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A few days ago, a gentleman who had previously taken the Cooking 101 series I teach dropped by my store. He delighted me by describing various dishes he had made and how he was eating more healthfully these days.
After chatting for a few minutes, he told me how he had marinated and grilled a large flank steak the day before. It was just perfect — charred slightly on the outside but rosy-pink on the interior. Then he posed a couple of questions that I am going to share with you. One has to do with reheating a steak and the other how to make a butter-free sauce to serve with steak.
Q. I marinated a flank steak and grilled it perfectly and enjoyed much of it for dinner last night. Now that I have a leftover steak, how do I reheat it for a another meal so I do not overcook it?
A. Remove the steak from the refrigerator for 20 minutes before reheating. This allows it to reach room temperature. Heat a heavy skillet over medium-high heat and add two to three teaspoons vegetable or canola oil, just enough to make a film over the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add the cooked steak and lightly sear on both sides, turning a few times until the steak is warmed throughout.
Q. I am trying to not use much butter because of health reasons. Do you have a great sauce to serve with steaks or roast without butter? Every steak sauce recipe I read has butter in it. Can you make a good sauce without butter?
Many steak sauces actually are butter sauces, so I suggest you use a different kind of sauce. One of my favorite sauces uses a roux (a mixture of fat and flour) as a base to thicken the sauce. Even a roux recipe calls for butter, but it is very easy to substitute oil. You may use olive, vegetable or canola oil. Here is a recipe I use frequently for beef tenderloin, but it also would be fabulous on a steak. If it makes too much for you, you can easily reduce it by half. Also, you can make it in advance and reheat it before serving.
