Steak with Peanut Sauce & Salsa Verde

This is a real treat. It’s Cal-Mex (Californian with a Mexican inspiration – this dish originates in LA). The boy loves the sound of this. He thinks a soundtrack of Nirvana would suit the cooking, but as I’m doing the work he has to put up with Turandot because I’m feeling epic!

2 x 300g steaks, about 2cm thick

Olive oil

1 clove garlic, peeled & halved

Peanut Sauce

100g roasted peanuts, skins removed

50g sesame seeds

1 tsp each dried oregano and cumin seeds

A few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked off

1 dried chipotle chilli, crumbled

3 cloves garlic, finely sliced

100ml extra virgin olive oil

25ml rum

Juice of 1 lime

2 green chilies

Salt & pepper

Salsa Verde

Small bunch coriander

Small bunch mint, leaves picked off

1 clove garlic

2 chillies, deseeded

4 spring onions

2 tomatoes, roughly chopped

Juice of 1-2 limes

Start with the Peanut sauce. Toast the nuts and sesame seeds in a dry frying pan for a few minutes.  Add the cumin, thyme, oregano, chillies, garlic and chipotle. After another minute, tip into a blender, along with the lime juice, rum salt & pepper and oil. Add 200ml water. Blitz until shiny and smooth. Check for seasoning and add more lime juice if needed. (or indeed rum!)

Next the Salsa verde which is fresh and zingy, to offset the rich peanut sauce. Surprisingly, the boy wants to help – I suspect only so it will be ready quicker, so he’s doing all the chopping here.  Set aside a few big coriander leaves for garnish. Get a decent sized sharp knife and chopping board and chop together the coriander (stalks and all) with the mint leaves, chillies, garlic, tomatoes & spring onions. You want it quite fine, so keep chopping back and forth. Sprinkle over salt and pepper and squeeze over the lime juice.  Taste to check the balance.

The steaks should be at room temperature – go for the cut you like. The boy’s favourites are sirloin or rib eye – either would be good. We’re having rib eye this time.  By now he’s just loitering in the kitchen. There’s a particularly dramatic bit at the end of Act 1 of Turandot and I’m pleased that he wants to know what’s going on. Get a griddle pan very hot. For medium you’ll want around 3 minutes each side. Rub the steak with the garlic half while it’s in the pan and season.

When done put the steaks aside to rest. Warm the peanut sauce – it only needs warming, not cooking. Spread some on each plate – you won’t need all of it. Slice each steak into 3 or 4 thick pieces and place on top of the sauce. Pour the resting juices over. Top with some salsa verde and garnish with the reserved coriander leaves.  I’ve been saving a bottle of Rioja Crianza just for this.  The boy opened it about the time we started cooking, so it’s had time to breathe.  He is happy, chatty and increasingly giggly throughout the evening.