Got Meat...Yeah, Ribeye Steak, the best cut ever!!!

Ribeye Steak with Garlic Mushrooms

A quick, easy and absolutely delicious meal anytime... 

The Rib Eye cut is one of my favorite pieces of meat because it's not only a little marbly (aka fatty, good fat), which gives it great texture and flavor, it's densely nutritious and satiating, especially if you buy grass fed & finished meat. The rib eye is the center piece of the rib, if it had a rib attached to it it might be called 'cowboy ribeye' or 'cowboy cut', which in my opinion is even better since a bone attached to a piece of meat (pork, chicken, beef, elf, bison, lamb, etc) usually has better flavor and is more forgiving if you accidentally overcook it...Plus, there is something gratifying about gnawing on bone at the end of meal, especially if you are paleo...HA!HA!

Although expensive ($17.99/lb) this piece a of meat (about 1 lb) equaled about 2 1/2 meals for me, (dinner - light breakfast - lunch)...It's because of the cut, it's thick, dense and has some fat...If you don't want to splurge for Rib Eye, that's OK...you can use other searing cuts of meat for this recipe...i.e. sirloin, flank, hanger, etc...  

So the technique I'm going to introduce to you to in this blog post is 'pasting the protein'. A paste for a protein is similar to marinade, but it has more seasoning instead of liquid which makes the 'marinade' denser and thicker to apply to the protein than a marinade. Plus, a marinade you usually have to soak for at least a few hours and sometimes overnight in order for it to absorb the flavors. A paste can be applied right before cooking which helps create a 'crust' on the protein and also helps insulate the meat keeping the juices inside and protecting it from overcooking.

Steak Ingredients

- 3/4 - 1 lb per person

- Paste per piece of steak:

- 1 TBS salt

- 1 TBS pepper

- 2 tsp granulated garlic

- 2 tsp smoked paprika

- 1 tsp chipotle

- 1 tsp curry

- tsp granulated onion 

- 2 tbs olive oil, just enough to create a paste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees

2. Place all paste spices in a bowl. Add oil and whisk again to combine. The mixture should be thick and dense.

3. Brush the paste on the all sides of the meat.

 Don't forget the sides...

4. Sear all sides of the meat. 

Keep searing until golden brown.

5. Place in oven to finish the cooking process. Reserve everything in pan for the sauce.

Mushroom & Garlic Sauce

Ingredients

- 6 Garlic Cloves, chopped

- 1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar

- 2 TBS Coconut Oil

- Trumpet Mushrooms (aka King Oyster Mushrooms), chopped on a bias, see picture below

- Garnish: Parsley, chopped

- Salt and Pepper to Taste

Below are what Trumpet mushrooms look like. I love these because they are hearty and don't shrink too much like other mushrooms. They pair really well with steak, but if you can't find trumpets you can use any type of mushrooms (i.e. shiitake, oysters, portobellos, cinnamon cap, etc). Remember, don't rinse the mushrooms, wipe them with towel to clean. Also, don't salt until after cooking or it releases water and becomes soggy...nobody like soggy shrooms...

See below to see how to chop mushrooms on bias, aka at an angle.

1. While the steak is cooking, add garlic to the pan and coat with reserves in the pan. 

2. Deglaze by adding red vinegar. The alcohol in the vinegar helps cleans the pan while extracting all the fond from the bottom of the pan. Fond is the fabulous flavor left behind from searing the steak. Many people throw it away, don't be that person. It's like throwing away the bacon dippings and its free.

3. Use a whisk in order to get all the fabulous fond from the bottom and the corners of pan. Turn heat to low and simmer for 5-7 minutes. It will reduce and thicken slightly.

Note, the pan has to be really hot, so hot a steam of smoke will float up - FREE FACIAL!!! The heat will help the extraction and will burn off the alcohol. You can really use any type of alcohol in your cupboard, but I wouldn't use your good stuff.

3. Mix in 1 TBS of coconut oil to the pan. 

4. Add mushrooms to the pan. Increase heat to medium.

5. Add another TBS of coconut oil to pan and sauté mushrooms until softened, about 3-5 minutes.

6. Turn of heat and garnish with parsley.

7. Add steak back to the pan and serve.

Afternoon a weightlifting day, there is nothing I like better than a Ribeye with garlic mushrooms...

Anybody going to make this meal....

One Pot Wonders - Slow Roasted (Beef) Chuck Roast

If you don't have yet, you need one, it is an essential for any kitchen...

DUTCH OVEN...

It took me awhile to save up for this, but it is well worth the time and money I spent on it...Actually, I didn't spend any money because I saved 6 William Sonoma gift cards I received over the years to purchase this cooking gem...Above is my 7.5 QT Le Creuset Dutch Oven, my pride & joy!!!

If you don't have a dutch oven, don't despair...you can use your crock pot, but I personally like a dutch oven because I can sear the meat in the same pot I braise it in, I can control the heat (my crock pot only has two temp low & high) and ultimately I think it produces better flavor...

For more on Dutch Oven vs Crock Pot....

Ok, to my fabulous Slow Roasted Chuck Roast...We bought a quarter cow (grassed, of course) over a year ago and have a few parts of the it left...I never really buy Chuck at the store because I always think it takes too long to cook it, but since I have it already I decided to cook it...Chuck is the cow's shoulder and is very muscular so it takes awhile to cook, usually braise (combination cooking method using both dry and moist heats : 1) sear over dry heat 2) then you slow cook in liquid)

Anyhow, I am going to start buying more Chuck more often because it's so easy to make and using my dutch oven it's a One Pot Wonder!!!

Ingredients

- 4-5 lb Chuck Roast (grassfed & finished preferred)

Note: Meat shrinks about 20%-25% when you slowly cook it. 

- 1 Yellow Onion, chopped

- 5 Carrots, chopped

- 6 Celery Stalks, chopped

- 8 Garlic Cloves

- 1 Leek

- 2 TBS Coconut Oil

- 32 oz Beef or Chicken stock (homemade preferred), you can also use water

- Salt & Pepper

- Curry Powder

- Chile Powder

- Garlic Powder

- Cardamom Powder

Instructions

1. Preheat Oven 250 degrees.

2. Season the meat. Coat the meat with salt and pepper. Place the rest of the seasonings in a bowl and mix. (I usually make extra seasonings and save for other occasion.) Using a strainer, heavily sprinkle the seasonings over the entire meat. This is very important when searing the meat. (Note: If I wasn't on the Whole30 I would season flour and coat the meat because the flour helps give it a better sear).

3. Turn the stove on high and heat the coconut oil in the dutch oven. Oil must cover the the entire bottom. When hot, place the meat in pot and sear all sides. 

4. Heat the stock or water in a medium size pot.

5. After searing remove meat. Bottom of pot should have created a fond (brown pieces, which is where a lot of flavor is hidden so keep this stuff).

5. Add the veggies to the pot and coast with fond. Ladle about half of the hot stock or water into the pot and whisk the bottom to deglaze the pan. Click the video to hear the sizzle - that is how you get rid of the find and deglaze the pan.

 

6. Add the meat back into the pot. Add the rest of the stock or water. Meat should be submerged into the liquid about 1/3 way.

7. Bring to a boil, cover, and place in the oven.

8. Let cook for 4-5 hours, until for tender. Halfway through the cooking process you can rotate the beef and redistribute the juices.

9. As you can see the meat shrunk, but in doing so it also absorbed all the delicious flavors in the liquid...

 10. I served mine on a bed of spinach, with a side of puree cauliflower-parsnips-sweet potato puree and some from tomatillos on top!

BTW, we have leftover for a few days...that is another reason why this dish is a One Pot Wonder!)