Serves 2
In all seriousness, this recipe doesn't produce as much smoke as it did at TREAT. :-)
Recommended Tools
- spring-loaded tongs
- a skillet. Cast iron recommended, or aluminum clad in stainless steel. Non-stick is forbidden.
- (optional) wooden spoon, for deglazing the skillet and building a pan sauce
Ingredients
- three strips of steak tips (steak tips at Shaw's and Whole Foods always seem to be cut into strips, which is handy, at Shaw's, the pre-packaged steak tips are almost always wrapped in trios)
- kosher salt
- fresh ground black pepper
- canola or other high-heat oil
Steak
- If any of your strips are more than an inch and a half thick, slice them along their length into two pieces: thinner pieces will cook faster. On the other hand, if they're already an inch to an inch and a half thick, leave 'em alone: it's the right thickness to be browned on the outside and rare on the inside.
- Salt and pepper the steak tips liberally on both sides (the strips from the supermarket generally have a rectangular instead of square cross section, making them feel two-sided).
- Put your skillet over medium high heat and add in about two tablespoons of oil.
- When the oil starts to shimmer or barely smoke, add the steak tips. They should sizzle when they hit the hot oil.
- Wait 3 minutes. (Do not touch the steaks; let them brown.)
- Flip the steaks
- At two minutes, cut into one of the steaks with a knife to see how done it looks. (Professional chefs can tell just by pressing the steak; I cannot.)
- If it's done, remove from heat. Otherwise, cook another minute or two, checking again, until done, lowering heat if things start getting smoky. Remember that red meat tends to continue cooking even after being removed from the heat, so cook it just a wee bit rarer than you'd like, and the carry-over temperature should bring you the rest of the way there.)
- Rest a few minutes before serving; resting lets the meat suck some its juices back in, believe it or not. As Zen says: "Always rest your meat!"
Pan Sauce (optional, but good)
- After the steaks come out of the skillet, and while the meat is resting, leave the skillet on the heat, and immediately...
- Splash in some beef stock or low sodium beef broth.
- Splash in some red wine, about half as much as the stock in the previous step. (The wine will preferebly be something fruity and not very tannic. I know vaguely what that means, but I just ask the guy in the liquor store for that exact description at a cheap price point, and he always steers me in the right direction.)
- Toss in some minced shallots.
- Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping all the fond off the bottom of the pan.
- Ensure the sauce comes to a boil; crank the heat if you must.
- Boil a bit just to reduce and to ensure the shallots are soft.
- Pour over the steak and serve.
Something I've Been Meaning to Try...
Rich: prepare the sauce as above, but also stir in a splash of heavy cream at the same time as the stock and red wine, to add body and a velvety richness. Taste, and add more salt and/or pepper if needed.
or...
Richer: prepare the sauce as above, but just before removing sauce from heat, stir in a tablespoon or two of butter. (Yes, I did just say that!) Taste, and add salt and/or pepper if needed.