Cajun Baked Fish

Lasagna

One Up Steak Potato Combo

I've never had the ability to cook steaks really well, since I don't actually use my grill often. However this time I actually did a pan sear steak which was delicious. As you know I'm on a tight budget and we purchased a slab of chuck roast for US$7 and used the smaller pieces hanging on by fat and gristle to cube into kebabs which we had the other night. Then the entire middle slab which was leftover became tonight's steak. I sliced it in half because it was so thick, then placed it in a marinade sauce (below) within a ZipLoc bag and pounded it out lightly with my rolling pin. It caused the meat to spread and tenderize at the same time, proving thus, you can have a piece of steak for really cheap and have it come out delicious.

Marinade:
Few drops of Hickory Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp garlic powder (unsalted!)
1/2 tsp onion powder (unsalted!)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/3 cup water

Marinade overnight for full effect. Heat up some butter or reduced chicken fat at high heat, then drop steaks in. Sprinkle kosher salt and some ground black pepper for seasoning. Sear until meat is halfway cooked (when redness turns pink) then flip and sear the other side for about 5 minutes or until well done, to taste.

Why this is One Up Steaks? Because of this, instead of just letting it go at that, I added a mushroom side dish that doubles as a topping for the steak which is wonderful, sweet and herby complementing the smoky steak flavor, as well as, the buttery potato.

Goods:
1 cup of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 cup red wine (Merlot in this case, get a wine that you would drink with)
Kosher salt

Cook 2 tbsp butter in a pan until melted, add the cup of mushrooms and sautee until slightly soft. Combine with the rosemary and sprinkle with kosher salt for flavoring. Add the wine and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

Simple, no? ^_^ And YUM!