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Brown Butter Hanger Steak

Our book is finally off to print! The last week of this whole process has definitely been the most stressful. We have spent the entire week reading, and re-reading, and re-reading, and re-reading (did I mention re-reading?) through the entire document. Approving edits, catching more errors, the list goes on. Our poor publisher has barely slept in days, not to mention we have barely slept in days. It’s also safe to say that I (Hayley) started in on the celebratory drinks prematurely-I would not recommend this to anyone publishing a book, unless you have a meticulous, perfectionist partner (ahem-Bill-ahem) to take the lead-plus I never drink, so basically even smelling any alcoholic beverage makes me pretty much worthless to the world.


Fortunately for us, our freezer is filled to the gills with delicious meat from US Wellness Meats. I think we both can agree that this is probably the only thing keeping us sane at the moment. It has actually been quite refreshing to focus our creative energy on something besides the book these past few days, and working on new recipes has definitely been our mental break, so to speak. Funny, because creating new recipes can often seem like work or challenging, but after creating this book, a blog post is almost like rest for us.


This particular recipe was one that we threw together rather quickly. We decided to take inventory of meat that we had in the freezer, which is always a fun task, because we always find something that we forgot we had. These days it’s things like tongue, feet, and livers, so I was pleasantly surprised to see something that looked fairly similar to what we usually bring home from the grocery store. I grabbed two hanger steaks out of the freezer, looked at Bill, and without words we knew that we both decided one of those steaks was going to be filling our bellies that evening.


Now, I wasn’t really sure what exactly a hanger steak was, so with a quick google search I got all the information I needed. I quickly found out that the hanger steak is located near the diaphram of the cow, and is similar to the skirt steak. I also found out that it is typically a less expensive cut and is also known as the “butchers cut”, because supposedly it is so delicious that the butcher would keep it for himself. I also read that the flavor of this cut of steak is so wonderful that it doesn’t need much seasoning at all. Well, this was all I needed to hear. Skirt steak is one of our favorite cuts, and we are definitely of the mindset that you should barely touch whatever meat/fish/poultry you are cooking. Less is more in our minds.


For this recipe, we were more interested in trying an alternative way of cooking the steak, rather than a super exciting recipe. We do a lot of grilling, so we wanted to create a new steak recipe using a cooking method that we really haven’t done before. Now, don’t get too excited. This isn’t any special way to cook a steak, it’s just one which we haven’t done for a post yet. However, the recipe in itself turned out to be absolutely amazing, so this was a score on all accounts. Cooking, for me, is sometimes like writing music or painting, it all sort of falls into place once the inspiration starts. That is exactly how this recipe came to be.


[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3rAt2iyJIU?version=3]


[Ingredients]
  • 1-1.5 lb hanger steak (about 1 inch thick)
  • 1 tablespoon pasture butter (Kerrygold)
  • Light sprinkle of truffle salt
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • Handful of lemon thyme (whole sprigs)

[Process]

  1. Preheat oven to roast at 400.
  2. Rinse steak under cool water, and pat dry with a paper towel.
  3. Carefully trim any silver skin from the steak. (It is always best to trim the silver skin when doing any fast cooking. Slow cooking will melt the tough tissue away, but when grilling, searing, or broiling, you want to make sure that this part of the meat is removed.)
  4. Heat a cast iron skillet (or other oven save skillet) over medium heat.
  5. Add pasture butter to skillet, and cook until butter starts to brown.
  6. Sear steak in brown butter, 2-3 minutes a side, flipping once (for a thinner steak, try 1-2 minutes a side).
  7. During the last minute of searing on the second side, sprinkle the top of the steak with truffle salt, minced garlic, and top with lemon thyme sprigs.
  8. Remove from heat, and place skillet in the oven.
  9. Roast the steak for 10-15 minutes (for a thinner steak, try 7-10 minutes).
  10. Remove steak from oven, and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
  11. Slice, and serve.

This steak was absolutely AMAZING. This is definitely a cut that needs very little seasoning. The truffle salt, garlic, and lemon thyme infused the steak with just enough flavor to enhance it, but still allowed for the wonderful natural flavors to shine on their own. We couldn’t get enough of this dish. This will definitely be on the list of meals to make in the near future!

As always, enjoy!

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    COMMENTS

    1. August 22, 2011

      Congratulations on getting the book off to print! The preview pictures/content look fantastic! I've been looking for a new Paleo/Primal cookbook and I think I have found it – pre-ordering and following.

      Thanks much for sharing!
      Krista

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