Saucy Buttered, Smothered Steaks with Spinach Gratin

I don't know about you, but I've never had a "buttered" steak before. To me, steak goes with steak sauce. How about you? That said, after making this recipe, I'm changed! This really is a delicious way to have a steak, and you can't say you don't like it until you've tried it! This recipe came from Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals cookbook.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons E.V.O.O.
1 large Spanish onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
¼ teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
salt and pepper
2 (10 oz) boxes frozen spinach, defrosted, squeezed dry of excess liquid
¾ cup chicken stock or broth
4 oz plain cream cheese
1 cup (4 to 6 oz) shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons plain bread crumbs (optional)
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce
8 oz unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
4 (10 oz) sirloin strip steaks - 1 inch thick

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the spinach gratin, heat a medium skillet with 2 tablespoons of the EVOO over med-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Remove and reserve in a small mixing bowl 3 tablespoons of the cooked onion mixture to use in your saucy butter. To the remaining onion in the skillet add the squeezed spinach, stirring to distribute the onion in the spinach. Next, add the chicken stock and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Add the cream cheese, stirring to distribute. Transfer mixture to a small baking dish. Mix the shredded Swiss cheese with the plain bread crumbs. Top the spinach with the Swiss cheese mixture and transfer to the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

For the saucy butter, add the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt and pepper to the reserved onion mixture. Mix to combine, then add the soft butter. Mix to combine again and reserve in the refrigerator.

For the steaks, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO. Liberally season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper. Add the steaks to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes on each side. Remove from heat to a platter and top each steak with a rounded tablespoon of saucy butter. Allow the meat to rest and the butter to melt for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve steaks with the spinach gratin.

I halved the recipe and only cooked 2 steaks and half of the spinach gratin. That way we didn't have leftovers! Anyway, as you can see above, if you halved the amount of steaks, that leaves you with 2 10 oz. steaks. Clearly, I should have been thinking a little clearer. Haha! I would suggest, if you are going to half this recipe, you might want to get 6 or 8 oz. steaks per person. 10 oz. was just too much for us.

It also mentions that the bread crumbs are optional, and I would suggest leaving them out. I don't think they really add that much to the recipe and why add the extra carbs if you can't really tell the difference?

The saucy butter is really delicious, so I don't suggest cutting that out at all!

Anyway, this was a terrific meal and one that we both totally recommend! Happy cooking!