Today was a glorious day. I had nothing to do but relax all day, enjoy the hot weather and reward my week's hard work with a nice BBQ. WRONG.
Just as I lit my grill did it start to get really dark and overcast...rain. SHIT!
Onto to Plan B.
My craving for steak would not be denied. I employed the use of my trusty indoor grill pan and I seared some rib-eyes to near perfection.
To spruce up my steaks and keep up with ever fleeting appetite, I tried out the combo of beef with blue cheese.
Today's particular blue cheese is called Cabrales. It's a cheese from Spain's northern mountains in the Asturias region. Cabrales is aged from two to six months in the limestone mountains of the area. The relative humidity is 90% and a cool 7-13 C - ideal for the development of a mouldy cheese.
For the record, I was iffy on the combo of blue cheese with beef but this sauce has changed my opinion on the matter...the pairing is as natural as Sid Vicious with Nancy Spungen (yes I was listening to the Sex Pistols today).
If you're a fan of blue cheeses, next time ask for Cabrales. It's a sharp blue but wonderful in flavour and it made for a complex sauce that was blended and mellowed with the magic of Spanish sherry.
Solomillo With Cabrales Sauce
(for 4)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 swirl of olive oil
4 Rib-eye or
fillets of beef
coarse sea salt
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup Spanish sherry
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 oz. of Cabrales (blue cheese), crumbled
chopped fresh chives for garnish
- Heat the butter and oil together in a heavy frying pan over high heat. Season the steaks with salt and pepper and fry them for 3-4 minutes a side, for rare to medium-rare. Remove steaks and keep warm in a pre-heated oven.
- In the same fry pan, reduce the heat and add the sherry and stir with a wooden spoon to pick up the brown bits.
- Add the crumbled Cabrales and mash it into the sauce with your spoon and then add your cream and simmer to heat through and thicken. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
- Serve steak with some sauce and a garnish of chives and with a side of some grilled or roasted potatoes and a seasonal salad.
28 comments:
Personally, I'm not a fan of blue cheese. But I'd be happy to eat this with you if you made some of your chimichurri sauce!...cheers.
Rib-eye seems to have been the in-thing this weekend. I'll opt for the blue cheese next time, the Bearnaise and I ,well lets just say it was not a good relationship!
This sounds great, Peter! I know bleu cheese and beef can be awfully rich, but the flavors just go so well together. Your sherry and cream sauce really solves the problem by incorporating the bleu cheese flavor.
A few things:
1) You cussed. I love it!
2) Why were afraid of beef and blue cheese? They come from the same animal for f***'s sake.
3) Sauces made of egg yolks and melted butter should just always be consumed with a spoon, not on meats. Gild the lily much?
4) You like the Sex Pistols, which makes you a lot cooler all of a sudden. :D
Too funny! We both posted about ribeyes today. Your steaks look devastatingly good! I'm drooling and wishing I had more in the fridge!
this is just too damn good! I love love love cabrales queso.. i haven't had it in so long. thank God it rained after all! ooh and with the Spanish sherry--u know what ur doing! :)
Peter, bestill my heart...You spoke Spanish *and* swore. lol Now I'm really coming over...I'll bring the Rioja to accompany this amazingly delicious Spanish treat! :)
rain is kinda on and off in here too in southern france..which means bbq outdoor parties are elusive.;good thing you've been saved by your indoor grill pan :-)
i never heard of this spanish dish but it looks delicious!!
I have never tried beef with blue cheese, but after seeing these mouthwatering photographs, I am very keen to do so.
Heavenly! I adore a good steak with a good blue and Cabrales is a real favorite.
I'm all over this!
I love the beef and blue cheese combination, but I always feel my arteries hardening afterwards... ;-) This looks perfect, though.
Pete, sorry...you get blue cheese! lol
Nina, not a fan of Bearnaise? I do like that too!
Lulu, the concentration of the bleu is lessened in the sauce...it fit juuust right.
Heather, I cuss - just that much on here. As for bleu and beef, I've found it to interfere with the taste of beef but then again, people just dumped chunks of it. As for Gilding the Lily...there's a fine line between dressing up a dish and and overdoing something like Baby Jane. Finally, EMI!
Sticky, it's full-on grilling season...we're gonna do steaks, right?
Flam, it was a nice find at the cheese shop...I'm diggin all the varieties of bleu.
Nikki, I learned the dirtiest of Spanish from some Cuban amgios...so watch out! lol
Dhanngit, it's another hot day with another warning of rain...BBQ'in will be tricky.
Cake, I'm now a convert.
Ann, glad you liked...I've got another Cabrales dish to come.
Maryann, this is plate-lickin' good.
Jen, everything in moderation...a little bleu won't kill ya!
You said (wrote) a bad word!!! I have been craving a nice steak for so long! This may have just pushed me right over the edge! I am not a fan of blue cheese but I do love it in a sauce.
I could smell your cabrales cheese from here, Chico!
I must admitt it looks wonderful, though. Great combo :D
I love all kinds of cheeses, blue incl. Peter, the Spanish Sherry in the recipe is genius, must give an absolutely fantastic taste!! And as usual, there is always something interesting to raed about in your posts... always interesting facts & infos on the ingredients you use!
Simply mouth-watering Peter! The cheese sounds wondeful, our mutual acquaintance Mr. Jim would definitely love this one too, he's a huge blue cheese fan! I think I will have to spring it on him at the next bbq. Thanks!
That steak looks perfect!
Oooh Double YUM!! LOL
I love steak and I love blue cheese. I really do need to move in with you!
We had days of rain and now wonderful sunshine for once in England!! Lovely dish Peter steak and blue cheese a real winner!!
Did you just say the @H#T word???
Gasp! Peter!
I love that steak...
it's the shit!
That looks darn (damm) good from an indoor grill pan, I bet the house was smelling good! Blue cheese and beef, great combo for me!
They are done to perfection and are crying for béarnaise (on ne se refait pas ;-P)
Looks great! Who needs a grill anyways?
I made a similar dish with steak and blue cheese for my husband last year, and he loved it. He will swoon if I make your version--it looks perfect, Peter (esp. since it was a plan B!)
Judy, does this mean I'm now part of the cool gang? lol
Oh Nuria, I forgot you don't like cheese...may i have your portion of Spanish cheeses?
Marianna, I'm simply passing on my personal discoveries and food is afterall, about sharing.
Sam, Jimmy will lick the plate of any sauce left on it...my pleasure!
Pam, not sure about perfect...I was hoping to grill it.
Jan, ahem but...shouldn't you clear that first with hubbs? lol
Rosie, we got more rain today...unstable weather here.
Catherine, don't make me get all Dice Clay on you potted-mounthed yentas!
Marie, actually the house got a little smoky but the steak seared well.
Louise, I do enjoy Bearnaise...chateaubriand anyone?
Jessy, men NEED to grill.
Susan, steak and bleu speaks well to men's stomachs...you're a champ of a wife.
I haven't come across the cabrales yet. I have it in my mind for a blue cheese dip. It woukd be equally amazing on your steak as well:D
F an A! I LOVE this kind of thing! Love my red meat! Love it w/ blue cheese and this? Well to die for. I WILL make this soon with your Cabrales or Gorgonzola or whatever I find. And the beauty of it? I have a bottle of sherry from Spain that I haven't ever opened. It probably isn't THAT special to drink as it wasn't expensive and it has been here a while. But would probably be perfect for this.
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