Pan Roasted Steak With Chimichurri Sauce

Like many people, my favorite meal always features a beautifully cooked steak.  Instead of serving it with the usual mashed potatoes, try this Chimichurri sauce.  Adapted from a common Argentinian condiment, this is sure to wake up your taste buds.  The fresh herbs and garlic explode with flavor while cutting through the richness of the Rib-eye.

Recipe:

List of Ingredients – (Serves four)

4 Rib-eye steaks

1 ½ cups of loosely packed Italian flat leaf parsley

1 ½ cup of loosely packed Cilantro

4 cloves of peeled whole garlic

¼ cup olive oil

1 lemon

1 teaspoon Cumin

                                                                                                            

The first thing to do is get the steaks out of the fridge and preheat your over to 350 degrees. Cooking the beef at room temperature will not only shorten the cooking time, but it will produce a much more evenly cooked steak.  Season them liberally with salt and pepper.  Ever wonder why those steaks you get in a restaurant taste so much better than the ones you make at home?  It’s probably because you’re not using enough salt. Don’t be afraid to season your food!  

Next you’re going to need to get out the blender.  Toss in your garlic, cumin, parsley, cilantro, olive oil and the juice of one lemon.  Let it run on high for 10 second then turn it off and push down the herbs to help it along, you’re going to have to repeat this process several times until everything is blended smoothly.  

By this time the steaks should have lost most of their chill from the fridge.  Heat an oven safe pan on high with enough vegetable oil to thinly coat the bottom.  When you start to see a slight smoke from the oil.put in the steaks and sear for two minutes on each side. Place the steaks into your preheated oven.  For medium rare roast for 7 minutes, for medium 8 minutes, and 9 for well done.  Time will vary slightly depending on the thickness of the meat.  Let the steak rest for 5 minutes before serving. 

The steak can be served simply with the Chimichurri or send it over the top with a side of grilled vegetables.  Enjoy!

Thai Inspired Beef Salad

I’m not crazy about the usual boring salad, but throw in some juicy beef, crunchy vegetables, and creamy peanut dressing and things get interesting.  This salad wins over people who think they don’t like salad by bringing serious flavor to the table.  If you like wimpy salads you best look elsewhere.

 

List of Ingredients - (Serves four)

1 NY strip steak

1 head of your favorite salad lettuce

1 cup smooth peanut butter

¼ cup ricewine vinegar

¼ cup of dry roasted peanuts

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon of grated ginger or paste from the jar

1 cup of cilantro

1 lime

1 carrot stick

1 cucumber

1 teaspoon of both salt and pepper

Start by pan roasting your steak; if you need tips on how to cook the steak properly look at my recipe for Steak with Chimichurri sauce.  Let the steak rest for 10 minutes before slicing into strips for the salad. 
  
Combine in a sauce pan on low heat: peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, ginger, soy sauce, lime juice and salt and pepper.  Once the heat has melted the peanut butter and all the ingredients are combined turn off the heat and let the dressing cool slightly.  Dress your salad with the warm peanut sauce and top with slices of steak, cucumber, carrot, cilantro, and peanuts.  

 Welcome to salad nirvana.   

Homemade Hot Chocolate

There is something soul satisfying about a great cup of hot chocolate.  When it’s cold outside and the snow is falling it’s easy to sip away as you day dream of what Santa might be bringing this year.  It only takes a few minutes to make and is a great recipe to use if you want to get your kids involved in the kitchen. 

List of Ingredients- (Serves four)

2 cup of heavy cream

4 cups of whole milk

3.5 ounces of good dark chocolate

3.5 ounces of good milk chocolate

Whipped cream for topping

This is so simple and delicious.  I should warn you that the higher quality of chocolate you use in this recipe the better it will taste, so take that into consideration. 

Combine the cream and milk in a sauce pan and heat until just before the boiling point. You should see wisps of steam but no boiling in the pan.  Turn off the heat and add your chocolate. Stir constantly with a whisk until all the chocolate is dissolved.   

Ladle into mugs and top with whipped cream and maybe a few chocolate shavings.  This blows the instant powder stuff out of the water!