Steak with Red Wine Sauce, Mushrooms, Onions and Roast Potatoes

If you eat beef, this is a recipe for you. I like steak, particularly a good piece of fillet. Unfortunately the night I made this steak, the fillet at the grocery store was $30 per pound! So instead of buying my favorite cut of meat, I opted for a nice sirloin, which was on special for something like $12 per pound. The chart below shows where different cuts of meat come from. The fillet, actually just a piece of the tenderloin, is the most tender part of the cow. The rule in regards to tenderness of meat is: the more the muscle has to work, the tougher it will be, and vice-versa.



Steak with Red Wine Sauce, Mushrooms, Onions and Roast Potatoes
Serves 2-3 for dinner

Ingredients
2 sirloin steaks
12 button mushrooms
1 large red onion
1 32fl oz package of Kitchen Basics Beef Stock
2 cups of red wine (decent enough quality that you would drink it!)
1 tsp of butter
1 tbsp of canola oil for the mushrooms, onion and steak
1/2 cup of canola oil for the potatoes
4-6 medium size red potatoes
salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp of dried rosemary

First things first. Wash and boil the potatoes whole. Start them in cold water, and bring to a boil. Simmer until cooked through, about 20 minutes. To tell if they are cooked, poke a knife through the middle of the potato. If the knife goes through easily, your potato is cooked. Once cooked, take the potatoes out of the water and let them cool until they are able to be handled.

While the potatoes are cooling, heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut each potato into 6 or 8 pieces. In an oven safe dish, place the oil, potatoes, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Toss until the potatoes are well covered in the mixture. Place the dish in the oven. After about 30-45 minutes, stir the potatoes. They should begin to get slightly crispy around the edges. Keep an eye on them, and stir them every 15 to 20 minutes until they are crisped to your taste. You should time them so that they are done at the same time your steak is ready to be served.

After you put your potatoes in, start reducing the stock and red wine in a pan, then slice the onion and mushrooms. Heat a tbsp of oil in a large bottomed pan that you will cook your steak in later. Fry the onion and add the mushrooms. When the onions start to brown. Add some salt and pepper. You want the onions and mushrooms to be slightly browned and crispy around the edges but not burned. If your pan is not large enough, you will end up boiling your onions and mushrooms as opposed to frying or sauteing them. Once cooked, set aside.

Keep an eye on the reducing stock and red wine to make sure you do not evaporate it completely. In the same pan you cooked the onions and mushrooms, you will cook the steak. The steak will be able to pick up some of the flavor already in the pan. When you cook a steak, it's important that the pan is nice and hot. This will help to seal in the juices and keep the steak succulent. If there is no oil left in the pan, add a tsp. Put some salt and pepper on both sides of your steak. Once the pan is hot, put the steak in. Leave it on one side for about a minute. There should be some nice brown color when you flip the steak. I cook my steak medium rare, probably about 3 minutes per side. But, you have to be the judge of how rare or well done you like yours.

When your steak is cooked to the desired amount, remove and set aside. It's good to let the meat rest for a few minutes. Add your reduced stock and red wine to the pan that you just cooked the steak in. Scrape the bottom of the pan to ensure you get all of the stuff that's stuck to the bottom of the pan because it's going to add a lot of flavor to your stock. Once the mixture has reduced to an almost syrup like consistency (you can reduce it less if you like thinner sauce), taste, and add salt and pepper as necessary. Finally, take the butter, break it up into a few pieces, and swirl it into the sauce until melted.

Serve the steak with some onion and mushrooms on top, and pour some sauce over. Serve with the roast potatoes, and some sort of green vegetable, salad, green bean, sauteed spinach or the like.