Bistro Style Minute Steak

Previously on The Left Chapter we have looked at a variety of ways to prepare delicious dishes using minute steak,  that relatively inexpensive and much maligned cut of beef you find at most grocery stores. These included Ukrainian "Scalloped Beef" Revisited, Schnitzel Style Minute Steak and Lemon Minute Steaks with Sauteed Mushrooms.

Today we are going to do a bistro style minute steak with a red wine based sauce. The sauce makes the steaks in this case and, for the sake of variety we will include two variations that you can do on the base recipe. This recipe is loosely based on a minute steak recipe in the terrific vintage cookbook The Steak Book. 

A great family dish, I like to make 6-8 steaks and then spoon the sauce over them at the end on a platter.

Ingredients:

6-8 minute steaks
1/3 of a cup of dry red wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 medium onion diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2-4 dashes cayenne pepper
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
1-2 cups sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (optional)

Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan.

Salt and pepper your minute steaks on both sides to taste and then fry them in the oiled pan until done to your liking (about 30 seconds for more rare to around one minute a side turning only once. I like to cook them for no more than 30 seconds a side as they are so thin). Set aside the steaks as you prepare them on a covered platter or on a platter in a warm oven to keep them warm while you prepare the sauce.

When the steaks are cooked add some more olive oil to the same saucepan (without draining it or wiping it clean at all) and then add all of the ingredients other than the green onion. This includes the mushrooms and Dijon mustard if you are using them.

Saute all of the ingredients over medium heat for several minutes until the red wine has been reduced to almost nothing. Then spoon the sauce over the platter of minute steaks and garnish with the green onion.

These steaks are great with rice, rustic style bread, a salad and some more red wine for drinking of course! I also like to serve them with lemon wedges as I find a bit of lemon juice on them adds a nice zest.

Enjoy.