Cocoa-Rubbed Steak with Bacon-Whiskey Gravy and Crispy Baked Potatoes

Saturday after work, I gathered up the wife and child and headed to the Giant and the liquor store to get the ingredients for another Food Network Magazine recipe (who doesn't love pushing a baby stroller through the liquor store?). This one comes from page 107 of the March 2012 issue, which is devoted to all manner of chocolate dishes.

Cook Time:

Active: 1 hour

Total: 1 hour, 5 min.

For the Steak:

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Kosher salt

2 1-pound New York strip steaks (about 1 1/2 inches thick)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

For the Gravy:

4 strips bacon, diced

1 leek (white and light green parts only), finely chopped

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whiskey

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Potatoes:

2 russet potatoes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

1. Make the potatoes: Mix oil, salt, and pepper. Pierce potatoes with a fork; rub with oil mixture. Bake on the top oven rack at 375 degrees (put a baking sheet below to catch drippings) until tender, 50 minutes. Slice open and top with butter, salt, pepper, and chives.
2. Make the steak: Mix the cocoa powder, both paprikas, brown sugar, cayenne and 2 teaspoons salt; rub on the steak and bring to room temperature, 30 minutes.
3. Make the gravy: Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring, until crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon; set aside. Add the leek to the drippings and cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute.
4. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the whiskey, then return to medium heat; if the alcohol ignites, let the flames die out. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the mixture is reduced by one-quarter, about 8 minutes. Whisk in the heavy cream and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the gravy coats a spoon, about 7 minutes. Stir in the butter, reserved bacon, and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
5. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat, about 3 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon butter; when it melts, add the steak and sear until a dark crust forms, about 8 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Season with salt. Slice and serve with the gravy.

Results:

Perfect potatoes, great gravy, so-so steak. 

You can't really go wrong with potatoes that have been coated in oil and salt. We added butter and sour cream, of course, but used chopped green onion instead of chives (largely because we couldn't locate chives in the store), and the green onion on the potatoes were a nice compliment to the leek in the gravy. I will definitely use this technique for baked potatoes in the future.

I found the gravy sweet from the whiskey and smokey from the bacon, which was a delicious combination. I would have liked it to be a little thicker, but that may have been some fault of my own. I also found that I liked the gravy more as it cooled off; it might make a pretty tasty salad dressing or sauce on a sandwich. 

With the steak, we couldn't taste much of the cocoa. There was no pink on the inside, so maybe I had them on a little longer than necessary, but even so, I doubt it would have tasted much different. Obviously the steak was still delicious (steak is steak), but the cocoa didn't add anything special; I would recommend something with a stronger flavor, like Montreal Steak Seasoning or a similar rub. 

Rating:

Difficulty: 3 out of 5  (mostly from having lots of things going at once)

Taste: 4 out of 5 (brought down by the lack of flavor on the steak)

Will I make this again? Potatoes and Gravy most certainly.

Two down, who knows how many more to go. I can't believe I made a meal without any cheese...this is an anomaly, I assure you. I've already had two reader requests, one for my mother's special-occasion egg strata and one for some chicken empanadas (which I'll need to make sure I still have the recipe for) so stay tuned for some exciting things!

Thanks for stopping by,

~ Jason

Banana-Cream Cheese Breakfast Cakes

My inaugural recipe can be found in the May 2012 Food Network Magazine, but is apparently a recipe served by Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco. 

Cook Time:

Active: about 45 min.

Total: about 65 min.

Yield:

about 15-20 cupcakes

For the Filling:

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

For the Cakes:

1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs, at room temperature

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

 Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth; transfer to a bowl. Clean out the mixer. Add the egg whites to the mixer and beat with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in the sugar, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat until shiny, stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Add half of the cream cheese mixture and beat until just combined. Add the remaining cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip; set aside.
2. Make the cakes: Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. 
3. Clean out the mixer. Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla with the paddle attachment on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the mashed bananas until combined. Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until almost combined, then add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just combined (do not overmix).
4. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Insert the pastry tip halfway into each and pipe about 1 tablespoon filling into the middle of the batter. (The cups should be about three-quarters full.) Bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake (not the filling) comes out clean, 20-35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool about 15 minutes, then remove the cakes to the rack to cool completely.

Results:

Delicious! My wife loved them, and even my sister-in-law (who isn't a huge fan of banana) had more than one. The banana and cream cheese compliment each other very well (sort of like carrot cake) without either one being too strong of a flavor. The cake part is super moist, and you can see and taste the chunks of banana in each bite. You could also add nuts to the recipe to make it a bit more like banana bread. 

Having to clean out the mixer between each mixture was a little annoying, but not too much of a hassle, and the rest of the recipe is pretty darn easy. Also, I don't have a pastry bag, so I simply used a spoon to put the filling in the batter; this resulted in the filling being more of a topping, but taste-wise I can't imagine there is much of a difference.

Rating:

Difficulty: 1 out of 5 

Taste: 5 out of 5

Will I make this again? Absolutely.

Well there you go, recipe numero uno! Does it sound good? Does it make you want to strap on an apron and mix up a batch right now? I certainly hope so. Give it a try and let me know how it turns out. 

Also, tell me what you think about this and/or the blog in general, I would love to hear your thoughts. 

~ Jason