Recipe: Quick Dinner, Luscious Steak

This recipe, aka, last night's dinner, was inspired by our trip to the Home and Housewares Show in Chicago. Besides watching Masaharu Morimoto cook, I also saw Stefan Richter from Top Chef and Todd English. The highlight, besides being starstruck with Morimoto, though was visiting the Zojirushi booth. Zojirushi is a brand of small home appliances from Japan. Their rice cookers are the most innovative, having ones that utilize induction heating. The Zojirushi booth always has food samples, and yesterday, it happened to be a bit of rice (of course!) with a slice of grilled steak and a bit of some kind of cilantro sauce. It was very good and prompted me to cook the following recipe for dinner last night for Bone-in Ribeye with Cilantro Pesto and Sautéed Creamy Leeks and Mushrooms over steamed Jasmine Rice:

For 2 People:

Prepare the rice according to manufacturer's instructions; or, if you have a rice cooker, use it (we have the simpler Neuro Fuzzy from Zojirushi)!

For the Steak Marinade:
2 TBSPs olive oil
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tsps champagne vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 clove garlic

Mix together the above ingredients. We love bone-in ribeye steaks. A 3/4 to 1 lb piece would be sufficient for 2 people. Set aside at room temperature for about 1-2 hours. Once marinated, grill or cook on a skillet until medium rare (when gently poked, it feels like your cheek).

For the Cilantro Pesto:

1 bunch cilantro leaves

1 TB pine nuts

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

1/8 tsp salt, or to taste
1 clove garlic

pinch ground pepper

juice from 1/4 lemon

Put the above ingredients in a food processor and process until fairly smooth. Taste, taste, taste! If it's too salty, add a bit more olive oil, cilantro and lemon juice.

For the Sautéed Creamy Leeks and Mushrooms:

1 large or 2 small leeks, cleaned, with the green tops discarded, sliced thinly

8 oz button mushrooms, sliced thinly

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 TB olive oil

2 tsps butter

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c heavy cream

Heat oil and butter in a large sauté pan. Add garlic. Sauté for about a minute, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms and brown. Sprinkle a little salt to remove moisture from mushrooms. Add leek(s). Sauté until tender. Add cream. Mix and season to taste.

Assembly:

Slice cooked meat into strips. Spoon about 1/3 c cooked rice onto a plate. Lay meat on top or on one side of the rice. Spoon creamy leeks and mushrooms on other side of the rice. Drizzle cilantro pesto around the assembly.

Enjoy!!