Dinner experiment: merlot pepper steak
I experimented for dinner last night. On the way home I grabbed some small cheapo 3/4"-thick steaks from the grocery store. Overall they were really good, but with more planning I would've done a few things differently. Here's a recipe to reproduce the whimsy-spurred meal:
* smother both sides of the steaks in fresh-ground black pepper
* dust a little cayenne on the steaks
* marinate in a single-serving-size bottle of merlot with one bay leaf for ~20mins
* heat my cast-iron skillet on the range at medium-high
* toss in a little extra virgin olive oil and turn the range fan *way* up (EVOO has a low smoke point)
* cook up the steaks, about 3 mins on each side
* near the end, the steaks were well-cooked but I didn't think they were seared enough, so I turned the heat all the way up and cooked them another few seconds. On a whim I sprinkled some salt on both sides as I did this.
* remove steaks and lower the range heat to a nice simmer
* once the skillet is cooled, pour in the peppery marinade (minus the bay leaf)
* toss in a pleasantly heaping tablespoon or so of wheat flour and try to mix it in (I think I heard somewhere once that this might be a good idea...)
* curse and remove large quantities of lumps with a fork as the sauce thickens
* when the sauce has thickened to a slightly sludgy consistency, pour it over the steaks and munch down
Good points:
* Peppery steaks -- pleasantly but not quite overwhelmingly so. Yum!
* The searing near the end of the steak cooking seemed to work, though it might be better at the beginning.
* The sauce had a very nice color and consistency once the worst of the lumps were removed.
* Because of the weird step ordering near the beginning, the marinade itself was very peppery, which I think improved the sauce at the end.
Bad points:
* The sauce was *very* lumpy. I think the merlot might've actually fried some of the flour. It tasted good, but it was pretty weird and *definitely* has to be improved before I try that again.
* The merlot and bay made the steaks taste like a roast. It tasted really good, but it was a little disconcerting for a thin, seared pepper-steak. I think next time I'll try a different marinade and probably add some different spices to see if I can decrease that association.
If anyone has any suggestions for later experimentation, I'd love to hear them.
(LJ Spellchecker genius of the day: merlot -> melon)
* smother both sides of the steaks in fresh-ground black pepper
* dust a little cayenne on the steaks
* marinate in a single-serving-size bottle of merlot with one bay leaf for ~20mins
* heat my cast-iron skillet on the range at medium-high
* toss in a little extra virgin olive oil and turn the range fan *way* up (EVOO has a low smoke point)
* cook up the steaks, about 3 mins on each side
* near the end, the steaks were well-cooked but I didn't think they were seared enough, so I turned the heat all the way up and cooked them another few seconds. On a whim I sprinkled some salt on both sides as I did this.
* remove steaks and lower the range heat to a nice simmer
* once the skillet is cooled, pour in the peppery marinade (minus the bay leaf)
* toss in a pleasantly heaping tablespoon or so of wheat flour and try to mix it in (I think I heard somewhere once that this might be a good idea...)
* curse and remove large quantities of lumps with a fork as the sauce thickens
* when the sauce has thickened to a slightly sludgy consistency, pour it over the steaks and munch down
Good points:
* Peppery steaks -- pleasantly but not quite overwhelmingly so. Yum!
* The searing near the end of the steak cooking seemed to work, though it might be better at the beginning.
* The sauce had a very nice color and consistency once the worst of the lumps were removed.
* Because of the weird step ordering near the beginning, the marinade itself was very peppery, which I think improved the sauce at the end.
Bad points:
* The sauce was *very* lumpy. I think the merlot might've actually fried some of the flour. It tasted good, but it was pretty weird and *definitely* has to be improved before I try that again.
* The merlot and bay made the steaks taste like a roast. It tasted really good, but it was a little disconcerting for a thin, seared pepper-steak. I think next time I'll try a different marinade and probably add some different spices to see if I can decrease that association.
If anyone has any suggestions for later experimentation, I'd love to hear them.
(LJ Spellchecker genius of the day: merlot -> melon)