Well yesterday while I was home alone, I decided I was in the mood for some steak. Now normally I make mine by seasoning on both sides with some Montreal Seasoning salt and slap it on a oven tray and slide into the oven until its medium rare and then I take out and devour it. But this time I decided I wanted to try something fancy and went out on Allrecipes.com. So I decided on the recipe - Oven Roasted Steak with Red Wine Pan Sauce.
So after taking out a large steak (no filet mignon is going to fill me up) to thaw earlier in the day, I prepare my steak with the 1/4 tsp of olive oil on each side but use Montreal Steak seasoning salt instead of the salt and pepper that was recommended in the recipe. I also put a dash of Lawry's Seasoning salt on each side as well.
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| Montreal Steaking Seasoning Salt - the brand we use - buy this size from Sam's or Costco's |
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| Lawry's Seasoning Salt |
I then make sure my oven has reached 500 degrees and wait for the skillet that I put in the oven to get piping hot. Once my skillet is ready I take it out and put it on the stove and pop my seasoned steak right into the center of it. The sizzling sound starts immediately and I let it sear on both sides as per the instructions.
Now afterwards I transfer the pan back into the oven and realized that I missed one of the instructions. But looking back on it I still don't understand why it was needed. The part I am referring to is where it states after putting the steak into the skillet on the stove top to turn up on high. The skillet was already at 500 degrees! So putting high heat to it.....just didn't see the reasoning, but I am one to follow directions so the next to I make this I will make sure to remember that step. (ok side rant over......)
So after putting the steak back in the oven to finish cooking, which thankfully didn't take as long since I like my steaks rare to medium rare.
So after it is done to my rare - medium rare approval I transfer the steak onto a plate and cover it with foil.
I then proceed to take the same skillet and put it back onto the stove top and turn it on medium. I was preparing to make the red wine sauce and decided since I didn't have a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon on hand I decided to use a Pinot Noir. Now let me make this clear I am not a wine connoisseur as my mom. The ONLY reason I picked this wine was because it was RED. The recipe called for a RED wine and this was the only RED wine I saw in the kitchen that had been opened so......there ya go.
Now this next part I felt was quite crucial and I wish this warning had been added to this recipe. Apparently when you add wine to a skillet that is already hot as hell you get this thing called SMOKE and alot of it. So needless to say I had to turn on the oven hood fan and the one that is built into the ceiling of the kitchen to help relieve the issue. I tried to take some pics of the wine but as you can see the smoke made it kind of an issue.
So after mixing the wine with the seasoning that was still in the skillet from the steak. I also added the butter to the mix and then moved the concoction to another eye on the stove that was not on. To finalize the dish I took the foil off the steak and decided I wanted the flavor of the sauce to penetrate the steak so I cut a few deep X's on the steak and then proceed to pour the red wine sauce onto the steak. I must say it smelled delicious, but I was nervous because I wasn't sure how it was going to taste.
Final reflection: The steak tasted GREAT. This steak was done rare and my god the flavor was heavenly! I loved the red wine and butter sauce and it definitely enhanced the flavor. Even though it called for a half of a cup of the red wine I might use a little bit more so I can have more sauce as I am eating the steak. I found it cooked quickly in the skillet, but that is probably because the skillet was hot for such a long time. Go figure.
I also enjoyed cooking the steak in a skillet. My mom normally makes steak in a skillet from time to time but I'm used to making mine in the oven. Less mess and I don't need to know anything fancy beyond just turning on the oven and making sure the steak is seasoned. Using the olive oil on both sides was also something new for me. Overall I think I have found my new favorite way of making a steak!
Until the next episode....
All That MsJazz
