Steaks with Martini Butter

The primary benefit to being the cook is not having to do the dishes.  Well, that and the fact that I get to choose the menu.  This last weekend, we headed to Columbus, OH to see David and Kara and Bradley and Rosie.  David is my stepson, Kara is his wife and Bradley and Rosie are our grandchildren.  They are wonderful folks and the best parents around. I'd volunteered to cook - lunch and dinner.  I knew we were having sloppy joes for lunch.  Dinner, well, that was another story.  No clue.  I'd seen a recipe for martini butter for steaks but had no other ideas.  David loves meat slabs.  We typically don't.  Be they beef or pork or lamb slabs, they're typically not on our menu.  We'd prefer to get the majority of our calories from vegetables or starches.  On the way out of town, we stopped at the farmer's market and I bought corn on the cob, green beans and red potatoes. They sounded like they'd be fine with steaks. I'd brought several cooking magazines for the ride but they didn't yield anything wonderful.  Ok, fine.  I'll make it up.

Cut to the chase here.  Dinner turned out very well.   The steaks were perfect.  The martini butter.  Well I may never make another steak without making a bit of martini butter.  It enhanced the flavor without overwhelming anything.  I did saute some onions to add to the steaks.  For the green beans, I sauteed some grape tomatoes with oregano and browned some bacon and shredded a bit of parmesan cheese.  Rather than rambling on, let's go thru the whole menu:


Steaks with Martini Butter
Corn on the Cob
Rosemary Potatoes
Green Beans with Roasted Tomatoes
Crescent Rolls with Shallots, Oregano and Parmesan


Steaks with Martini Butter

Ingredients:
4 m- 8-10 oz strip steaks about 1" thick
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 t truffle oil
salt and pepper
1/2 c drained pimiento stuffed Spanish olives
1/4  c gin or vodka (we used vodka)
2 T dry vermouth
2 t Dijon mustard
8 T unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

Put the worcestershire sauce and truffle oil in a 9x13 glass pan.  Coat both sides of the steaks with the sauce mixture.  Grind some fresh pepper over the steaks.  Allow them to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to grilling.

Process the olives, gin or vodka, vermouth and dijon in a food processor.  When you've got a slurry, mix in the butter.

Grill the steaks to your preferred internal temperature.  Plate them immediately after you remove them from the grill and put a dollop of martini butter on each.  Once you've plated the steaks, add the rest sides to the plates.  This will accomplish two things.  One the steaks will have a few minutes to rest and allow the juices to redistribute and two, the butter got on them when they were very hot. 


Green Beans with Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients:
1 lb green beans
olive oil
2 T vermouth
1 lb grape tomatoes
6 slices bacon
1/2 c shredded parmesan
1 T olive oil
4 sprigs fresh oregano

Directions:

Chop the bacon.  Use a small skillet and brown it.  Remove the bacon from the skillet and pour off the bacon fat.  Do not wipe the skillet because the browned bits (fond) will add some wonderful taste to the tomatoes.  Put a little olive oil in a larger skillet and heat it to shimmering.  Add the green beans.  When they've cooked for a couple of minutes - and before they've started to brown, add the vermouth.  Put the cherry or grape tomatoes in the small skillet with a little more olive oil and the oregano.  Saute them until they're bursting.  Plate the dish with the green beans on the bottom, topped with the tomatoes then the bacon then the grated cheese.


Stuffed Crescent Rolls

Ingredients:
1 package crescent rolls
3 shallots, minced and sauteed
oregano, chopped fresh
parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:
Unroll and separate the crescent rolls.  On the wide end of each put some of the sauteed shallots, some oregano and some grated cheese.  Roll as usual and bake following the package instructions.



martini butter recipe adapted from Fine Cooking