Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Stacked Steak Bites

Another entry for the monthly contest on Kitchen Play. Ah, I love contests, and this one is fun because the original recipe only has to be an inspiration, so it's perfectly acceptable to wander into new territory. I like that. I do tend to wander, don't I?

This time, I didn't stray quite as far from the original recipe as I have with other entries. There's still steak, potato, and something in the onion family. And it's all nicely stacked. That's pretty close considering what I've done with other entries.

For this one, mine are a teeny bit larger than the original amuse bouche size and the shallots became onions in a cream and horseradish sauce. And the beef in question was a beef tenderloin. Left over, actually. Nothing wrong with that, if you ask me.

Oh, and before I forget, the contest is sponsored by Canadian Beef. Moo.

The tenderloin was from the small end - I had bought a whole tenderloin a while back and this was the piece I didn't use at the time. I cooked it yesterday for dinner, so I started with a fully cooked steak - it just needed the chill taken off before serving. That was easy to do. I just heated up a bit of oil in a cast iron pan, let it cook just a little bit on each side and then let it rest before slicing. It didn't cook any more except maybe the extra browning on the outside, but the inside was still nicely pink.

The tenderloin pieces I had were almost exactly the same diameter as the potato slices, so it made a nice stack. If your steak is a different shape or size, you'll have to adjust your slices to fit.

Obviously, I enter contests because I want to win (hey, there's $100 at stake here) but in this case, I'm glad I entered this because I probably wouldn't have brainstormed this combination on a normal day. My husband even commented that he couldn't figure out what I was cooking, but every time he came into the kitchen, something smelled really good. Onions always smell good, but the horseradish added a nice little kick, and the sour cream mellowed it out. And how can you argue with crispy potatoes and a bit of tenderloin.

Yeah, I'm glad I made this. I'm just sorry we ate it all. Sigh. I'll have to find another excuse to cook some of those onions again soon.

Stacked Steak Bites

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 medium onion, cut in half, halves cut in thirds, then sliced into 1/2 pieces.
1 Idaho potato, boiled in its skin then peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
Beef tenderloin (or other steak) cooked, rested, and sliced
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
3 tablespoons sour cream
salt and pepper, to taste.

Put the butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil into a skillet and heat on medium until the butter melts, add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook until the onions soften. Keep cooking, stirring as needed, until the onions just begin to brown.

Meanwhile heat the remaining olive oil in a heavy skillet (I used cast iron) add the sliced potatoes and cook until browned and a little crisp. Flip, and cook on the other side.

To the onions, add the horseradish and the sour cream, stir to coat well and cook a few seconds more until the sour cream thickens and clings to the onions.

To serve, place a spoon full of the onion mixture on top of a potato slice, then top with the steak.
Yum

4 comments:

Cook said...

Hi Donna,
OMG, that looks good! Those contests have you Going! Many wins expected. Please do not believe that your glog is not being followed; It is! But I see the same material at SE, often sooner. There must be some deal to give them first rights...
The instant I saw the picture of you homemade noodles, I recognized the product and knew where you were going. I've made similar noodles with the same KA kit; similar results. I used 90% semolia and mostly egg for moisture. It was a miserably tough dough but world-class noodles. The gluten developes with the repeated folding and rolling and rest, when it becomes too tough. Agree: It is not easy, but it IS worth the trouble. Those 'knoodles' or however cut ARE worth the trouble. I wish that KA had a much wider cutter. My favorite is about 3x the width of their largest and theymust be cut by hand. Very easy: Roll though the rollers to the desired state, wrap floured dough around a small, bench pin and 'roll' through repeated cuts with a clean knife. A few Big Fat noodles are fun with some heavy, German/Austrian braises. Your later Clam Sauce was also a delight. I'm now using your method with mostly my formula. I tried it this evening and YES! We have a new winner, folks! The very special place for those HM noodles though, is supporting a scoop of Tabor's goulash. Fine www.tabor.com and snoop around for the gouash recipe. As a baker, you will find their loaf-dumplings a serious challenge. I got some help from the KAF folks last year and yes, Tabor's log dumplings CAN be made. The KAF folks published the recipes, with credits to Tabor, but they said little about the dumpling method. With their help, I've mastered it and those slices of 'log' dupling really are worth the trouble. Karel's comment on the goulash, "..the onions must equal or exceed the meat..." it Gospel truth. Best wishes for your many contests. You have what it takes to win some of these challenges. My best, always,
-Craig
P.S. X2: The next time that I make HM Pasta, I'll try your formula with 50% bread flour. It should be a LOT easier to work the dough. Have you tried any extruded pasta with the basic KA kit? It has to be softer to get through the extruder, but wondering. I cannot find the KA suggested formula, so I'd just thin it with another egg or two, maybe some water and then a rest. Extruded (with the original KA kit is a tough push for even the large machines and he dies are plastic. I'm afraid that I'll break the die or ruin the dough. I've heard that they have a new extruder, but I'm looking at the older set, the modified sausage stuffer kit. Any experience with same? Happy cooking, -Craig

Donna Currie said...

Hi Craig!
No, SE doesn't need to be published first, it just works out that way sometimes. I tend to schedule my technique articles here on the weekend, but the bread goes up the same day it does on SE.

As for noodles, I've done them every which way. I've got some completely handmade noodles that will be coming in about a week.

I've got both of the KA extruders. I think I like the newer one better. I've made rotini and a couple sizes of hollow pasta with it. The dough needs to be the right consistency, but you can't go too soft, either. It actually softens a lot as it goes through the extruder. It works best if you feed in lumps of pasta and rather than trying to jam large chunks in. I haven't used the older extruder set since I got the new one. I'll have to pull it out and see what I think of it again. There are some different shapes, I think.

The KA dough formula is the same with both extruders, but it gives volume measures for the flour, so you're still left with adjusting by feel.

I got some really nice 00 Italian pasta semolina and it was wonderful to work with, by the way. Not at all like the common stuff at the supermarket. If you see it at a specialty market pick it up. There's also a 00 flour meant for raised doughs. It's not the same stuff. Great for pizza, not really meant for pasta.

christellar said...

It's very pretty donna; you are a master with the camera. I also applaud the use of horseradish; my favourite! :D

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