Many people view steak as a special occasion food. Between complicated cooking techniques and astronomical price tags, waiting until there's something to celebrate and firing up the grill keeps it firmly in the land of weekends and holidays. But if you favor inexpensive cuts like sirloin and turn to a trusty cast iron skillet, you can have flavorful steak and heavenly mis butter mushrooms on the table in about a half hour.
Choose a cooking fat for your steak that lends flavor and can take the heat. I tend to keep at least one jar of bacon fat in my refrigerator (sometimes I have several different kinds), so I chose that. It's hard to go wrong there. You can also make a bigger batch of the miso butter and just use some of that, but I find it doesn't tend to stand out as much with the steak as it does with the mushrooms, which take on the flavor beautifully.
That said, feel free to double, triple, or quadruple the miso butter. You'll find yourself reaching for it all the time once you've used it a bit. One of my favorite summer meals involves slathering grilled vegetables with the stuff and then stuffing myself with said vegetables!
I served this steak with roasted potatoes and asparagus … a very spring-inspired meal. You could pair it with rice pilaf, risotto, a traditional baked potato, or a giant plate of the aforementioned miso butter glazed grilled vegetables. You can even make this the topping for a great springtime salad. However you choose to plate it, enjoy a steak that can grace your table even when there's not a lot of time to make dinner.
Seared Sirloin Steak with Miso Butter Mushrooms
- 16 oz. lean sirloin steak
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- 1 T. cooking fat - I used bacon fat
- ¼ c. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 T. white miso paste
- 8 oz. button mushrooms, rinsed and sliced
- 2 T. dark, thick soy sauce - I used a mushroom soy sauce
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. While the skillet heats, rub the steak generously with salt and pepper and set aside. Add the cooking fat of your choice to the hot skillet. When the fat is melted and hot, add the steak and allow it to sear, untouched, for 4 minutes. Flip the steak and allow it to cook on the other side for an additional 4 minutes; remove to a cutting board and tent with foil and allow to rest.
While the steak is resting, mix the butter and miso paste together. Add the mixture to the hot skillet over medium heat. Add When the butter is melted, at the mushrooms and sauté until cooked through and lightly browned on the edges. Remove from the heat and add the soy sauce and stir lightly.
Slice the steak into thin strips and serve the miso butter mushrooms over the steak.
- Yields: 2-3 servings
- Preparation Time: 30 minutes