A SAUCY LITTLE STEAK

This is a progressive preparation pictorial of a saucy little steak that went down the hatch with a nice glass of Merlot this evening. Notice that I served it (to myself) without starch or veggies. Why? Well...it was meant to be a low carb meal, of course! And sometimes you just feel like a piece of meat. Grrrrrr!

This is a rib eye steak - my favorite steak by far - and I tied it around its edge with twine so it would keep a nice round shape while grilling. I think it looks neater that way. I marinated it in some olive oil, minced garlic, minced shallot and fresh rosemary. Then I grilled it over smoking charcoal and basted it with olive oil and red wine as it cooked. Now that's love!

The pan sauce was made with 1 tsp butter, 1 TBSP minced shallot, 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1 cup of Merlot, 1 TBSP beef essence, 1/2 tsp Dijon Mustard, 8 cherry tomatoes, 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary, salt and fresh ground pepper.

I sizzled the butter in a hot pan until golden then hit it with the minced shallots and garlic. Just when I thought they were going to die of heat stroke, I cooled them off with the wine. Pshhhh! Then I watched as the wine slowly reduced, and when it was half gone, I added the essence of beef. I gave the pan a few swirls, and when everything was nice and happy...I added the Dijon, tomatoes and rosemary. Then I removed the sauce from the heat and seasoned it. It was ready!

I served my steak with some goat's cheese on top which I warmed with a blow torch. The cheese goes quite well with the beef and the zesty acidic sauce. Yum!!

Here are the action packed photos of the entire sequence! And I have to tell you...it was good!!