Date Night Steak Night

There's nothing sexier than making a silky, creamy steak sauce from scratch. The best part? It's not that hard. It does take a little more time and a little more discipline than just throwing some A1 on your steak, but you'll discover that this recipe for shallot sauce is actually quite easy. It's just an added bonus that your sweetheart will appreciate.

For this recipe, the sauce is the most labor-intensive part. The skirt steak and asparagus are the quickest and easiest to cook, so save those for the end. But when it's over, you will find yourself eating a deceptively simple yet amazing dish.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings: 2-4

Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds skirt steak
6 shallots
6 cloves garlic
1 bundle of asparagus
1 cup white wine
1 ½ cups beef stock
2 cups heavy cream
Half stick salted butter
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Photo by Kathleen Lee

Directions:

1. Cut shallots into thin, sliced rings and mince the garlic. Coat saucepan with olive oil and then add shallots and garlic. Cook at low heat for about 20 minutes until soft. Keep adding pinches of salt and pepper throughout.

Photo by Kathleen Lee

2. Add 1 cup of white wine. Bring to a boil until wine is almost boiled off. About 15 minutes.

Photo by Kathleen Lee

3. Add 1 ½ cups of beef stock and bring to a boil. Boil for about 15 minutes.

Photo by Kathleen Lee

4. While boiling the beef stock, pour 2 cups of heavy cream into a separate pot and reduce by half. It should take about 15 minutes. Caution: make sure the cream doesn't boil over.

Photo by Kathleen Lee

5. Pour heavy cream into the original saucepan containing the shallots and the garlic. Boil for about 10 minutes. Add half a stick of butter. Bring heat down to simmer.

Photo by Kathleen Lee

Photo by Kathleen Lee

6. Coat skirt steak with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet at medium high heat. This skirt steak was particularly thick, so I cooked each side for about 8 minutes. Normal skirt steak is much thinner and should be cooked about 2-3 minutes per side.

Photo by Kathleen Lee

Photo by Kathleen Lee

7. Place skirt steak in foil to keep warm. Deglaze pan with a splash of white wine. Pour steak juices and bits into simmering sauce and stir.

8. Add asparagus to skillet at medium heat. Add olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.

Photo by Kathleen Lee

9. Slice skirt steak into thin strips. Cover with shallot sauce and add asparagus. Enjoy!

Photo by Kathleen Lee