Steak Crostini with Blue Cheese Sauce

Welcome to a special Man Monday!

What’s so special about today? Well, why didn’t you read my post last week, huh? If you did, you would know… just saying.

Also, I chose the strip steak because it’s still tender and has good marbling, but it’s not as pricey as the tenderloin or ribeye. By all means, if you want to go for the BEST, you can get tenderloin instead.

At first glance, this recipe seems complicated. It’s not. I just get wordy… because this is important to me. After all, your holiday dinner depends on it. All right, *wringing hands together* let’s get to the good stuff!

Steak Crostiniswith Blue Cheese Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf French baguette bread, sliced into 1″ or 1 1/2″ crostini (which is plural for crostino… in case you didn’t know… I didn’t…)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• 12 oz Strip Steak, whole
• 1 tablespoon canola oil (or peanut oil, or veggie oil, or whatever the heck you have… but canola would be best for the sear)
• The Sauce:
  • 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
• chives and black sesame seeds for garnish

Directions:

*For BEST results, dry rub the steak (step 3 and 4) the night before and let the steak rest in your fridge in a Ziploc bag. If you “ain’t got time for that”, disregard.*

1. Preheat your oven to 350º.
2. First, melt your butter on medium heat and incorporate the minced garlic. Baste each side of your crostinis with the garlic-butter on a metal baking sheet. If you want to get all fancy, use a rosemary or thyme sprig to do the basting for a subtle, herby flavor. Place the crostinis in the oven for 5-10 minutes, just long enough to get them nice and toasty. Set crostini aside.
3. Next, mix up your dry-rub for the steak by combining the salt, pepper, brown sugar, and parsley.
4. Liberally coat all surfaces of the steak with your rub. Don’t worry about it being “over-seasoned.” *see above note* In the meantime, get your skillet screamin’ hot with that canola oil in it. Please exercise sound judgment with the heat of your skillet. The last thing I need is to hear about someone starting their house on fire because “he said to get it screamin’ hot!” as they rush you to the ER.
5. Give your steak a generous sear by placing the freshly rubbed steak in the skillet and hearing it scream at you. This is why you want it to be hot. Don’t you dare put the meat on the skillet before the “screaming” phase. Let the meat scream for about 6 minutes on each side BEFORE flipping to the next side. This will give you a nice medium-rare steak. If you want, in order to ensure it doesn’t overcook, after the second flip insert a meat thermometer (a must for cooking beef). You want the temp to be 140º internally for medium rare. If you want to cook it any further, I’d put it in the oven at 300 º to let it finish. You want 155º internal temperature (of the meat, not the oven…) for medium doneness. For even MORE doneness, go ahead and hand over your Decency Card, and let it continue to cook until next Christmas.
6. Once the meat is done to your liking, let it rest for at least 2 minutes.
7. While the meat is resting, add the blue cheese and cream to a small pot on medium heat. Let the blue cheese melt and stir occasionally to combine well. Remove from heat and add the sour cream, stir again to combine. Add salt and pepper as desired. Set aside.
8. Cut the steak against the grain into very thin slices. How thin? As thin as you can get it. Place a thin strip of beef (or two) on each crostino. Give each crostini a little blurp (not a real word… translation: about 1/2 tablespoon) of blue cheese sauce and finish off with your garnishes. That’s it!