Akaushi Chop Steak
This was inspired after a trip to a great steakhouse nearby. I've never ordered this in a restaurant, but that's probably going to change in the near future. As with everything, you want to work with the best ingredients that you can afford. Some butchers and markets may have some high quality items in a side freezer like mine. I was originally going to use Snake River Farms Wagyu but I felt the delicious fat content was a little too high. So I went with a leaner beef brand called Akaushi, which is also known as Red Wagyu. I gauged the patty size on what size steak I'd normally eat, which is usually in the 12oz range. Having a digital kitchen scale is very helpful in portioning out things like this. The result of this dish is a super savory beef dish that can be made with just about any mushroom you can find. Madeira wine was used to bring a sweet element to the glaze which very much compliments the saltiness from the seared beef. If you can't find Madeira, you can try substituting it with Marsala wine for a similar flavor profile.
Ingredients
- 1lbs Akaushi or highest quality ground Chuck you can find. Extra points if you can grind your own.
- 1 yellow onion
- 1lbs oyster mushrooms
- 1 cup Madeira wine
- 1.5 cups good Beef Stock
- 1/2 cup great Veal Stock
- 2tbsp Worcestershire
- 2tbsp Chopped Parsley
- 1tbsp Dijon Mustard
- Kosher Salt
- Onion Powder
- Fresh Cracked Pepper
- 1 Large AA Egg
Equipment
- 12" High sided saute pan or similar
- half sheet pan
- baking rack
Prep
Mushrooms: Slice the tough bottom off of the oyster clusters. They should be pretty clean, but if not, wipe off any remaining dirt. Set aside.
Onion: Slice in half through the root. Peel. Place the flat side down on the cutting board and slice into thin strips.
Parsley: Wash the parsley under cold water and pluck the leaves from the stems. Check out how to store your Parsley here to greatly speed up this process.
Beef: While you're prepping, let the beef rest on the counter so it starts to comp to room temp. Break the beef apart in a mixing bowl and add your salt, onion powder, parsley, Worcestershire and a bit of Dijon mustard. I actually removed a bit from what's photographed below. It ended up at just about 1tbsp worth. After everything is well combined, form the meat into a hamburger shaped patty. In this recipe, I used about 10oz of meat to make the patty. I used the remaining 6oz as a tester and chef treat. Set aside.
Cooking Directions
I recommend doing this entire meal in one pan. You're going to want to get the fond from the seared beef to flavor the mushrooms and onions. This dish has a ton of flavor and it starts here with the beef.
Searing the Beef
- Preheat your oven on Bake to 400 degrees.
- Heat a saute pan over medium high heat.
- Take your patty and give it a light seasoning of kosher salt.
- Just as the oil is about to smoke, lay your meat in the pan.
- Sear for 1-2 minutes. You want to develop some nice char without turning the exterior into a crusty shell.
- Flip and sear the other side for 1-2 mins or until the crust develops.
- Transfer to a foil lined sheet pan with a rack.
- Finish cooking in the oven until the meat hits medium rare. 128 to 132 degrees. The length of time will be determined by the thickness of your meat. My 10oz piece stayed in the oven for just about 9 minutes.
- Remove from oven and set aside.
Preparing the Onions and Mushrooms
- After searing the burger, you should have lots of 'fond' which are the stuck-on crusty bits of concentrated flavor left behind from the beef.
- Add your mushrooms to the pan.
- Give them pinch of kosher salt and onion powder.
- Saute these over medium high heat until they begin to give up their water. 4-5 minutes.
- Add the onions to the pan and give them a little sprinkle of kosher salt.
- Saute these both together over medium heat until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms have browned. 8-12 minutes depending on your stove and pan.
- Add your Madeira wine to the pan to deglaze. Stir to combine. Reduce by 75% over medium high heat.
- Add your beef stock, veal stock and a nice pinch of salt.
- Stir to combine.
- Reduce this down to a glaze over medium high heat. 10-12 minutes.
- You can keep a little beef stock nearby in case you need to loosen it up a bit. You don't want it to be a syrup, so if it begins to get too thick, add a tablespoon of stock, stir to combine and asses if you need a little more. It's better to add small amounts of stock so that you don't have to back and start reducing again.
- Once down to a glaze, remove from heat and add the remaining chopped parsley in. Stir to combine.
- Add your meat back to the pan and put the heat on low. We just want to use this to warm the meat back up without cooking it anymore than it already has.
- Start spooning the glazed sauce and mushrooms over the meat to aide in the warming process.
- While your meat is warming, you can now cook the egg.
Cooking the egg
- In the smallest pan you have, add some cooking spray and heat the pan over medium heat.
- Crack the egg and place it into the pan.
- Acting quickly, use your fingers to hold the yolk so that it is dead center of the whites until the bottom has set and the yolk won't move after releasing your grip.
- Add a pinch of kosher salt just around the whites of the egg. Do not season the yolk.
- Cook the egg over medium low heat until the surrounding whites are fully cooked.
- You'll want to stop cooking the egg immediately after all of egg white has set and is solid.
- Ideally you'll have a fully cooked edge and a yolk that is holding together.
Plating
- Using a white plate, add two heaping spoonfuls of the mushroom / onion mixture. Carve you a hole in the center big enough to fit your meat into.
- Place the meat in the center of the ring and spoon some of the reduced sauce over top.
- Sprinkle a little bit of parsley onto the mushrooms.
- Carefully place your egg on top of the meat.
- Season with finely ground black pepper.
