Steak Asturias

A Spanish take on the ‘ol steak with blue cheese. Asturias is located in Northern Spain, and one of their famous dishes is ‘carne gobernada’, which is beef in white wine sauce. Typically this dish is made with tougher cuts of beef such as chuck roast, but we’re gonna ball out today and use steaks. Recipe from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/beef-tenderloin-asturias/.

Recipe:

3 New York Strip Steaks (approx. 1” thick)

1 small onion, diced

1 tablespoon paprika

¼ cup dry white wine (I used a Txakolina)

½ cup chicken stock

4 ounces Spanish blue cheese such as Valdeon, plus extra for garnish

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Take your steaks out of the fridge an hour before you’re ready to cook and season liberally with salt (like, really liberally). Allow to sit at room temp for an hour. Wash off any remaining salt, and pat dry with paper towels.

While the steaks are doing their thing, why not have a snack? Since this is Spanish week, I had some valdeon with honey, Spanish chorizo, Ossau-Iraty from the Spanish Basque Country, and some bread and extra virgin olive oil.

The Valdeon we're using for the sauce. Buying extra was a very good idea.

The cheese comes wrapped in Sycamore leaves.

Snacks fit for a king. Spanish chorizo, Ossau-Iraty, Valdeon, honey, a baguette and extra-virgin olive oil.

 

 

Since I'm making digressions left and right, here's the wine I used in the sauce. It's from the Spanish Basque Country, and has grassy notes with flavors of pears and lemon zest.

 

Ok, back to cooking dinner. Heat a 12” cast-iron skillet over high. Rub the steaks with canola oil, and sear each side over high for 2 minutes per side. Place the skillet in the oven, and cook for about 4 additional minutes, until the steaks reach an internal temp between 125 and 130F. Allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting into them.

Meanwhile, over medium heat cook the onions in a little olive oil until translucent. Add the paprika and cook for an additional minute. Add in the wine, turn the heat to medium-high, and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the stock and cook for 2 more minutes. Crumble the blue cheese and add to the sauce, stirring until just melted. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the sauce over the steaks and garnish with parsley and blue cheese crumbles. I served the steak along with roasted potatoes and roasted green beans.