Sarasotas Favorite Steak Recipes

SARASOTA'S TENDER GARLIC CUBE STEAKS

Steps:

• Crackers -- The first step is to crush the saltines. About 20-25 crackers will give you about 1 cup, but crush them fine. A fine crushed cracker will stay on the beef better than those not crushed well. I just use a baggie (ziploc) and my meat mallet or rolling pin. Use anything you have.
• Steak -- Bring the steak to room temp and season well with salt and pepper and make sure to rub in the seasoning.
• Breading Station -- Dip #1 - Wet -- In a small bowl or pie plate, beat the eggs well. Dip #2 - Dry -- In a small bowl or pie plate again, add the cracker crumbs, thyme, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
• Dip each cube steak into the egg mixture, then into the cracker crumbs coating well. Make sure to press the crackers crumbs into the steaks.
• Pan Fry -- In a large saute pan, heat up the olive oil to medium high heat and add the steaks. Make sure you use a large enough pan so they are not crowded. Brown well on the first side until golden brown. Then flip, you may need to add a bit more oil if the pan is too dry - not much, just a touch. Add in the sliced onion and garlic and brown the second side until golden brown as well. Then reduce the heat to low. Add 1/4 cup of the beef broth and cover. Cook 30-40 minutes until tender. Stir once or twice during cooking.
• Sauce -- Once the steaks are done, remove and cover with foil. Make sure to leave the onions in the pan. Mix the cornstarch with the remaining beef broth and pour into the pan along with the garlic and onions. Bring to a boil until thickened and then reduce the heat and just simmer 2-3 minutes. Add in the parsley and taste for any additional seasoning, salt and pepper.
• Serve -- Pour the onion gravy over the individual steaks. ENJOY! Serve this with some mashed potatoes or parsnips, peas, carrots and I love a couple of grilled portabellos. Just a great classic dish.

SARASOTA'S ASIAN PENNE, STEAK AND ARUGULA SALAD

Steps:

• Steak -- Rub or brush the steak with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. And let marinate 2-8 hours. The longer the better, but even 2 hours will give it a nice flavor. I marinate it right in a large baggie.
• Dressing -- Mix together the olive oil, broth, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger, dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Mix well in a small measuring cup or bowl and set in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap until ready to use.
• Pasta -- Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and return to the pot and cover to keep warm.
• Steak -- Now, as the pasta cooks, grill the steak. An inside grill pan works great for this, high heat lightly oiled. Approximately 5 minutes per side, depending on the thickness, until golden brown and crusty and medium rare. Skirt steak only takes minutes and works great for this salad, but feel free to use any of your favorite cuts of beef. Let the steak rest before slicing.
• Salad -- After the steak has rested, slice while still warm, and remember to always slice against the grain, this will give you a very tender slice of steak. In a large bowl, combine the arugula, cucumbers, sun dried tomatoes, onions, and the slightly warm pasta. Top with with sliced steak and toss with the dressing. I love to garnish it with pea shoots which gives a little texture and nice combination with the arugula and or watercress, but it is not necessary.
• This is meant to be a lighter health conscious salad so it is light on sauce - but has tons of flavor. ENJOY!

SARASOTA'S ROASTED GARLIC STEAK SAUCE

Steps:

• Garlic -- There are many different methods to roast your garlic, so use what you feel comfortable with.
• I peel the outside layer of the skin off (keeping the head together), then cut a thin slice off the top to expose the garlic cloves. Drizzle with a little olive oil, wrap in foil and roast in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes until the cloves are soft. Let it cool.
• Sauce -- Once the garlic is cool, squeeze all the roasted out of the individual cloves and add to s small sauce pot. Break up the cloves slightly with a fork. Add the wine, steak sauce and onion and bring to a boil and then immediately reduce to low heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Ready to serve.
• This could easily be made ahead and then reheated. It should be served warm. ENJOY!
• Note prep time does not include roasting the garlic.

SARASOTA'S FAVORITE STUFFED BREAD

Steps:

• Prepare the bread -- I like to take a nice baguette and cut in half lengthwise. Then hollow out a bit by removing some of the inside breading. Not all just to make room for the stuffing or filling.
• Don't throw away the filling -- put in a baggie and freeze. Pull out any time and use for a stuffing. Makes perfect additions to meatloaf, meatballs, soup, pastas or salads.
• Brush the inside of the bread with olive oil and bake cut side down or you can grill just for 5-7 minutes to lightly brown. Just so the filling doesn't get the bread soggy. Not long.
• Filling -- Now this is my Greek one. But use your favorite. I like to add just a little of the oil that comes with the sundried tomatoes in the pan to start the dish, but olive oil or any oil work just fine. Diced tomatoes and cook just a minute. Now add the spinach, onion, and olives and cook until well combined. DONE!
• Stuff -- Just take your filling and stuff the bread.
• MY SECRET! -- always layer a small amount of whatever cheese you are using on the bottom and then top with your filling. Then top with cheese. This keeps the top and bottom of the bread from getting soggy. Once wrapped in foil and cooked you will have toasty tops and bottoms, NOT soggy ones. Works wonderful. I break up the feta and put on the bottom, add the filling. I do try to not add any of the liquid, top with cheese and then the top bread.
• Wrap the bread in foil and cook either on the grill 15-20 minutes -- or cook in the oven on 425 for 15-20 minutes as well. Make sure you turn it over 1 time during cooking to melt the cheese on the other side.
• NOTE: If it is a hot grill try to cook on a cooler portion of the grill.
• Just enjoy it. This goes with anything. Steak, pork, chicken or seafood. Besides -- your friends will never want garlic bread again!

SARASOTA'S FAVORITE STEAK

Steps:

• Peppercorns -- To crush them vs grinding. I simply add them to a baggie and then crush them with a meat mallet. You can also use a heavy pan or a rolling pin or even a hammer. I just prefer them crushed rather then ground for this recipe.
• Butter -- Add the room temp butter in a small bowl with the lime juice, worcestershire sauce, and mustard and mix well. Refrigerate well before using. This makes a lot of butter sauce, so if you want you can cut the recipe in half. It really depends on your guests, some of my friends like more butter, so I always make extra.
• Steaks -- I really love to marinate at least a 2-4 hours, but even a hour will work just fine. In a small cup, add the olive oil and press the garlic so you get all the juice and mix well. Brush or rub on the first side of each steak. Then rub in the peppercorns and salt well. flip the steaks and repeat the second side. Now, I prefer to transfer these to a small plate or dish and cover well with saran wrap and let them marinate. Make sure before you grill these you let them come to room temperature.
• Grilling Steaks -- I won't go into grilling steaks, because you can pan saute and finish in the oven, or just saute. Gill inside or out, etc. Any way you prefer. After the steaks reach your preferred doneness. Make sure to cover them and let them rest.
• Onions -- Brush each of the onion slices with a mix of the olive oil and worcestershire sauce; and then season well with salt and pepper. Grill the onion along side the steaks. They should take about 3-4 minutes per side.
• Serve -- Top the steak with a spoon of the chilled flavored butter and a couple of onion slices on the side. Grilled corn with a lime chili butter is a great side along with a green salad topped with black beans, avocado and onions. ENJOY!