Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from the New York Times (24 page)

This is a case where the usually too-lean and mildly flavored tenderloin (filet mignon) will do just fine. Its tenderness is welcome and its blandness more than compensated for by the sauce. I’d still prefer a good strip steak or rib-eye, which are chewier and more flavorful, but you will notice their higher fat content when they’re combined with the rich sauce.

1.
Preheat a grill or broiler until quite hot and put the rack no more than 4 inches from the heat source.

2.
Put the butter in a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium; when the butter melts and its foam begins to subside, add the shallot and cook until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the
vinegar, stir, and cook until it is just about evaporated, 1 or 2 minutes. Turn the heat to low and stir in the cheese and the cayenne. Stir occasionally until the cheese melts, then taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary (the sauce probably won’t need any salt). Keep warm while you grill the steaks.

3.
Season the steaks well with salt and pepper, then grill or broil them for 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium-rare, longer or shorter according to your taste. Serve the steaks with a spoonful or two of sauce over each, garnished with the parsley or chives if you like.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: ABOUT 30 MINUTES

CHIMICHURRI IS A
simple Argentinean steak sauce made almost entirely from parsley, with huge amounts of chopped garlic and red pepper. In spirit, it’s not unlike pesto, but because everything is hand-chopped rather than ground or mashed, it has a bit more chew to it. And its powerful ingredients set it apart, making it the perfect complement for mild-tasting but meaty tenderloin.

1.
Put the parsley in a bowl and whisk in the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, hot pepper, and salt to taste. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary; let the sauce rest at room temperature for an hour or two if you have time.

2.
Put a large skillet over high heat; season the steaks with salt and pepper. When the skillet is hot, a minute or two later, add the steaks and cook for about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare, a little longer for more well done. Serve the steaks whole or slice them; serve with the chimichurri spooned over them, passing more sauce at the table.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 15 MINUTES

ANOTHER GREAT, SIMPLE
sauce based on anchovies (there are two in the pasta chapter; see
here
and
here
). You get acidity, astringency, and fruitiness from the wine, piquancy from the garlic and anchovy, complexity from the thyme, and a smooth finish from the butter—all in about the time it takes to preheat a grill for the steaks. You don’t need great red wine for this sauce, but it should be one with a fair amount of fruit and at least a little structure.

1.
Put the wine in a small saucepan and turn the heat to high. Reduce, stirring occasionally, to about ½ cup. Meanwhile, start a grill.

2.
When the wine is reduced, turn the heat down so the reduction simmers and stir in the garlic, anchovies, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the anchovies dissolve. When the grill is ready, cook the steaks for about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare or a little longer or shorter according to your preference.

3.
Beat the butter into the sauce until it is smooth, then season to taste. Slice the steaks, drizzle with the sauce, and serve.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 45 MINUTES, OR LONGER IF YOU HAVE THE TIME

FOR YEARS, I
thought the in-table-grill was such an important part of cooking bul kalbi that I never even tried to make it at home. I realized, however, that the time the meat spends over the coals—certainly less than five minutes—might be long enough to add the mental image of wood flavor, but certainly not the reality. So, with what might be described as typical American arrogance, I set about reinventing this traditional Korean dish, and I’m happy with the results.

Grilling remains the best cooking technique—a couple of minutes over a very hot fire is ideal—but a stovetop grill or a very hot skillet works nearly as well, as long as you have a powerful exhaust fan to suck out the smoke. Alternatively, a good broiler will do the trick; just turn the slices once. Finally, if you set an iron skillet or a heavy roasting pan in an oven heated to its maximum, then throw the meat onto that, it will sear the meat and cook it through in a couple of minutes. No matter how you cook the meat, do not sacrifice internal juices for external browning; that is, it’s better to serve lightly browned but moist meat than tough, overcooked meat with a lovely crust.

1.
If time allows, freeze the meat for 30 minutes or so to facilitate slicing. Use a sharp knife to strip the meat from the ribs—it will come off easily and in one piece (reserve the bones and any meat that adheres to them for stock).

2.
Combine the scallion, ginger, garlic, sugar, pepper, soy sauce, and ½ cup of water in a blender and puree until very smooth. Slice the meat into pieces between ⅛ and ¼ inch thick. Toss with the marinade and let sit for 15 minutes to 2 hours. Preheat a grill, broiler, or stovetop grill or preheat the oven to its maximum heat and put a heavy roasting pan in it.

3.
Remove the meat from the marinade and grill, pan-grill, broil, or roast it just until done, no more than a couple of minutes per side; it’s nice if the meat is browned on the outside and rare on the inside, but it’s imperative that it not be overcooked. Serve with the lettuce leaves: to eat, wrap a piece or two of meat in a torn piece of lettuce; garnish with a drop or two of soy sauce or bean paste if you like.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

WRAPPING ONE FOOD
with another is familiar, especially if meat, cheese, or vegetables make up the filling—think of ravioli, stuffed cabbage, or egg rolls. Making meat the wrapping is a nice role reversal, a neat twist that is extraordinary enough to allow a simple preparation to wow a crowd. Such is the case with the Japanese negima, in which beef is wrapped around chives or scallions, then brushed with soy sauce and grilled.

1.
Preheat a grill or broiler until quite hot.

2.
Put the meat between two layers of wax paper or plastic wrap and pound it gently until about ⅛ inch thick. Brush one side of each piece of meat with a little soy sauce.

3.
Cut the scallions into lengths about the same width as the meat and put a small bundle of them at one of the narrow ends of each slice. Roll the long way, securing the roll with a toothpick or two. (You can prepare the rolls in advance up to this point; cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours before proceeding.) Brush the exterior of the roll with a little more soy sauce.

4.
Grill until brown on all sides, a total of about 6 minutes for chicken, 4 to 5 minutes for veal or pork, 4 minutes or less for beef.

VARIATIONS

Chives also work well as a filling, as do small amounts of lightly cooked chopped spinach or chard; cooked chopped shiitake (or other) mushrooms; julienned and lightly cooked carrots or parboiled asparagus spears.

NOTE

The cuts of beef that supermarkets most frequently slice thin are from the round, which is not only tough but relatively tasteless, making chicken, veal, and pork (which are routinely sold as thin cutlets that can be made even thinner with a little gentle pounding) viable substitutes.

MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS

TIME: 45 MINUTES

FEW MEATS ARE
as tender, juicy, and flavorful as roast beef, yet none is easier to prepare, given the appropriate cut and proper technique. But finding the right cut can be a challenge. Two of the best cuts for roasting, filet (or tenderloin) and standing rib, are not always ideal. The first is supremely tender but expensive and nearly tasteless; the second tends to be sold in large cuts that are too unwieldy for most weeknights. But the sirloin strip, also called
New York strip
(the same cut that makes for some of the best steaks), cut in a single large piece, is a perfect roast. The only drawback is that it is not routinely offered for sale. But if you tell the butcher you want a two- or three-pound piece of sirloin strip—essentially a steak cut as a roast—you should have it a few minutes later.

A meat thermometer can help you judge doneness, and it pays to undercook the meat slightly and let it sit for a few minutes before carving; this not only makes carving easier but prevents overcooking. It’s worth noting that this technique will work for larger roasts of sirloin as well and, because the meat is of more or less uniform thickness, cooking time will not be appreciably longer for a roast of four or five pounds than it is for one of two or three.

1.
Preheat the oven to 500°F; put an ovenproof skillet large enough to hold the roast into the oven so it preheats as well. Sprinkle the meat liberally with salt and pepper.

2.
When the oven and pan are hot, add the roast to the pan, top (fatty) side down. Ten minutes later, turn and roast fatty side up. After 10 more minutes, roast for 5 minutes on each side so total cooking time is 30 minutes.

3.
At this point the roast will be nicely browned all over. When a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the meat, about 1 inch from one of the ends, registers 120°F, the meat will be rare to medium-rare. Cook it longer if you like, but beware that from this point on it will increase a stage of doneness every 3 to 5 minutes.

4.
Let the roast rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then carve and serve with its juices. Serve either thick, steaklike slices, or carve the meat more thinly, as you would a traditional roast beef.

VARIATIONS

Roast Sirloin with Pan Gravy

Discard all but a tablespoon or two of the cooking fat remaining in the pan. Put the pan over high heat and add 1 cup red wine, chicken or beef stock, or water and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is reduced to about ½ cup. Stir in a tablespoon or more of butter, a few drops of fresh lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.

Roast Sirloin with Red Wine Sauce

Combine 2 cups red wine and ¼ cup minced shallots or 1 tablespoon slivered garlic and reduce over high heat until only about ½ cup of syrupy liquid remains; stir in a tablespoon of butter and some salt and pepper.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 30 MINUTES

SERVE THE MEAT
with a variety of garnishes, which you and your guests can combine any way you like.

1.
Put the meat in a deep pan just large enough to hold it—a Dutch oven is usually ideal, but you can curve the meat into a wide saucepan too—and cover it with boiling stock or water. Add a large pinch of salt if you’re using water or if the stock is unsalted. Adjust the heat so that the mixture bubbles gently—on my stove that’s medium.