Dinner Tonight: Ribeye with Butter and Ginger Sauce
I usually reserve eating ribeye for when I am alone. When the fiancée is off interviewing for jobs and going to school, I’m home alone with a simply prepared steak and usually absolutely no vegetables. It’s simple, indulgent, and slightly embarrassing. The only flourish of cooking prowess was a pan sauce, most often made with red wine. Sometimes I didn’t even bother—too many times the sauce would come out bitter or too fatty. I needed some help.
According to Simple to Spectacular, this is as simple as pan sauces get. Luckily, it doesn’t really taste like it. The trick, I’ve learned, is to let the pan cool slightly and drain as much of the fat from the pan before deglazing. I’m always leery of adding anything extraneous to my steaks, but the ginger and soy never feel like they’re trying to steal the steak’s thunder. And that’s the way it should be. What the ginger and soy do for this recipe is accentuate some of the higher notes. The results tickle the back of your tongue instead of obscuring the seared goodness of a perfect steak.
This is also the first time I’ve ever not put salt on a steak. It felt weird. But the soy sauce more than made up for the missing sodium.
About the author: Nick Kindelsperger is a co-founder of The Paupered Chef, a blog dedicated to saving time and money while enjoying food in every way possible. He sells wine for a living and lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Ribeye with Butter and Ginger Sauce
- makes 2 servings -
Adapted from Simple to Spectacular
Ingredients
2 8-10 ounce ribeye steaks
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Procedure
1. Preheat an iron skillet over high heat for about 5 minutes. Add the steaks, and cook for 1 minute. Flip and cook another minute. Turn off the heat, remove the steak and set aside.
2. Let the pan cool for a minute or two, and then turn the heat to medium. Add the butter, let it melt, and then toss in the minced ginger. Cook for 30 seconds. Pour in the soy sauce and stir until combined
3. Return the steaks back to the pan and cook for 4 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve the steak with the sauce poured on top.
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4 Comments:
Sounds good but you're right, it does seem unnatural to sear the steaks without seasoning them first! I don't know that I've ever combined butter and soy sauce, I'll have to give it a try!
pinchmysalt at 4:40PM on 04/23/08
Butter, soy sauce, and also lemon juice are awesome together. A little heat also helps, such as from sun dried red chilies or chipotles, which also have that amazing earthy smokiness.
simon at 5:12PM on 04/23/08
I'm so glad I'm not the only one. I have two roommates: one has an erratic schedule and the other works from home half the time. Whenever I have dinner by myself, it's always a big 'ol steak and minimal sides.
kurteye at 9:25PM on 04/23/08
try marinating ribeyes overnite after seasoning with S/P & meat tenderizer, in a ziplock with teriyaki . Grill or pan-broil your steaks to desired doneness, add baby portabellas & shallots sauteed in teriyaki over the top or on the side. To compliment add some fresh summer salad greens, baby carrots or freshly steamed asparagas and a glass of red.... taaa..da
BarbInNeFL at 2:50PM on 06/26/09