Ribeye Steaks with Miso Butter and Garlic Sauteed Spinach

*Post by Angela.

Mark and I have been on a mission to eat cheap as of late, which has led to a lot of meals thrown together out of our fridge and cabinet. After the third or fourth time "pasta and pesto" came up as an option, I decided I wanted to do better. So we took a good look at what we had in the fridge and planned out a series of 5 or 6 meals that we could make using what we already had, plus the products from 1 trip to the grocery store. Given the results of this experiment, I think it's something we should probably adopt more generally in the future. This was the first, and definitely the most expensive of the planned meals, due to the steak, but it still only came to about $25 for both of us for an easy, quick and delicious meal that probably would have run us $50 or more on a night out.

List of ingredients for the miso butter and steak:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp miso (I used yellow miso because it's what I had in my fridge, but most recipes use white miso, which is sweeter)
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley or chives (I used parsley, again, because it's what I had lying around)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 2 ribeyes, at least 1" thick
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Kosher salt
• 2 sweet onions
• 2 tbsp olive oil

First, I set the butter out for a couple of hours, until it came to room temperature. Then I mixed it together well with the miso, parsley, and garlic, really squishing it to make sure that all the ingredients were evenly distributed throughout. I spread the butter onto plastic wrap, molded it into log, then wrapped it up and stored it in the fridge.

On the night of dinner, I took the steaks out of the fridge, rinsed them, patted them dry, seasoned them liberally with salt and pepper, and let them sit about an hour. This is a pretty important step, as the Steamy Kitchen lady will tell you.

I also peeled the onions, sliced them in half, slathered them with oil, and seasoned them with salt and pepper as well.

As much as I love the idea of a meal consisting entirely of meat, butter and onions, I felt like maybe we should add a little green to our dinner. We had some spinach in the fridge and we always have garlic, so picking the Barefoot Contessa's Garlic Sauteed Spinach recipe was a no-brainer.

List of ingredients for the spinach:

1 1/2 lbs baby spinach

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp finely chopped garlic

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 tbsp unsalted butter

1 lemon

First, I rinsed the spinach and shook it off (I don't have a salad spinner, and will probably never have a salad spinner, since I just don't get it). I heated the olive oil in a pot, and sauteed the garlic for about 1 minute.

I added the spinach, salt and pepper and tossed until all the leaves were covered in oil. And let me say, not for the first or last time, if you think you're using too much spinach, you're wrong. It wilts down so small. 

I covered the pot and cooked the spinach for two minutes. Then I uncovered it, turned up the heat and cooked for one more minute to evaporate some of the extra liquid. I removed the spinach to a bowl with a slotted spoon, stirred in the butter and a squeeze of lemon juice, and topped it with a sprinkle of salt.

 

Back to the main attraction!

First, I rinsed the steaks off and patted them dry. I heated 2 tbsp of olive oil in my grill pan over medium high heat, then threw the onions on for about 5-8 minutes a side, until grill marks had formed and the onions were nice and softened. I made sure to slide the onions around a lot to flavor the pan for the meat.

I removed the onions to a plate, then tossed the steaks on there, cooking about 6-8 minutes a side for a nice medium rare.

I removed the steaks to their respective plates, topped them with a fat pat of miso butter, and let them rest about 10 minutes before plating them with the onions and spinach and digging in. GAH. So good. The salty, luscious, umami-laden miso butter could improve just about anything and was more than mouth-watering atop a juicy ribeye. Add the sweetness from the onions and the garlicky freshness of the spinach, and we had ourselves a balanced, fantastic meal we would have been happy to get at the fanciest of steakhouses, for half the price.