Steak with Kalamata Olive Butter

The year I turned 30, I wanted to change my life.  And I still believed that I could change the world. I applied for a teaching program in New York City – the kind where they pay for you to get your Master’s Degree while you teach public school for a pittance and a headache.  I got an email a few weeks after I applied telling me to be at my interview at a public school in New York City, on a Saturday, in about a month’s time.  I was dizzy with excitement.  I prepared my presentation, I practiced and practiced.  I bought my plane ticket and started dreaming life-sized dreams about moving to New York City.

I got to New York a few days before my 30th birthday.  I checked into my one-star hotel that I found on Priceline.  It wasn’t bad at first sight.  But the one-star rating was obvious when I used the non-absorbent towels and sat on the squeaky bed.  It was clean though.  And pretty quiet.  I went to find dinner that night and decided to celebrate my birthday.  While I didn’t have enough money to support my long-time goal of walking into a restaurant with no prices on the menu and ordering whatever I wanted to, I did have enough money for a steak dinner.

I found a little restaurant a few blocks away and ordered a dish of olives for an appetizer.  Olives have always been my love.  The steak I ordered was a New York steak, with a rounded lump of Kalamata olive butter, melting and leaving little purple gems of saltiness in all the nooks and crannies of the steak.  It was juicy and tender and rich.  Happy birthday to me!  I thought.  This is the beginning of my new life.

I’ve thought about that steak many times since that day.  And today, I decided to re-create my meal from that restaurant, using market-fresh ingredients.  I added fresh parsley to the butter and the slightly grassy taste of the parsley lightens the butter up and adds a fresh dimension to the steak.  The potatoes are simple and a nice tangy contrast to the dense richness of the meat.  The kale mixes it up with sweet spring onions and a kick of spice with the Secret Aardvark sauce.

All of these are simple recipes that take minutes to make.  I hope you enjoy them!

Kalamata Olive Butter

1 cube butter, softened

1 clove garlic

1 handful parsley

12-15 Kalamata olives

Place all ingredients in the food processor and process until completely combined.  This will make more than you need, but save it and use it on bread, toss it with warm vegetables or mix it in with mashed potatoes.

Spring Kale

Olive oil

1 small spring onion

4 leaves of green kale, stems removed

Sel Gris salt

Fresh ground pepper

1 tsp. Secret Aardvark Sauce

1/4 cup water

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Thinly slice the onion and put in skillet.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cut kale into 1/4 inch ribbons.  When onions are translucent (after about 5 minutes), add the kale. Stir over medium heat until kale is coated with olive oil and the onions are mixed in.  In a small cup, mix the water and the Secret Aardvark Sauce.  Pour over the kale.  Cook until water is evaporated, about 5 more minutes.  Remove from heat.  Serve warm.

Lemon Thyme New Potatoes

12 small new potatoes, sliced in 1/4 inch pieces

1 T. olive oil

Sel Gris salt

Fresh ground pepper

2 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped

1 tsp. lemon zest

juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 450.  Toss the potatoes, olive oil and some salt and pepper together in a bowl.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Spread them evenly into one layer.  Bake at 450 for about 25 minutes, until just golden brown and tender.  Place in a bowl and toss with thyme, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Let cool slightly before serving.

Steak

1 ribeye steak, at room temperature (you can use a New York strip steak for this, too – I just used what was at the market.)

1 T. olive oil

Sel Gris salt

Fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450.  In a cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Season steak with salt and pepper and place in the skillet over medium high heat.  After about 5 minutes, turn the steak over – it should have a nice crust on it by now – and place in the oven.  Bake at 450 for about 7 minutes for a medium rare steak.  Less for rare.  Let rest for 2-3 minutes.  Top with Kalamata olive butter before serving.

Gosh it was delicious steak.  My interview went well the next day – but I didn’t get the job.  I have to say though, that steak was worth the whole trip.  And I’ve never regretted a second of it.