very french.

As a final note I will add a few pointers on picking out the right steak as not all steaks are created equal.
 

The first thing to look for and that which most people already know about is Marbling. Marbling quite simply is the fine lines of fatty tissue inside the muscle (meaty) tissue of the steak. What you are looking for here is thin veins of fat that are somewhat common and dispersed evenly throughout the steak.

Second is the grain of the meat. The grain should be reasonably fine while still having texture. A grain that is too fine will lead to a texture less steak and a grain that is too coarse will lead to a steak that is too tough.

Finally and this should go without saying if the option is available to you get your meat directly from a farmer or from a farmers market. A local farmer (non factory farm) is going to treat their meat and prepare their meat the way they would want done for themselves thus you usually get meat that is better bred, raised, slaughtered, aged, and butchered. If getting directly from a farmer isn't an option then maybe a traditional style butcher is available in your area and they are a great second option.

Simply a well chosen and cooked steak truly is the king of all meat dishes and is something that should be in the cooking repertoire of any self loving bachelor so enjoy and until next time keep your food close and your liquor even closer.

Bleeding Teddy – The Bachelor Gourmet