flewellyn | Experimental recipe success!

Lynn and I had come up with an experimental idea for a steak recipe, using lemon juice to marinade and then pan-frying it.

I experimented a little, and here's what I came up with.

Lemon butter steak with noodles

You will need:

Steak. I recommend a lean cut, like top round chuck; I used a 16 oz steak for this.

Lemon juice, fresh or from concentrate. For every 8 ounces of meat, you should use 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Obviously fresh-squeezed will taste better, but concentrate is just fine.

Olive oil, extra-virgin, in equal measure to the lemon juice.

Garlic. Minced from a jar or freshly grated. I used a tablespoon, so figure 1/2 tbsp per 8 ounces of steak.

Dill weed. You can buy the really fresh stuff if you want, but I get good results with the stuff in the shaker.

Black pepper.

Butter. Lots of it. You're going to use at least a stick of it here.

Noodles of some kind. You could also use rice, but I used noodles. Egg noodles specifically, though you could use another type of short pasta as well. I don't recommend a long, thin pasta like spaghetti or vermicelli.

Get a waterproof container of some sort (I used a ziplock bag), and put the steak in it. If you have a big steak (like my 16oz), cut it into halves. Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dill, and some black pepper, and put it into the container with the steak. Leave it to marinade for about half an hour.

Once it's marinated, get a pan ready on the stove. Take out the steak and put it in the pan. Don't bother to save the marinade, it's not reusable, and you don't want it in the pan with the steaks; you're grilling these, not sauteeing. While the steaks are grilling, put up the water for the noodles, you'll want them ready for when the steaks are done. Grill them to taste, then put them on a plate for a moment.

Now, deglaze the pan with some water. You can add a bit more pepper, garlic and dill at this point if you like (I do). When the water starts to boil, start adding butter. When that butter melts, add more butter. Keep adding butter. If you skimp on butter, you are doing it wrong. While doing this, put the noodles into the noodle water (it should be boiling by now).

The sauce will be ready when it starts to bubble and thicken a bit. Take it off the heat and set it aside for a moment, while the noodles finish.

When the noodles are done, drain them, and put them in a serving bowl. Cut the steak up into small chunks and mix it in with the pasta, and then add the butter sauce. You can add salt to taste, though I really don't see how you'd need any.

With a 16 oz steak and at least that much pasta, this should serve 2 or 3. Good vegetable sides are steamed broccoli or green beans.

Your taste buds will thank you, though your cardiologist may not. :-)