Are you drooling yet?

I love a good ribeye steak. Juicy, tender, marbled with a nice amount of fat so the meat stays moist. An all around, awesome piece of meat.

I don’t eat red meat all that often, so when I do I want to make something so incredibly tasty that I will not need to eat red meat again for awhile.  Something that will keep me satisfied, so satiated that I won’t even want to eat steak for a long time.  This is one of those meals.

I bought some gorgeous morel mushrooms from Gilt Taste a few weeks ago, and knew they needed to be showcased because they were so beautiful.

Morel mushrooms are a delicacy loved by chefs the world over. Finding fresh morels happens usually once a year, and the season is short. You can buy dried at anytime, but the flavor and texture of a fresh morel mushroom is a sensation unto itself.  The honeycomb flesh is perfect for holding rich sauces, which burst into your month as you bite into the mushroom.

I invited a couple of friends over to enjoy the feast. Holland, who’s vegetable garden I routinely plunder and Michelle, who brought two very hungry tween girls with her.  Holland brought some lovely wine to enjoy and Michelle made a delicious asparagus dish with shaved fennel and kumquats! Delish if I do say so! Maybe I can get her to give me the recipe for the blog.

Of course, I began drinking that red wine while preparing the meal, so my step-by-step pictures are missing a few steps! But you’ll get the idea.

I totally bought this bottle of wine just because there were skeletons on it. Luckily it was actually a really tasty wine, because you should not cook with a wine you will not drink.

Lightly salt and pepper your ribeye steaks. Grill, broil or saute your steaks until done to your liking. I recommend medium rare for the best flavor.

Slice your morel mushrooms in half, or quarters if they are really large.

Saute the morels  with some fresh thyme sprigs.

Add your wine to the pan, bring to a boil and reduce the wine by about 3/4.

Right about here I added the wine to the pan, and even more wine to my belly.  Yes, I forgot to keep taking my pictures because I was talking to my girlfriends, catching up on our busy lives!

So, pretend there are pictures of the stock being added and reduced, The thyme leaves being stripped off the branch, then the cold butter being stirred into the finished sauce.

Those hungry tween girls had to be stopped from eating all the steak! And Holland and Michelle did a great job of licking their plates also.

Definitely a meal worthy of those incredible morel mushrooms.

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Ribeye Steak with Morel Mushroom Red Wine Sauce

by Cheryl D Lee September-7-2011

The morel mushroom sauce is very versatile, in that it can be used to top not only steak, but also chicken, pork or turkey. If you are vegetarian, try putting it over pasta or polenta.

Ingredients

• 2 boneless ribeye steak
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound fresh morel mushrooms, sliced
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2-3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
• to taste sea salt
• to taste freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Season your steaks with a little sea salt and pepper. Cook your ribeye steaks until medium rare. You can grill, broil or saute them. Let the steak rest while you make the morel mushroom sauce.Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil.Saute the mushroom, shallots and thyme sprigs until the mushrooms soften, about 4-5 minutes.Add the red wine, increase the heat to high. Bring the wine to a boil. Let the wine reduce by about 3/4.
Add the chicken broth. Bring the broth to a boil and reduce the liquid until it is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.Remove the pan from the heat. Strip the thyme leaves from the branches, and throw out the branch. One piece at a time, stir in the cold butter until emulsified into the sauce. The butter will thicken the sauce slightly. Season the finished sauce with sea salt and pepper to taste.Slice your steaks thinly and place onto a platter. Pour the morel mushroom sauce over the length of the steak.
Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 45 mins Yield: 4 servings