Blue Cheese Mustard Crumb Topping for Steak

I can't believe I haven't posted this one before! I went and looked, and yep, I have yet to share my secret Blue-Cheese-Mustard-Crumb Topping. I had this on a steak at a steakhouse in Clearwater Florida (hi Diane!) and LOVED it. Of course I forget the name of the steakhouse but it was a pretty well-known local place. Diane McDilda (author of the Everything Green Living Book...check it out; it's AWESOME and fun and makes living green definitely doable for all of us) and me and our families went there last year and had a fabulous time.

Anyway, I am a steak fanatic. Okay, okay, I say that about everything, LOL. I do love food. That's half the reason you can come by this blog almost any month of the year and read the words "I'm on a diet AGAIN", LOL. I do love steak, but it's not something that A.) fits most grocery budgets all the time and B.) most people can cook really easily and make it come out awesome and C.) that Dr. Oz says we should have all the time.

Well, I had my salmon this week, Dr. Oz, so I had my steak the next day ;-)

I have had the best luck with Flat Iron steaks. It used to be you couldn't hardly find this cut in the store, but it's more and more prevalent here. I would buy all the other more expensive cuts and sometimes they'd be tough, sometimes they'd be too fatty...I just never had consistent results. Flat Iron (and don't ask me what cut of the cow they are; I don't ask the cow, I don't want to know) really seems to work out well. And they come, at least in my market, in vacuum sealed pouches that keep a little longer in the fridge so you have more wiggle room on when to cook them.

I marinated them in a bourbon marinade from the butcher shop. They sell Flat Iron marinated and they sell the marinade separate, so I bought extra last time I was there. When I don't have any of that marinade, I usually just buy one that sounds yummy. There are a gazillion on the market.

The key, IMO, is the blue cheese topping. Unless you hate blue cheese, then you'd skip this, LOL.

Blue Cheese Mustard Crumb Steak Topping

2 pounds steak (I usually have one piece un-blue cheesed for the kid who hates blue cheese. One of these days, I'll sway him to the dark side of gourmet cheeses. Yes, son, there are cheeses that aren't orange)
6 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I've also used Japanese Panko bread crumbs with great results)
2 teaspoons minced garlic (I use the jar kind; if you have fresh, you can tinker with the amount)
1 tablespoon German mustard (any of those not yellow, go on hotdogs mustards...the fancy kinds :-)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 - 2 tablespoons flax seed (you can sneak it in here, too, if you want...I'm starting to get really good at this)


Preheat the broiler. Mix all of the above together. Spray a grill pan with Pam (I have one of those INDISPENSABLE $20 grill/griddle pans -- you can get them at Wal-Mart and Le Gourmet Chef. Great for pancakes on one side, meat on the other. LOOK FOR A DISHWASHER SAFE ONE! For tough stains, use some Easy Off Self Cleaning Oven Cleaner in a well ventilated area). Over high heat, grill the steaks on both sides (you can marinate them first, or not, your choice). When they are 95% of the way cooked, put them on a foil-lined cookie sheet, sprayed with some Pam.


Mound the crumb topping on top of the steaks. Put the steaks into the oven and broil (my broiler is WILD (I have mentioned the stove from hell) so I do it on low, not high) for about 4-5 minutes, watching it closely, until the topping is crispy but not flaming ;-).


That's it! They're really yummy.


Shirley
Reading: Dennis Lehane's Gone, Baby Gone
And...Counting Down Until Christmas!!!!!!!!!!