It’s date night! Oftentimes that means we’re pouring a couple glasses of wine, turning on the Pandora, and whipping up something delicious in the kitchen. Our latest endeavor? A perfectly creamy and flavor-packed risotto topped with crisply seared herbed butter steaks. 

#cookingwithjohnny

Now, when you’re purchasing your steaks, consider two things:

1. Don’t buy them from Whole Paycheck.

2. Don’t buy weird, uncategorized cuts of beef.

You live and you learn. Just go to a regular grocery store so you can avoid spending an arm and a leg on the nice filet that you REALLY should be using for a fancy meal like this!

Another tip – take that steak out of the fridge! To get a good sear, your meat needs to be at room temperature just before you season it.

I use this incredible French seasoning salt I scored at the Chopping Block after a fun Mai Tai-themed cooking class. Use whatever you like!

Those are the basics for the steak. Now, on to the risotto. The real star of this dish is the saffron! In case you didn’t know, saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. Buy it once (because it’s worth it!), then… Guard. It. With. Your. Life. (aka use sparingly)

I’ve been learning a lot about making risotto, rice’s uppity far superior cousin, and I think I’ve got it down. The process really boils down to (no pun intended lol) three main steps.

Sautéing the aromatics. 

Toasting the Arborio rice (that’s all risotto really is). In this case, I DO recommend stopping by Whole Paycheck. The huge bag of Arborio was less than $3, and their 365 generic brand is also fantastic for deals on EVOO!

Then adding the liquids and reaching that creamy texture just before dumping in a bunch of grated Parmesan!

Almost there…

Meanwhile, sear your steaks on both sides in super hot vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet, toss some butter and sprigs of rosemary in the pan, then finish them off in an equally hot oven.

 

This is my favorite part, it’s where the magic happens:

Disregard the steak on the left, and recall my warning re. purchasing weird cuts of meat…

And voila!

This just-right medium rare little guy is ready for his close-up!

This dinner was J-tested, boyfriend-approved! 🙂

Rosemary Buttered Steaks with Mushroom Saffron Risotto

Ingredients:

6 cups low sodium chicken broth

10 oz Shiitake mushrooms, chopped

2 beef tenderloin filets, room temperature

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup white onion, chopped 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

5-6 threads Saffron 

1 cup Arborio rice

2/3 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup frozen peas, thawed 

2/3 cup grated Parmesan 

1 tbs olive oil 

2 tbs vegetable oil 

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper 

Seasoning salt (optional)

Pecorino Romano (optional, for garnish)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Heat your chicken broth in a medium sauce pan over a low-medium flame. Maintain a slow simmer.

2. Heat 1/4 cup of butter and the olive oil in a medium-sized pan. Sauté the onions until translucent. Add the mushrooms, Saffron, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until mushroom liquid has evaporated. 

3. Add the white wine, and stir for a few minutes. Add a bit more olive oil if needed, then add the rice. Toast until lightly golden brown.

4. Begin adding the warm chicken broth, 1 cup at a time, stirring regularly and allowing the broth to be absorbed by the rice each time before adding the next cup of broth.

5. While cooking the risotto, season each side of each steak with seasoning salt (or just salt and pepper). Heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat in a heavy cast iron skillet until it starts to smoke. Add the steaks. Sear on each side for about 4-5 minutes, or until a nice crust is formed.

6. Place the remaining butter and the rosemary sprigs into the skillet, and place the skillet into the oven. Cook in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until the steaks reach your desired doneness. Spoon the rosemary infused butter over the steaks periodically. Remove steaks from the oven, and let them rest out of the pan for 5 minutes.

7. Once all of the chicken broth has been absorbed by the rice and the risotto is creamy and spreading, stir in the peas and the Parmesan. Garnish with freshly grated pecorino Romano.