Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 6-8 oz. rib eye steaks about 1-inch thick
- 1 Tbsp. lard, bacon grease or oil*
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 shallot; finely chopped
- 1 sprig fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
- 2 oz. blue cheese; crumbled
Preparation:
1. Remove steak from the refrigerator about an hour before cooking and season generously with salt and pepper.
2. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Heat lard, grease or oil* in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add steaks and brown one side - about 3 minutes. Flip steak over, cook 1 minute longer, then position skillet in center of oven.
5. Cook steaks for about six minutes for medium rare (130 degrees using an instant-read thermometer inserted for the side).
6. Put steaks on a plate and cover with foil.
7. Return skillet to stove over medium heat and add shallots and thyme and cook for 1 minute, stirring four or five times to prevent burning.
8. Add wine to skillet, increase heat to medium-high and reduce wine to about 1/3 cup.
9. Add blue cheese to skillet and cook until cheese begins melting. Pour any juices from the steaks into skillet, plate steaks, and drizzle with sauce.
*Note 1: I like adding a bit of pork flavor in the form of bacon grease or lard to steaks, but olive, vegetable or canola oil also work.
Note 2: Here's a tutorial on making pan sauces.