Date Night Steak

You know how it goes... you want to skip the expensive restaurant and make a nice dinner in for date night, but you can't figure out what to make. Well, the good news is that I have 100% got you covered. I have a wonderfully decadent yet easy-to-make steak recipe that you and your sweetheart will love. And the best part? It's only 4 ingredients!

And this recipe is special because it is actually from my Grandma West, my fraternal grandmother, and passed down to my mom and dad. I asked my dad about this recipe and whether or not he remembered it, because I didn't! He said he remembers maybe making it once, but he wasn't sure. It's so fun uncovering these obscure gems as I cook my way through old recipes...meals that we might have otherwise forgotten, getting to shine once more!

I think Grandma was so cute for calling this one "Splurge on Steak." Luckily, I'm pretty sure strip steaks have come down in price in recent years and so I wouldn't necessarily call this recipe a splurge. But here's my advice: use my Grandma's inspiration to justify spending a little more on a nicer cut of steak! You deserve it! <3

And you might get a little chuckle looking at Grandma's original, handwritten recipe here. Classic Grandma: there are no quantities for anything! Come on Grandma, I can't read your mind! How much butter do I use? She would probably tell me to just use the right amount. That's very Italian of her. Have you heard of the Italian expression, Quanto Basta? "The right amount." I love it so much. And luckily for you, I gave this recipe a test drive and figured out all the quantities! So let's get into it!

Start by dicing up 1 sweet onion, then sauté in a pan with one tablespoon of butter until transparent. Optional but delicious: you can add in some cooking sherry or white wine to the pan while you sauté. Not strictly necessary, but man is it good. I would say about a quarter cup. Add in 8 oz of sliced white mushrooms and heat through, then remove from pan.

Add in one more tablespoon of butter and heat until it's nice and melty. Pat your steaks dry and season with salt and pepper. Grandma is REAL vague about what to do next, but basically: cook the steak! Add it to the melted butter and cook for 2-3 minutes per side. Pro tip: use a high-quality stainless steel pan for the best sear, not a crappy nonstick like I did. This part will come down to preference, based on how you like your steaks cooked, but strip steaks are thin so they go fast! Don't overcook! There's nothing worse than a rubbery steak on date night.

Remove your steak from the heat and let it rest for about 5 minutes (the pros say to let your steak rest 5 minutes for every inch of thickness!) This step is super important for retaining maximum juiciness. Put your steak on a plate and top with the mushrooms and onions and voila! There you have it! A decadent steak, worthy of the best at-home date night.

Now what to serve with your delicious steak? I chose to serve it with potato latkes (another Mom recipe that I will link here as soon as I make a blog post for it!) and roasted balsamic Brussels sprouts. Holy YUM. You could also do baked potatoes and a side salad, or butternut squash and broccoli.

Now pour yourself a nice glass of Cabernet Sauvignon– the classic wine pairing for strip steak– light a few candles, pull up a romantic playlist on Spotify like this one, and your date night is complete!

So what do you think? Will you try out this Grandma-approved date night steak recipe? If you make it, be sure to tell me how it goes in the comments below. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! XOXO

---

Ingredients

Servings: 2

Time: 10 minutes

• 2 NY strip steaks

• 2 tablespoons of butter

• 1 sweet yellow onion

• 8 oz of sliced white mushrooms

• Optional: 1/4 cup of white wine or cooking sherry

Directions

1. Chop the onion

2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a stainless steel or cast iron pan, then sauté the onion until transparent

3. Add sliced mushrooms and optional wine/cooking sherry; stir until heated through

4. Transfer the mushrooms + onions to a separate bowl

5. Pat steaks dry and season generously with salt and pepper

6. Melt another tablespoon of butter in your pan

7. Once hot, add in the steaks and cook 2-3 minutes per side, or until your desired degree of doneness

8. Remove from pan and let rest for 5 minutes

9. Serve the steaks topped with the onions and mushrooms

10. Enjoy!