NY Strip Steak with Portobello-Bouillon!

NY Strip Steak with Portobello Bouillon

It was a dire situation at home. Torrential rain pouring down outside, meaning the outside grill was pretty much out of the question. No red wine in the house, meaning no wine reduction for a tasty sauce – and no adult beverage to drink. To top it off, my wife and daughter were across the Bay, enjoying life in the country, meaning it was dinner for one tonight.

What to do?

NY Strip Steak, of course!  Now I know most of you guys out there have plenty of experience grilling (probably overcooking) steaks on your outside grills that cost more than my car is worth. And that’s okay. Take a minute and read on, for there is another way to cook a thick steak – and it makes for an awesome carnivore experience.  Try it and let me know how you like it!

Ingredients:

1 NY Strip Steak (mine was a shade over 16 oz. – cost about $10)

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup of very hot water

1 beef bouillon cube (I use Hormel’s Herb Ox cubes since they don’t have MSG)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of Kitchen Bouquet

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

2 pinches of freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup of sliced Portobello mushrooms

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Add the bouillon cube to the cup of very hot water. Stir until the cube dissolves.

On the stove-top, start to heat up a non-stick skillet.

When you can feel heat rising from the center of the pan, add the butter, swishing it around as it melts. Use a spatula, not your hand. I know, it’s tempting but don’t do it. It’s the old heat + metal pan = burn your hand thing.

With the butter starting to sizzle, add the steak and let it sear for about two to three minutes. Then flip it over and sear on the other side for the same amount of time. The steak should have some nice browning on it now. The hotter the pan, the less time needed to sear each side.

Once the steak is seared on both sides, place in an oven-safe baking dish. Roast the steak in the oven until it has cooked to your liking. Mine took 20 minutes and it came out just past medium, which temperature-wise was probably about 130 degrees F. internally if you were checking. (Wait – don’t clean that skillet yet – you will need it in the next paragraph!)

While the steak is in the oven, time to fortify the bouillon.

Carefully add the cup of bouillon to the skillet. Careful – the skillet may still be very hot.

Using a spatula, scrape the solids from the pan as they loosen up from the bouillon.

Add the remaining ingredients and heat the skillet until the sauce starts to bubble. Stir occasionally.

(What you are doing is actually reducing the “sauce,” thusly intensifying the flavor.  Also, by adding the sliced Portobello mushrooms to the liquid instead of sauteing them in butter, they will keep their shape and most of their texture.)

If the sauce reduces too much, and the steak is still roasting, just add a little water or more bouillon. There’s a big difference between a nice sauce reduction and a burned sauce. It ain’t pretty and it will taste as bad as it smells!

Once the steak is cooked to your liking, take it out of the oven, cover it with some foil, and let it sit for about 10 minutes. This will give the juices a chance to reacquaint themselves with the steak.

The steak, now rested, is ready to be served. Top with the Portobello bouillon.

Side dishes? Pa-shaw. Just eat the dang steak and see if you are still hungry later. I bet not!

Buen provecho, amigos!