Brown Pan Sauce


I don’t want to be a bully, but if you’re not making a pan sauce each and every time you cook meat, you are wasting flavor opportunities that can never be reclaimed! And you are personally hurting my feelings. The following recipe is for steak. When cooking chicken, follow the same steps, but add a teaspoon of lemon zest with the herbs you choose, and go for a dry white wine instead of red when deglazing the pan. Gorgeous pork chops on the menu? Try substituting tarragon or marjoram for the herbs, choose a slightly sweeter white wine to deglaze and whisk in honey mustard. No matter the meat, for the love of all things good and right, be sure there are mashed potatoes on a plate with this sauce.


Ingredients

2 1½-inch thick strip steaks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp. butter, divided
1 Tbsp. minced shallot
2 Tbsp. minced rosemary or thyme
1 cup chicken or beef broth, dry red wine or a combination
1 tsp. Dijon mustard



Preparation

• Season the steaks with salt and pepper.

• In a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add the steaks and let cook undisturbed 3 minutes. Flip the steaks and cook another 3 minutes for medium-rare, or to desired doneness. Transfer the steaks to a plate and cover loosely with foil.

• Pour off the fat from the pan, but do not wipe it clean. Return the pan to the stovetop and reduce the heat to medium. Add the shallots and herbs and saute 1 minute. To deglaze, add the broth, reduce the heat to low and use a wooden spoon to scrape the fond off the bottom of the skillet. Let the sauce reduce 2 to 3 minutes.

• Pour any juices that have collected on the steak plate back into the skillet, and whisk in the mustard. Remove the skillet from heat and whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Spoon over the steaks and serve.



Tags : Beef