Weekly Cooking Report June 13: Steak in red wine sauce with pan fried potato slices

The most difficult thing for this week is that you'll need two skillets running at once. This is one of the first things I learned to cook, so I have faith in you. It's a bit fiddlier than normal but trust me.

Summertime Shadows

We're gonna tackle the potatoes part of this first. The recipe is pretty damn simple:

• 1 lb. yellow potatoes, preferable Russets or Yukon Gold, washed and cut into 1/4" slices. 
• 4 tbs. of cooking oil; I recommend 2 tbs. of  olive oil and 2 tbs. of butter for maximum flavor but you do you
• A spice mix made up of 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/4 tsp. dried thyme. 

Put a skillet over medium high heat, add the cooking oils. Once it's shimmering and/or the butter is melted, add the potatoes in an even layer on the skillet. Flip every 3-4 minutes until both sides are brown, about 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle the spice mix on, serve hot. 

Got that? OK, good, that's running in the background while we do the steak, which is a little less easy. 

• 18 oz or so of rib eye steak, about 1 1/2 inches thick, brought to room temp laying on paper towels and then patted dry. Should take about 30 minutes to come to temp. and salted with 1 tsp. kosher salt.
• 2 tbs. butter, cut in half
• One finely chopped large shallot (remember the cutting device i mentioned before? super helpful here) and 1 smashed garlic clove. 
• two sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tbs. aka a dash of balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup beef broth and 1/2 cup dry red wine, which will be added together
• another mx of 1/4 tsp kosher salt, 2 tbs. butter and 1/4 tsp. ground pepper

Heat a 10-inch cast iron skillet over high heat for about 5 minutes just until it starts to smoke. Carefully place the steak in the hot pan and cook about 2 minutes until enough of a crust has developed on the bottom that the steak no longer sticks to the pan. The flip and cook for 2 minutes. And then flip and cook for 2 minutes, etc. At about 8 minutes cook time start checking internal temp for a 125F medium rare (your preference may very, it will be faster or slower if you have one big steak or a couple smaller ones as I have in my photo). 

Once you're at temp, move the steak to a plate to rest, reduce the heat to medium-high and drop in that first 2 tbs of butter and the shallots, stirring regularly until you can smell the shallot, which will be less and a minute. Then add in the garlic, thyme, and vinegar, and cook until the shallots are brown, another less than a minute thing. Finally add the wine/broth mix and let it cook down for 10 minutes; at the 8 minute mark add in any juices from the steak on the plate. You should end with about a half a cup.

Remove the garlic clove and thyme sprigs, and toss in the final mix of kosher salt, butter, and pepper and whisk until the butter, then remove from heat and move to a pouring vessel. Serve to a grateful family