Steak with Red Wine Mushroom Sauce

There is almost nothing better than steak, mushrooms and red wine.  And pair that with some great roasted vegetable, and you've got a great meal.

Serves 6

photo by Con Poulos

• 6 skirt steaks, 4 ounces each
• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1/2 pound French or regular carrots
• 1/4 pound baby summer squash, halved
• 1/4 pound pearl onions, peeled and halved
• 1/4 pound brussels sprouts, halved
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms
• 4 ounces portobello mushrooms
• 4 ounces button mushrooms

• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1/3 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
• 24 ounces low-sodium beef broth
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 ounces tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

preparation

Season steaks with salt and black pepper. On a grill pan coated with cooking spray, cook steaks over medium-high heat, turning once, until pink inside, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove from heat and cover with foil. In a bowl, toss carrots, squash, pearl onions and sprouts in 1/2 tablespoon oil. Over medium heat, in batches and turning once, cook until soft and seared, 6 minutes. In a large pan over medium heat, heat remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil. Slice mushrooms; to pan, add mushrooms, white onion and garlic; cook until onion browns, 5 to 7 minutes. Add wine and simmer 3 to 5 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. In a bowl, dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoon cold water. Reduce heat and slowly add cornstarch mixture to broth mixture, stirring constantly, until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add tomato paste, Italian seasoning and salt and black pepper; simmer 7 to 10 minutes. Slice steak, top with mushroom sauce; serve alongside vegetables.

Per serving: 369 calories, 19 g fat (6 g saturated), 20 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 30 g protein

Braised Halibut with Leeks, Mushrooms and Little Neck Clams

I made this last nigh for dinner and it was excellent.  I made a few small changes.  I served it with the black rice I blogged about earlier and I reduced the broth to 2 cups instead of three. Plus I added a cup of cherry tomatoes cut in half.  I added them when I braised the leeks and mushrooms.  Since I served it over the rice, having it too soupy didn't seem appealing to me.

Ingredients:

Serves 4

What You'll Need

4 oz. (½ cup) unsalted butter

½ lb. oyster or hen of the woods mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)

3 large leeks, white and light-green parts only, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 cups lower-salt chicken broth

4 skinless Pacific halibut fillets (about 4 oz. each)

16 to 24 small clams, such as Manila or littlenecks, scrubbed

1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half (optional)

Melt the butter over medium heat in an 11- or 12-inch straight-sided sauté pan with a lid. Add the mushrooms and leeks (and tomatoes if using) and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook gently, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the broth, raise the heat to medium high, and bring to a boil.
Season the halibut with salt and pepper. Nestle the fish and clams among the vegetables in the skillet. Bring the broth back to a boil, cover tightly, and reduce the heat to low. Cook gently until the fish is just cooked through and the clams have opened, about 7 minutes. If all of the clams are not open, remove the fish and the open clams and continue cooking until the remaining clams open, another 2 to 3 minutes. Discard any clams that haven’t opened by this time.
Serve the fish in warmed shallow soup bowls, topped with leeks and mushrooms, surrounded by clams and broth, and sprinkled with chopped parsley.

serving suggestions

To make it a complete meal, serve with a green side salad and Steamed Jasmine Rice. 

nutrition information (per serving):
Calories (kcal): 480; Fat (g): 28; Fat Calories (kcal): 250; Saturated Fat (g): 15; Protein (g): 40; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 7; Carbohydrates (g): 17; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 2.5; Sodium (mg): 460; Cholesterol (mg): 125; Fiber (g): 3;