Chomp!

By Ron Aiken

 

 

Make the Best Steak with Mushroom Sauce at Home Ever!

It started with the memory of a solitary can of cream of mushroom soup sitting at the back of the pantry.

The question preceding the memory was the one haunting all of us as soon as we open our eyes each morning and on the lips of all those who depend on us with increasing volume and apprehension as the hours of the day wear on: “What are we eating tonight?”

Some weeks it’s powerless, such is the effect of our good planning. Other times it seems like an avalanche upon our heads, a swamp slowly sucking us to its sticky bottom.

So at 5:45 p.m., on the drive home from work and about to turn into the grocery store, I remembered that can of soup. Let’s do something with that joker!

Since the first decision must always be about a protein, I chose steaks since we hadn’t had them in a while (the propane ran out a couple weeks ago and we’ve been too busy to refill it since). Now, the Campbell’s cream of Mushroom Soup…what to do…a sauce! A mushroom sauce! Let’s make steak with mushroom sauce!!!

Now armed with a plan and renewed confidence and, dare I say, vigor, I strode through the Food Lion and secured my goods, scoffing at those helpless, listless souls who were still trying to figure out the answer to tonight’s dinner mystery. Fools!

I bought a four-pack of beautiful ribeyes for about $40 and added a fifth single New York Strip (you never know if we’ll have company) for about $8. I know that’s a bit pricey for most, but I wanted to make something a bit special. After all, it was Wednesday! Why can’t Wednesday dinner be THE MOST AWESOME DINNER OF THE WEEK??? When you’ve got Chomp! for a parent, IT CAN BE!

I grabbed some fresh green beans and the makings of a salad, scooped up some sliced white mushrooms and sped home. My thought was that with the grill out of commission, I’d sear the steaks on the stove, finish them in the oven and then use the steak sauce I seasoned the meat with to de-glaze the pan, sautee the mushrooms in it then add the cream of mushroom soup. GENIUS! OH YEAH!

Let’s get started!

Now, if you’ve been loyal to Chomp!, you know his methods of steak seasonings. This time, I used the following ingredients:

 

 

If you can’t see them clearly, it’s kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Badia’s “Complete Seasonings” – I found this in the Hispanic food aisle and LOVE IT! – soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and honey. The honey ties it all together and holds the seasonings on!

 

Here’s what the steaks look like in the pan:

 

 So gorgeous!

 

 

A quick sear on high heat for about three minutes per side, no more, and onto a baking sheet with aluminum foil they go, one by lovely one.

 

 Look at these cool cats! So nicely seared! So wonderfully seasoned!

 

Now, once those baby dolls are in the oven (I set it to 350), I poured the rest of the honey-teriyaki-soy  sauce, de-glaze the pan and added my mushrooms. Here’s what that bit of MASSIVE DELCIOUSNESS looked like:

 

 

Do mushrooms get to taste better than this? NO! THEY DO NOT!

Now at this point, there may be some clever thinkers out there who are saying, “Chomp!, that looks SO GOOD, why would you go and add cream of mushroom soup to it? Isn’t it kind of dumbing the whole thing down?”

To you I say BEHOLD THE GLORY OF CAMPBELL’S SOUP!

 

You cannot resist its power! It’s comfort! It’s will to live in you! P.S. And YES, Chomp! did make this entire dinner for his family wearing a tie, because he’s majestic like that. Don’t hate on a superstar; it only makes you look bad. On yet another note, if you have a picture making dinner for your family in your work clothes, SEND THAT PICTURE TO ME at [email protected] and I ABSOLUTELY will run it, you rock star, you!

 

With the mushroom soup added, I stirred it all together and let that simmer thusly…

Here’s the sauce, which I topped with the first green spice I could find from the cabinet just for decoration (it turned out to be cilantro, which has NEVER HURT ANY DISH EVER). Seriously, I think cilantro could go on anything, even ice cream. Hmmmm…cilantro ice cream….YES!!!!!)

I cooked the steaks for about 10 minutes, then let them rest for another 7-10. All this time I’d been sauteeing the green beans in butter and salt, letting them simmer, and preparing the salad. Here’s the finished table!

 

 

Who said Wednesday’s were boring? Not Chomp!

 

And finally, Chomp!’s plate:

Not bad, eh?

 

Surrously, the sauce was out-of-this-world, just bee-yond all things. I should note here that a main reason I made it separately was because the two children wanted nothing to do with mushrooms on their steak. However, once they tasted the sauce, I can confidently say that one of the children, the budding gourmet Levi, was ABSOLUTELY turned around in his opinion! There are not many things more gratifying than making something for your children that they think they won’t like but then end up loving because of the love you spent preparing it. It was a nice, nice moment for Chomp! To sit in those compliments and simply enjoy seeing your family eat what you brought home and made.

And that’s what it’s all about, really, providing for and satisfying the ones you love most. Don’t they deserve a special mean now and again? Don’t they deserve our best efforts both in the kitchen and on the plate? Maybe that’s why the question of “What’s for supper?” takes on such significance in the first place.

Until next week, have a wonderful and blessed time with your family, at your table, whatever that looks like for you. Cheers from Chomp!

 

 

 

Sign up here to start your free subscription to MidlandsLife!