Wine Merchant Steak

When I was growing up, my favorite night of the weekend was the one when my parents would go out. Usually a Friday or a Saturday night. That meant my best friend, Anne, would come over to spend the night and we would cook dinner for ourselves. It was a major production. We set the table, we lit candles, we put music on the stereo or if it was Friday night, we would time it to watch Time Tunnel with James Darren. We were fork in hand when that came on!

One of the first things I learned to cook by myself was a minute steak. I thought I was the stuff cooking that poor piece of meat to death in a frying pan. I’d do it right too. Butter in the pan, lots of garlic salt on the meat..cooked to perfection once I learned that the minute in minute steak should be taken literally. My favorite topping for a minute steak was sautéed mushrooms. Again the butter and mushrooms cooking down and then splashing in a bit of Worcestershire sauce that usually instantaneously disappeared considering the fact that at that point in my life, high was the heat of choice, leaving a wonderful caramely flavor.

Needless to say, I outgrew minute steaks fairly quickly. Discovering tenderloin will do that to you. Yes, it’s expensive and no, you can’t eat it every night. But tenderloin brings on the same anticipation that the minute steak brought to me when I was ten. The table is set, the candles are lit, there’s wine to open and the weekend begins.

Wine Merchant Steak..adapted from Jacques Pepin’s Table

2 -7 ounce tenderloin filets
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 shallots, peeled and chopped
4 ounces baby Bella or Crimini mushrooms, sliced
2-3 large cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and finely chopped
1 cup Beaujolais
1 cup low sodium chicken stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
A little bitty dab of horseradish sauce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
A bit of cornstarch
Finely chopped chives

Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Heat oil in cast iron pan and when hot, add the steaks and sauté for 2-3 minutes per side for medium rare.
Remove steaks to plate and set aside in warm place. To drippings in skillet add shallots, and sauté for about 10 seconds, add mushrooms and garlic and sauté for about a minutes. Stir in wine and boil down until only about 2 tbsp remain. Add stock and reduce the mixture to about ¾ cup. Add Worcestershire and Dijon mustard and mix well. Take a little bit of the hot sauce and mix with maybe ½ tsp cornstarch and dissolve then add back to pan and whisk till smooth.

Bring to boil. Season to taste.
Plate the steaks and drizzle sauce over.
Put face in plate and enjoy.
Serves 2.

Wine Merchant Steak