Recipe #4 - Pan Seared Ribeye with Truffled Mushrooms and Chimichurri

Ray's the Steaks is my favorite steak place in the D.C. area. When I was last there, I had the Brazilian Strip steak with spicy piranha sauce and roasted wild mushrooms with truffle oil, porcini-fresh herb puree and golden sherry. Recipe #4 is an in-home adaptation of Ray's.

Pan Seared Ribeye: Alton Brown + Truffled Mushrooms (me) + Chimichurri: Simply Recipes

Steak

1 boneless rib eye steak, 1 1/2-inch thick

Canola oil to coat [used olive oil]

Kosher salt and ground black pepper [used Murray River sea salt]

Place 10 to 12-inch cast iron skillet in oven and heat oven to 500 degrees. Bring steak(s) to room temperature.

Mushrooms

While doing this, start the mushrooms:

2 packets of gourmet mushroom blend

2 tsp truffle salt [did not have any sherry, fresh herbs or porcini]

1 small onion

3 cloves garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

Heat pan on medium, then put in the olive oil. Once the olive oil is warm, put in the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is soft. Put in the mushrooms, sprinkle with the truffle salt and let it cook on low heat.

Make the chimichurri while the oven continues to heat.

Chimichurri

1 cup firmly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, trimmed of thick stems

3-4 garlic cloves

2 Tbsp fresh oregano leaves (can sub 2 teaspoons dried oregano) [subbed cilantro]

2 Tbsp scallions [added this because I had scallions and wanted to experiment]

1/2 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp red or white wine vinegar [used red]

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes [doubled this]

Finely chop the parsley, scallions, cilantro, and garlic (or process in a food processor several pulses). Place in a small bowl. Stir in the olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Adjust seasonings.

Back to Alton...when oven reaches temperature, remove pan and place on range over high heat. [I forgot to do this and only had it on medium, because I was running around squawking and trying not to get meat juice on the olive oil bottle]. Coat steak lightly with oil and season both sides with a generous pinch of salt. Grind on black pepper to taste. Immediately place steak in the middle of hot, dry pan. Cook 30 seconds without moving.

Turn with tongs and cook another 30 seconds, then put the pan straight into the oven for 2 minutes. Flip steak and cook for another 2 minutes. (This time is for medium rare steaks. If you prefer medium, add a minute to both of the oven turns.)

Remove steak from pan, cover loosely with foil, and rest for 2 minutes. Serve whole or slice thin and fan onto plate. While the steak is resting, prep a quick red wine vinaigrette over romaine lettuce for a side salad.

My Thoughts

Deliciousness: Why did I wait seven years to cook steak this way? I dig it and can't wait to cook it again. The mushrooms turned out great too. The truffle salt was definitely worth the impulse buy! I am now obsessed with chimichurri and want to create more variations with red onion, capers, and oregano. Chimichurri is the savior for home cooks who don't want to waste cilantro and parsley.

Ease of Preparation: The whole meal took about an episode of the Office to complete (prepping of ingredients, then the process for each of the four components). It helps to have a fellow cook to help you sprinkle the seasoning on the steak and time the 30-second and 2-minute intervals.

Leftover Staying Power: Projected five stars, but we ate it all, so I will not know until I make a double batch.