Steak & Papas Fritas Salad

This salad came together while we were watching a Texas football game - Troy was making margaritas and so I thought a steak & papas fritas salad might be nice. We love grilling onions & peppers and I diced & seasoned potatoes and added them to the grill to get them crispy, as well. Any addition/deletion of veggies (mushrooms?) would be great... I recommend crumbling queso fresco atop, as well. *I didn't have any cilantro, but perhaps that would have been nice with a squeeze of fresh lime :)

Ingredients:

• Marinated, grilled & thinly sliced steak
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 small diced potato
• 2 roma tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped broccoli
• 4 ribs biased cut celery
  
• 1 cup queso fresco
• 5 cups mixed greens
• olive oil, fresh lime juice, balsamic, etc, or any vinaigrette of your choice
• kosher salt and fresh pepper
  

Preparation:

Marinate and prepare your steak as you wish - I use steak seasoning, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and grill the steaks to medium. (For fabulous steak preparation advice, see Jen's post.) Slice onion into thin crescent shapes and toss with diced potatoes, olive oil and steak seasoning. Grill veggies. Dice tomato, cut broccoli & celery. Toss veggies with mixed greens and queso fresco or feta cheese. (*Broccoli & celery happen to be what I had on hand, and I like to get as many veggies into us as possible, even if they don't always "go"... you can add or omit as you wish.) Add in warm grilled onions, diced crispy potatoes and toss. The flavors from the grilled onions and potatoes create enough of a "dressing" for the salad, but feel free to enhance with a squeeze of fresh lime juice or olive oil, or whatever vinaigrette you prefer.... Serve with grilled steak and a margarita!

Pan-Seared Thick-Cut Steak

This is the BEST steak recipe I've found. Hans and I use this method with Filet's and find ourselves nearly in tears when we come to the last bite. Make sure you let the steaks rest at least 5 minutes before eating.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless strip steaks, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inch thick (about 1 lb. each )
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil

Preparation:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 275 degrees. Pat steaks dry with paper towels. Cut each steak in half vertically to create four 8-oz steaks. Season steaks liberally with salt and pepper; using hands, gently shape into uniform thickness. Place steaks on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet; transfer baking sheet to oven. Cook until instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into center of steaks registers 90 to 95 degrees for rare to medium-rare, 20-25 minutes, or 100-105 degrees for medium, 25 to 30 min.

Heat oil in 12-inch heavy bottomed skillet over high heat until smoking. Place steaks in skillet and sear until well browned and crusty, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, lifting once halfway through to redistribute fat underneath each steak. (Reduce heat if fond begins to burn.) Using tongs, turn steaks and cook until well browned on second side, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer steaks to clean rack and reduce heat under pan to medium. Use tongs to stand 2 steaks on their sides. Holding steaks together, return to skillet and sear on all edges until browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Repeat with remaining 2 steaks.

Return steaks to wire rack and let rest, loosely tented with foil, for about 10 minutes. If desired, cook sauce in now-empty skillet. Serve immediately.

Note: Rib-eye or filet mignon of similar thickness can be substituted for strip steaks. If using filet mignon, buying a 2-pint center-cut tenderloin roast and portioning it into four 9-ounce steaks yourself will produce more consistent results. If using filet mignon, increase the oven time by about 5 minutes. When cooking lean strip steaks (without an external fat cap) or filet mignon, add an extra tablespoon of oil to the pan.

Source: Cooks Illustrated, May/June 2007