New York Strip Steak with Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Sauce #WeekdaySupper

New York Strip Steak with Roasted Asparagus and Mushroom Sauce #WeekdaySupper

I guess you could say that I have a greater appreciation for farmer's markets. When I lived in California, many of them stay open year round, so by the time I looked up local ones after our move to Washington last autumn, pretty much all of them had already closed for the winter. The only one that stays open year round locally is the famous Pike's Place Market but I have stayed away because it's a bit of a drive and I'm not a fan of crowds. The city of Redmond, Washington opened their Saturday farmer's market the first Saturday in May so I went a couple of weeks ago.

Inspiration Behind the Dish

This month, all #WeekdaySupper dishes will be featuring summer's bounty of produce that comes into season this time of year so I went to the farmer's market with my copy of The Flavor Bible and an open mind. I noticed asparagus was fairly common that day among many of the vendors, so I purchased 1 bunch in addition to some mushrooms, radishes and spring onions. A couple of days later, I noticed New York steaks were on sale at the local supermarket so I made the purchase thinking they would pair perfectly with the mushrooms and asparagus.

Dish Details

From the standpoint of a preparation method, I relied heavily on Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio with Catherine Young, Lori Silverbush and Sean Fri. Page 41 reviews the pan roasting method for steaks in addition to the sauce making method found on page 75. In addition, I compiled a roasted asparagus method from several different sources. I'd imagine that this dish would be at home in any steakhouse.

Ingredients

1 pound fresh asparagus, tough ends trimmed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 boneless New York steaks, about 12-ounces each
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 medium shallot, chopped
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups beef stock

Method

1. Prepare the asparagus. Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Toss the asparagus with 1 tablespoon olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Place them in a single layer on a aluminum foil-lined sheet pan. Set aside while the steaks are prepared.

2. Pan roast the steaks. Pat the steaks dry with paper towels, then season them with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil starts to smoke, lay the steaks down in the pan to sear on both sides, approximately 3 minutes per side. Add 2 tablespoons butter and thyme sprigs to the pan. Baste the steaks with the browning butter for 1 minute, then turn and baste on the second side for an additional minute. Repeat the 'turn and baste' process until the steaks reach the desired doneness. Remove to a plate and tent with an aluminum foil and let it rest while the remainder of the dish is prepared.

3. Roast the asparagus and prepare the sauce. While the steaks rest, place the asparagus in the oven and roast it until tender, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. While the asparagus roasts, add the remaining olive oil to the pan where the steaks were roasted. Once the oil has warmed, add the chopped shallot to the oil and sweat, then season with salt and pepper, approximately 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until browned, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping up the loosened fond with a spoon. Simmer until the wine has almost evaporated. Add in the beef stock and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Decrease the heat to low, then stir in the remaining two tablespoons butter to give the sauce some richness. Season with salt and pepper to taste. To plate, place 4 to 5 asparagus spears on the plate diagonally, then place the steak on the plate over the asparagus in the other direction and top with mushroom sauce.

Final Thoughts

All-in-all I found the Redmond Market to have more vendors selling artisan honeys and crafts than farmers selling produce. Thankfully, there are two opening up that are closer this week so hopefully, you'll see the items I've purchased here soon.

For more #WeekdaySupper ideas, please visit the dishes published earlier this week:

• Monday, June 1, 2015: Garlicy Pasta with Sauteed Shrimp and Chard by Whole Food | Real Families
• Tuesday, June 2, 2015: Amaranth and Veggies Stuffed Peppers by Cindy's Recipes and Writings

and a preview of the two remaining dishes:

• Thursday, June 4, 2015: Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches by Magnolia Days
• Friday, June 5, 2015: Couscous Royale by The Petit Gourmet

Pan Roasted New York Steak with Demi-Glace and Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Pan Roasted New York Steak with Demi-Glace and Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Oh, the irony!

The most popular dish I've ever published on this website is my Chicken with Mushroom Demi-Glace I prepared for #SundaySupper last autumn. Unfortunately, it was my least favorite dish I've ever profiled.

I'm still baffled by it. The recipe is from Chef Robert Irvine who is one of my favorite Food Network personalities, but more than that, the demi-glace is a derivative of an espagnole sauce which is taught in culinary schools. If it's profiled there, I assume it's fundamental which indicates I failed miserably the first time around. The other issue I have is with my garnish. I intended to top it with a small salad but the only thing that made it on the plate was a bit of bacon and a couple of spinach leaves.

I had to rectify this situation.

The Challenge

...can be summed up in one word: Redemption

The Source

I used the method described on page 41 of Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio. I used a salad by Alton Brown from foodnetwork.com and a basic demi-glace from Le Cordon Bleu.

Ingredients

8 ounces baby spinach leaves, washed and patted dry with paper towels
2 large hard boiled eggs, sliced thin
1 8-ounce container sliced white mushrooms
8 slices thick-cut bacon
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 shallot, sliced thin plus 1 shallot minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 New York steaks
2 sprigs fresh thyme plus 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons cut into small cubes unsalted butter, divided
2 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns, crushed with the side of a knife
1 bay leaf

Method

1. Make the salad: Combine the spinach, eggs, mushrooms and sliced shallot in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Fry the bacon until crisp, then remove to a paper towel lined plate and crumble into bits. Reserve 3 tablespoons bacon fat and pour into a small saucepan and set aside separately from the spinach.

2. Roast the steaks: Using the olive oil, steaks, thyme sprigs and 2 tablespoons butter, prepare the steaks as I described in step 2 previously. While you allow for carryover cooking...

3. Prepare the demi-glace and finish the dish: Discard the leftover oil from the pan you roasted the steaks. Place it back over medium heat and add the chopped shallot, beef stock, chopped thyme, red wine, peppercorns and bay leaf. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the fond and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce by about half or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in the butter cubes one at a time until melted. Place the saucepan with the bacon fat over low heat. If the fat has solidified, render again then whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and mustard over low heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and toss with the spinach and bacon bits. To plate, place the steak off to one side, spoon some demi-glace over it with the salad off to the opposite side. I also served with mashed potatoes.

Successful?

I didn't realize it at the time but the demi-glace I describe above is a bit of a short cut, however it tasted much better than my earlier iteration. The salad was flavorful and complemented the beef well.

Pan Roasted New York Steak, Sautéed Mushrooms and Spinach Salad with Raspberry-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Pan Roasted New York Steak, Sautéed Mushrooms and Spinach Salad with Raspberry-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Call this a recipe redux. It was almost three years ago that I decided to publish a mushroom side dish but the mushrooms in the picture I used were almost unrecognizable, so I wanted to redeem myself. Since they are intended to be a side dish, I decided to use them in that manner: complementing a protein. In addition, one thing I'd like to do this year is to eat more salads. I discovered last year that they photograph well and they're obviously healthy, so why not?

The Challenge

Redeem my picture by placing it in context while practicing a fundamental cooking technique.

The Source

For the New York steak, I adapted a recipe that is on page 41 of Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio (Chef Colicchio uses a sirloin in his example) but the recipe itself is incomplete without his discussion of roasting as a cooking technique that can be found on pages 30 to 36. Interestingly, his principles apply to both pan-roasting and oven-roasting.

For the mushrooms, I've adapted the recipe on page 186 (with a picture of the dish on page 187) of Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking by Michael Chiarello with Janet Fletcher.

I adapted a salad recipe I found on foodnetwork.com. It uses a store-bought balsamic vinaigrette as an ingredient however when I first read the recipe I thought it said vinegar (not vinaigrette), so I used the vinaigrette I had previously with the other New York steak dish last year.

Ingredients

1/2 cup balsamic vinaigrette
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
3/4 teaspoon sugar
8 cups baby spinach
1/3 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh raspberries (I forgot to include them)
1 cup cucumber, sliced
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon plus 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 New York steaks, about 3/4-pound each
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 8-ounce package white button mushrooms, cut in half if large
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup dry white wine

Method

1. Prepare the salad: Combine the balsamic vinaigrette, 1/2 cup fresh raspberries and sugar in a blender. Blend until all ingredients are a homogeneous mixture. In a separate large bowl, combine the spinach, red onion, raspberries and cucumber. Set both aside separately while preparing the steak and mushrooms.

2. Roast the steaks: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pat the steaks dry with paper towels, then season them with salt and pepper. Once the oil shimmers, put the steaks in the pan and reduce heat slightly. Brown the steaks on the first side, approximately 3 minutes. Turn the steaks, and brown on the second side, an additional 3 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons butter with the thyme sprigs to the pan, then continually baste the steaks with the browning butter until the desired doneness is reached. Remove from pan and set aside to allow for any carryover cooking while the mushrooms are prepared.

3. Sauté the mushrooms: In the same skillet used for the steaks, turn up the heat to high and add the remaining 6 tablespoons olive oil. Once hot, add the mushrooms in a single layer. Without stirring, let the mushrooms caramelize on the bottom, approximately 2 minutes. Then toss the mushrooms and continue to cook over high heat. Remove the mushrooms from the pan using a slotted spoon and discard the oil, then return the mushrooms back to the skillet with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Continue to cook until the mushrooms are browned, approximately 2 minutes. Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper and add the garlic. Once the garlic is lightly browned, add the minced thyme and lemon juice and cook until the fluid evaporates. Add the wine and simmer until the mushrooms are glazed with the sauce, reducing heat.

4. Finish the dish: Toss the salad ingredients with the vinaigrette, then garnish with pecans and feta cheese. Place the steak off to one side of a warmed plate, then spoon some mushrooms over the steak and towards the center. Then spoon the salad next to the steak and serve.

Successful?

From a flavor profile standpoint, the sweetness of the vinaigrette contrasted the spinach well with the feta and pecans providing a texture contrast to the rest of the dish. The mushrooms and the steak together weren't very colorful, but they complemented each other well. I was also able to find the picture I took when I first published the dish:

Presenting: Grilled New York Steak with Béarnaise Sauce and Arugula Salad

Grilled New York Steak with Béarnaise Saude and Arugula Salad

So my kitchen has finally been put back together but the day it was finished, Mrs. Stuntman took off with my daughter and my sister-in-law to Southern California for a week to help her move. I still had a little money leftover from what my apartment manager gave me for food while my kitchen was not usable, so I ate out...often. I admit, I was lazy and didn't want to go through the trouble of cooking from scratch for one, but after more than a week of self-inflicted take-out hell I was ready for a good home-cooked meal, no matter how many were eating. Since it was just me, myself and I, I figured I could purchase something a little luxurious and not break the bank so I chose a New York strip steak.

A quick check of The Flavor Bible yielded a flavor affinity of beef steak, arugula, balsamic vinegar and parmesan. In addition, I saw Béarnaise sauce noted several times under the category of beef so I googled it. Béarnaise is a derivative of a Hollandaise which is one of five mother sauces of French cuisine. These sauces are an emulsion of butter and egg yolks but are flavored differently.

This isn't a very creative dish because these are classic pairings but I thought I could use the opportunity to practice my plating and I skipped my Presenting: series in February so I wanted to compensate for it here.

The Challenge

Improve food presentation and photography.

The Source

For the Béarnaise, I used a recipe from Heather of girlichef and the arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette and parmesan I took from Emeril via foodnetwork.com. Please check their respective links for the recipes.

For the steak, I seasoned both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and used a grill pan set over medium-high heat, cooked at a 45 degree angle for two to three minutes then turned the steak the other direction (i.e. from right to left to create the cross-hatch grill marks) for an an additional two to three minutes and then flipped the steak over and repeated the process. Once finished, I removed the steak to a plate and rested for 5 minutes to allow for carryover cooking.

Successful?

I now understand why these ingredients work so well together. The steak, salad and sauce complemented each other nicely. I would adjust the heat to medium instead of medium-high when I prepare it again because I like my steaks medium-rare to medium, but it was still the best meal I ate all week. From a presentation standpoint, I'd use less sauce next time but I like the color contrast of the plate.

Lastly, if you're not familiar with Heather, get to know her. She can be reached several places, namely: twitter, facebook, instagram, flickr, StumbleUpon, pinterest, G+, and LinkedIn.