Riffing On Dinner Tonight!

This afternoon I surveyed my freezer thinking about tonight’s dinner and found a single round steak, usually an unappealing, tough but lean inexpensive cut of beef. I also found one large Russet potato. How to pump this up and make this stretch into a meal for three adults?

I’ve done pepper steak many times before but wasn’t always thrilled by how it turned out; usually tough and bland tasting. I needed to do something different with this or it was going to be another Subway night. Now that’s not a bad thing but I like to cook and love challenges, so it was on!

First, while the steak thawed in the sink I peeled the potato, and dropped that into some boiling water. Next, while the potato softened, I assembled my ingredients:

A cored and roughly chopped green pepper and red pepper, or whatever you have on hand in the crisper

1 yellow onion, chopped about the same size as the peppers

1 cup chopped parsley (use dried if you have none on hand fresh)

3 tbsps. olive oil, divided

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup beef broth (bouillon is fine)

1 cup red wine

1/2 cup bourbon

1 tbsp flour

salt and pepper

dry spices, including Montreal Steak Seasoning, rosemary, thyme and tarragon

DIRECTIONS

Remove the potato from the boiling water and set aside. While this is cooling preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice the meat against the grain on the bias thinly. Place the sliced beef in a large bowl and season with the Worcestershire sauce, Montreal Steak Seasoning, salt, pepper and dried tarragon leaves. Dust with flour and mix thoroughly, setting aside to marinate a few minutes.

Saute the vegetables in a tbsp of oil over medium heat in a large pan until the onions are clear. In this stage I like to add another layer of seasoning by sprinkling a pinch of salt and pepper on the vegetables while they cook. Remove the cooked vegetables. Add the remaining oil and drop in the sliced beef, browning on all sides. Return the sauteed vegetables to the pan and pour in the broth, wine and bourbon. Reduce heat and cover, allowing to simmer about 30 minutes. The last five minutes of simmering mix in the chopped fresh parsley.

While the beef is simmering cut the cooled potato into medium squares and put in a gallon plastic storage bag. Pour in a tablespoon of the oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Shake to mix and spread out onto a baking sheet covered in foil. I spray the foil with oil to make sure the potato will not stick. Place the sheet in the preheated oven and roast until the potatoes are golden brown, about 30 minutes. You may want to turn the potatoes over about half way through to ensure browning on both sides.

This dish goes well with a green vegetable or a salad and a glass of Merlot. It was awesome tonight, tender and flavorful, perfectly balanced by the creamy roasted potatoes!