Archive for the ‘dinner’ Category
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Pepper Steak with Lemon-Parsley Butter
Saturday, April 25th, 2009
Every man loves a good steak, right? This is one my husband absolutely adores eating and he insists that it is better than any restaurant steak he has had. I don’t know if that’s wicked flattery or not, but what wife doesn’t like the compliment? This recipe has a good kick to it and is a really quick preparation. Just throw it together with some crusty bread and a salad and you’re good to go. I’m crediting Joy of Cooking with this recipe, but I sort of make up my own amounts and ingredients and you can certainly play around with it and do the same. I’m going to list the ingredients in order of quantity – largest to smallest. I don’t find it necessary to deal with the exact amounts because you never know how much you are going to need and you can store any leftover spice rub in an airtight container.
What really makes this dish sing is the combination of the spicy steak and the creamy butter. They pair together really well. I’ve made the dish without the butter and it’s still good, but do your taste buds a favor and make the whole thing. You’ll want to start with preparing the butter so it has a chance to firm back up before mealtime.
Lemon-Parsley Butter:
Soften, but do not melt, as much butter as you think you need for the number of steaks you are preparing. For a single New York strip steak, you don’t need more than 1/3 of a stick, unless you are on a mission to clog some arteries. Add some lemon juice, chopped parsley, and minced garlic (I do 1 clove per ½ cube of butter) and mix it well. Form the butter into a nice shape if you want and then refrigerate it until it is time to eat.
Spice Rub:
ground pepper – This is the main ingredient and you need a lot, so don’t skimp. Your finished rub should look mostly like pepper.
brown sugar
salt – You need a fair amount of salt as well.
ground coriander
red pepper flakes – I don’t like a lot of spice in my food and I think the large quantity of ground pepper adds plenty of kick, but if you like spicy go ahead and ramp this up.
I also like to add a bit of cumin, but I don’t recall that as being in the original recipe. I just think it tends to go well with the coriander.
Mix all the above ingredients together and rub it generously all over your steak. I use a T-bone or New York strip steak. Broil your steak for the appropriate time according to thickness and preferred doneness, flipping once. When your steak is done cooking, cut it into small strips and melt the butter over the top.