Our favourite thing about this dish is the simplicity of it (and the amount of butter in it). By combining fresh, complementing flavours such as mushrooms and thyme enhances the smoky flavours of the steak.
Get the perfect steak step by step
Firstly, let your steak come to room temperature before pan-searing it. Cold meat hitting a very hot pan will cause the meat to become tough and chewy. But by bringing the meat to room temperature, will allow the muscle fibres to relax. This will help the meat to cook more evenly and not become dry.
Secondly, be sure to pat the steak dry with paper towels before searing it. This will dry off any moisture left on the outside of the meat. If moisture is left on the surface, it will turn into steam as soon as it touches the hot pan, consequently lessening the searing effect. And drying the meat first also helps for a crispy caramelised crust to form on the outside of the steak.
And lastly, butter, butter and more butter. As the meat further cooks in the pan with garlic and thyme, be sure to continuously spoon the buttery sauce over it. This will produce juicy, tender steak with maximum flavour.
Pan-Seared Steak with Mushrooms And Thyme
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil – extra virgin
- 1 tbsp butter
- 6 ounce mushrooms – sliced
- 3 cloves garlic – minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Steak:
- 2 club steaks, rump steak or sirloin
- coarse salt to taste
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 cloves garlic – diced
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
Instructions
- Remove the steaks from the fridge about 30 minutes to 1 hour before cooking. Place them on a paper towel-lined cutting board and pat them dry with paper towels. Season well on all sides of the steaks with coarse salt and set aside.
- In a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and butter, mushrooms, garlic, and salt. Cook for about 3 minutes or until tender. Set aside on a plate.
- Increase the heat to high and let it heat up for about 3 minutes. When the pan smokes just a bit, it’s a sign that it’s properly heated. Place the steaks in the hot skillet and cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until the steaks get a nice crust.
- Add butter, garlic, and thyme to the skillet. Flip the steaks again and tilt the pan to help the butter spread on the skillet. Using a spoon, pour butter over the steaks. Flip the steaks again and check the internal temperature of the steaks. Medium rare is 135 degrees, medium = 145 degrees, medium well = 150 degrees and well done = 160 degrees. It will depend on how you prefer your steak to be (rare, medium, medium-well, or well done).
- When the steaks get to the desired cooking temperature, bring back the mushrooms and serve immediately.
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