Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times - Mark Bittman [68]
• 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon mustard
• About 1 teaspoon sesame or other roasted-nut oil
• About 1 tablespoon peanut butter or tahini (sesame paste); some sesame seeds or finely chopped peanuts are good, too
• Some onion, scallion, or shallot, minced or pureed
• 1 tablespoon or more horseradish or 1 teaspoon wasabi powder
• Some minced lemon, lime, or orange zest
• About 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
• Up to 1 tablespoon ground cumin, up to 1 teaspoon coriander, or a combination
• Some minced jalapeño, hot red pepper flakes, or Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste
• About 1 tablespoon Worcestershire or fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla, sold at most Asian markets)
OVEN-“GRILLED” STEAK
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 30 MINUTES
MAYBE YOU DON’T have a grill, maybe it’s freezing outside, maybe you don’t want to eat dinner in the choking cloud of smoke that stovetop steak cookery unfailingly produces. Fear not: a minimalist preparation if ever there was one, this technique will put a great crust on your steaks and keep your kitchen (largely) smoke free.
1½ to 2 pounds strip or rib-eye steaks (2 large steaks should do it)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to its maximum, 500°F or more, for at least 20 minutes; if it is equipped with a pizza stone, so much the better. About 10 minutes before you’re ready to eat, put a cast-iron or other ovenproof heavy skillet large enough to hold the steaks (or use 2) over high heat. Wait 2 or 3 minutes, until the pan is beginning to smoke.
2. Add the steaks and let them sit on top of the stove as long as you can before the smoke becomes intolerable—probably no more than a minute. Immediately transfer the pan to the oven. Roast the steaks for about 4 minutes, or until nicely browned on the bottom, then turn and cook on the other side for another 3 or 4 minutes, until done. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
SKIRT STEAK WITH COMPOUND BUTTER
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 30 MINUTES
THE EASIEST WAY to make compound butter is to mince all the flavorings and then cream them and the butter together with a fork, just as you would butter and sugar in making a cake. But if your butter is ice-cold (or frozen), use a small food processor to combine all the ingredients quickly; there will be some waste here, as you’ll never get all the butter out of the container and blade, but the process will take just seconds.
Skirt steak, the long, thin band of wonderfully marbled muscle (actually the cow’s diaphragm), was not easy to get even a couple of years ago but is now almost ubiquitous. It ranges as high as ten dollars a pound, but can often be found for well under half that, especially at supermarkets. It’s a moist, juicy steak, but not exactly tender—a little chewier than good strip steak—and does not respond well to overcooking. If someone insists on having it cooked beyond medium-rare, take no responsibility.
About 1½ pounds skirt steak, cut into 4 portions
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ recipe of one of the compound butters
1. Preheat a grill until very hot—so hot you can hold your hand over it for only a couple of seconds. (Or preheat the broiler or pan-grill the steak if you prefer.)
2. When the fire is ready, grill the steak for 2 minutes per side for rare, about a minute or two longer for medium-rare to medium. Season the steak with salt and pepper as it cooks. Let it rest for a few minutes after it comes off the grill before dressing it with the compound butter.
3. Spread each steak with about a tablespoon of the flavored butter and serve. Wrap and refrigerate or freeze the remaining butter for future use.
STEAK WITH BUTTER AND GINGER SAUCE
MAKES 4 SERVINGS
TIME: 20 MINUTES
LIKE OVEN-“GRILLED” STEAKS, this is a great way of cooking steaks indoors without sacrificing a good crust or setting off the smoke detector: sear the steak quickly, then remove it from the pan