Smothered Steak

Larry and I love our steaks, no doubt about it. I can’t eat as much steak as I used to, but I still love it. I think Larry would eat steak every night of the week if he could. Steaks are good no matter how they are prepared. We like to grill steaks a lot, but I think my favorite way to prepare and eat them is to pan-sear them to give them a nice crust, cooked to a perfect medium rare. YUMMY! We are talking my language here. 🙂

Not only do I love my steaks, but I also like sauces. I believe the sauce makes the meal. It was steak night once again. I pan-seared it and then “smothered” it with a delicious mushroom and pepper cream sauce. We had a lot of different vegetables going on in this meal. There were peppers, mushrooms and onions in the sauce, and green beans and potatoes on the side, with a few of my bacon and tomato bites added to round it all out. And to complete the meal, a delicious smooth Spanish red blend. So counting the wine, I guess you could say I added some fruit to the meal too. 🙂

One of my favorite ways to prepare a steak is to pan-sear it and give the steak a nice crust. This lends itself perfectly for any sauce or topping you might want to add, though none is needed if you choose not to top your steak either.

In order to make the perfect seared steak, pat the steak dry with paper towels, then add some simple seasonings, like salt & pepper, and herbs or other dry seasonings too if you like. Cover the steak and let it rest for at least 30 minutes to an hour before cooking it in a VERY hot pan with a combination of both olive oil and butter. You need both. Olive oil has a low smoke point and will burn if you do not add “extra fat”, like butter. Depending on the thickness of the steak, sear it for 3 minutes per side, then an additional 1-2 minutes per side once again, or longer if you like your steak more done. You will get a delicious crust on the steak. Then let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving it. I promise you, if you’re a steak lover you are going to LOVE this.

This time I used salt, pepper, a little cayenne pepper and paprika mixed with Herbs de Provence. I generously seasoned both sides of the steaks and let it rest for about an hour before cooking it.

For the sauce, I really just used up some of my leftover peppers and onions, and then added mushrooms and garlic as well. After all, at least in my house, NO MEAL is complete without garlic. 🙂

Saute it all for about 7 minutes in olive oil, with salt & pepper. Add about 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, mix thoroughly and cook down for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently. I added some fresh oregano at the end of the cooking process, as well as about 1 TBSP of butter to finish the sauce.

When everything is ready, plate up the steak and add as much of the sauce as you like on top. I am a “saucy” kind of girl, so I am very generous when topping my steaks. 🙂 The steak came out perfect. Every bite had a variety of flavors and textures and everything came together perfectly. Delicious!

I think, I hope, Julia Child would be proud of me. Like her, I cook with REAL butter and REAL cream. 🙂

Live it up and sauce it up. Make life saucy. 🙂 Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.