Striploin steak on croutes with sauteed onions and mushrooms

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Last night S and I made another delicious dinner. We collaborated — he made the following steak and I made the vegetable accompaniment, apple-stuffed acorn squash.

Striploin steak on croutes with sauteed onions and mushrooms
Serves two

1 striploin steak, about one-inch thick
one small onion
handful of cremini mushrooms
balsamic vinegar
quarter of a baguette
salt and pepper
olive oil/canola oil/butter

Put some canola oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat.

Season one side of the steak generously with salt and pepper.

When the oil is hot, put the steak in the pan, seasoned side down. Then season the other side of the steak. Leave the steak for three to five minutes, depending on the thickness until it is browned and caramelized. Do not check the meat too often.

Flip the steak and repeat with the other side, which will take a little less time to brown. Use the finger test to see how well done it is. Poke the steak with your finger — if it's soft then it's rare, but the firmer it feels to the touch, the more well done it is.

Take the steak off the heat and let it rest on a plate for 10 minutes under some foil.

While the meat is resting, prepare the croutes and saute the onions and mushrooms.

To prepare the croutes, slice a quarter baguette on a long diagonal, rub the top side with butter or olive oil and lay on a baking sheet. Put under the broiler for three or four minutes or until starting to brown. Remove from oven and set aside to crisp up.

To prepare the mushroom saute, heat a frying pan on medium heat and add olive oil. Chop the onions into half-moon slices and slice the mushrooms. When the oil is hot, add the onions and stir until softened but not browned, about a minute or two. Then add the mushrooms and stir for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Once they've started browning, reduce the heat and drizzle some balsamic vinegar on top. Stir for another minute. Remove from heat.

Assemble the ingredients. Cut the steak in half and put each half on a bed of croutes and the mushroom sautee on top of the steak. Serve with apple-stuffed acorn squash.

Open-faced vegetable melt sandwich

Open-faced vegetable melt sandwich on Flickr by beFOODled.

This sandwich pretty much got me through life as a student. Now I make it on weekend mornings when it's my turn to do breakfast.

You can switch different toppings in and out, but the mainstay is lots and lots of grated cheese. I like to use cheeses that are good melters, like cheddar, fontina or mozzarella. Mozzarella is a bit bland in the flavour department, so I always mix it with a sharper cheese like cheddar.

And when I buy baguettes, I cut them into four sections, wrap each section in plastic wrap and freeze the whole lot together in a big freezer bag. Whenever I take one out to make this sandwich, the bread still tastes fresh.

Open-faced vegetable melt sandwich
Serves two

two quarters of a baguette or four slices of brown bread
cherry tomatoes (or any tomato)
two spring onions
cheese like cheddar, fontina or mozzarella
olive oil
balsamic vinegar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and take some bread out of the freezer.

Halve the cherry tomatoes or slice regular tomatoes. Slice the spring onions into thin rounds, including the green parts. Grate the cheese.

Slice open the baguette and add the toppings — tomato, onions and then cheese on top. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, if using.

Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes or until the cheese has melted.