1) I went to Switzerland for 6 days. Wasn't doing much cooking there. Wasn't really doing much eating there either because I was running around so much and bottles of water cost $7 in Zurich. It's freakishly expensive, seriously.
2) I returned from Switzerland and became extremely busy at work because we had a board meeting and two conferences to prepare for in a two week time period. Becca was also extremely busy at work because of an upcoming board meeting and some technology merger thing in her office which meant that she had to work from 8 am - 11 pm for an entire weekend in addition to her work during the week.
3) I then became extremely ill from the flu and could do nothing but sleep for most of a week. I can't remember the last time I was that exhausted.
4) After recovering from the flu, I remembered that I was taking the GRE in less than 2 weeks. My day-to-day life then became the following: 6:30 am - Get up, get ready for work. 7:30 am - Leave for work, study math and vocabulary on the metro. 8:30 am - Arrive at work, and do work for 9 or so hours. 6:00 pm - Leave work, study math and vocabulary on the metro. 7:00 pm - Throw something together for dinner. 8:00 pm - Study math and vocabulary. Midnight - Sleep.
Yesterday, September 23rd was the big day. I finally took the GRE. It's all over. Hallelujah. I won't know for sure how I did until I get my scores in November, but I think it went well. And now that it's over, I can finally reclaim some sort of normalcy in my life. And normalcy in my life means, back to cooking. Finally. No more eating takeout food, scrambled eggs, pasta with jarred pasta sauce, and leftover pasta for dinner. I'm so excited to cook real food again!
I actually have cooked a few legitimate meals over the past few weeks and taken photos of them for blog entries but I haven't had time to put them up. I'll do that soon I promise.
Anyways, I came home from the GRE yesterday, made a celebratory steak dinner, and opened one of my "nice" bottles of wine. Given my salary, "nice" means that the bottle of wine cost more than $15. Even anything more than about $10 is a bit of a splurge for me. This bottle cost about $20ish. It was delicious.
So...I'm gonna quit rambling now and start with the recipe.
Sirloin Steak with Portobello Mushroom Pan Sauce
Melt a tablespoon of butter in a pan.
Next, grab a couple of steaks. I used sirloin tip steaks because they were on sale at Whole Foods. You could probably use whatever you have on hand. Note: get some better steaks than what I ended up with. Mine were a little tough. Probably why they were on sale. One day I will make enough money to buy really nice, delicious steaks. That day is not today.
Anyways, sear your steaks in the butter. Mine were thin so they only took a few minutes.
While the steaks are cooking, chop up some portobello mushrooms. You could also use Cremini mushrooms, or I suppose regular button mushrooms but I really prefer Cremini/Portobello mushrooms because they have more flavor and better texture, in my opinion.
Once the steaks are cooked to your desired level of done-ness, remove them to a plate.
Put the mushrooms into the pan with the steak drippings along with a couple more tablespoons of butter and saute them until they are soft.
Once the mushrooms are almost done cooking, add in 2-3 cloves of minced garlic and cook until it is golden brown.
Then add in 1/3 cup of red wine. Yes, the bottle of wine pictured below is half gone already. I basically started drinking from the moment I returned home from the GRE testing center. Please don't mind the mess in my kitchen. I haven't had time to clean either. That's on my to-do list for today.
Then add about 1/4 cup of beef broth to the pan with the wine.
Scrape up all the drippings from the bottom of the pan and mix them into the sauce.
Next add in about 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard. Whisk it together with the rest of the sauce.
Bring the sauce to a boil and then let it reduce a bit. Then add in about a quarter cup of heavy cream. (This is a celebration dinner, after all.)
Whisk it all together and then add the cooked steaks back into the pan to reheat a bit, along with all the juices on the plate.
Serve the steaks with a baked potato, and spoon the sauce over both. And of course, also finish off the bottle of wine.
Enjoy everybody :-) Chicken & Chorizo Paella and North Carolina-style Barbecue Pulled Pork will be up soon.
Sarah
Sirloin Steak with Portobello Mushroom Pan Sauce
2 sirloin tip steaks
3 tablespoons of butter
1 cup chopped portobello mushroom caps
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup beef broth
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1/4 cup heavy cream
Melt one tablespoon of butter in a skillet and sear steaks until cooked to desired level. Remove steaks to a plate.
Add the portobello mushrooms to the pan with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and saute until they are soft. When the mushrooms are almost cooked, add in the garlic and saute until golden brown.
Add in red wine and beef broth and use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the drippings in the bottom of the pan. Then whisk in 1 tbsp dijon mustard. Bring the sauce to a boil and allow it to reduce a bit.
Whisk in 1/4 cup heavy cream and simmer for another minute or so. Add in the steaks to reheat a bit if needed, and serve. Serving suggestion: Serve with baked potatoes, and spoon sauce over both.
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