Blue Cheese and Portabella Mushroom Steak Sauce

Delicious! This is a recipe for a cream-based sauce that goes with a pan-fried steak. It is quite tasty. I'm proud to say that, though it is not a particularly inventive combination of ingredients, this particular recipe is of my own creation! It serves about 3-4 people, depending on the steak portion size.

My main tip: Don't overcook the steak. It is really easy on high heat to overcook a thin steak. So don't. Watch it carefully, use a timer, and practice. As always, practice is the key! Also, this sauce could be made just as easily by sauting some skin-on chicken, or with lamb. Both would be delicious.

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large steaks of your choice (3/4 inch thick)
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup white wine (e.g., Sauvignon Blanc works well)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 lb portabella mushrooms, torn in to 1 inch chunks.
1 cup heavy cream
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1/4 lb blue cheese
1 Tbsp butter, unsalted
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a heavy 12 inch frying pan over medium-high heat until just before it begins to smoke. Season the steaks on both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the steaks and sear for 2 minutes. Flip and sear for another 1.5-2 minutes, or until desired doneness (if the steaks are thin, watch them carefully unless you’d like them fully cooked). Remove the steaks from the pan and let rest on a plate; cover the plate with tin foil. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and let reduce by half. Drain the remaining liquid into a bowl, and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium and add the olive oil to the pan. Add the portabella mushrooms to the pan. Fry, stirring occasionally, for approximately 8 minutes, or until they are soft and have released their liquid. Add the cream, thyme, blue cheese, butter, and leftover deglazing sauce. Simmer until the blue cheese and butter have completely melted. Reduce further, if necessary, until desired thickness (keeping in mind that the sauce will thicken as it cools). Season, if necessary, with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately with the steaks.