Sliced Steak, Mushrooms, and Onions

I think there might be light at the end of the tunnel!  The walls are getting painted and the light fixtures are going back up!  I have these crazy wall sconces that I bought in Mallorca that are made out of resin and twisted wire - something out of  "Pan's Labyrnth" .  They are going to look fantastic on the "Chantilly Lace" white wall.  I possibly selected that colored based on the name...I really can't tell the difference between it and WHITE except that it was more expensive.  I find it quite hard to pick out paint colors.  That seems absurd, considering the fact that I work with colors all day long but there is something about painting a wall that is intimidating.  That's because I know it's going to take a long time before it's re-painted and I don't want to live with a color I hate for 5 years.  It's like buying a pull-out sofa a Jennifer Convertible and having it sitting in your living room forever like a guest who won't leave and forces you to say something like "I'm sorry, I am going to have to go to bed now, can you let yourself out?".

Honestly, when every visit to Home Depot rings up as $100, the top round steak looks a lot more delicious than it used to.  Here is my trick to make it something fancier: grill it rare and thinly sliced it then top it with onions and mushrooms in a balsamic reduction.  Tonight, I'm serving it with a yummy heap of garlic mashed potatoes!

The cut looks nicely marbled and so I am hoping it will be somewhat tender.  I seasoned it with lots of sea salt and pepper, Crazy Mixed Up Salt, garlic powder, rosemary, thyme, and any other favorite herbs you have on hand.

Meanwhile, start boiling the potatoes and don't forget to add salt and 2 or 3 cloves of garlic. Slice up a whole sweet onion and start to cook it i olive oil, then add sliced mushrooms - I bought crimini mushrooms - they are nice  in this dish if you cut then about a quarter inch thick.

After the onion cooks and is soft and golden, add the mushrooms and let them brown, then add a a few splashes of balsamic vinegar and red wine, a shake of smoked Spanish paprika, and a generous scraping of pepper..  It will cook down and start becoming syupy - you can add more red wine as it reduces - at the last minute, add butter to finish it!  And in the meantime, start the brussel sprouts - I don't think I have ever cooked brussel sprouts before but they looked very fresh at Whole Foods so I bought a few. Now I am in LOVE with brussel sprouts!  The trick is, apparently, to roast them so that they are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside - which takes about 45 minutes - and season them with a lot of salt and pepper.  I had to cheat a little because I didn't calculate the timeline.....so I microwaved them for 5 minutes and then roasted them....hmmm.

 

 

Back to the potoatoes which should be soft by now and ready to whip - drain them and add milk, or cream if you feel like splurging on calories, and a hunk of butter, salt and pepper - let the milk heat up until simmer.  Then haul out the old hand beater and whip them up until creamy.

Get the steak on the grill and do not over cook - take it off while it's still soft when you push on it.  Let it sit on the cutting board for 5 minutes while you finish up the salad.  Then slice it very thinly - as the juices run off, add them to the onion mixture.

 

 

Pretty delish, but next time I really would make more balsamic red wine reduction sauce for the mashed potatoes.