Sometimes you want something light for dinner. I’ve cooked with a lot of cream and butter recently, so this week for dinner I wanted to offer some choices that were not as rich or heavy on the stomach.
Naturally, steak and eggs came to mind.
This Southwest-style steak and eggs dish came from Julia’s Album, a nifty food blog with a fairly large readership. Now, Julia intended this to be a breakfast selection, but I’ve found that there is little that you make for the first meal that you cannot make for your evening sitdown. The Wife is a proponent of the breakfast-for-dinner movement, so this was an easy choice.
WHAT WORKED: A thin-sliced (1/2-inch thick) top round steak in lieu of Julia’s choice of flank steak. Why? There’s a $4 per pound difference between the cuts at Wegmans. The popular and sexy flank tips in at $9.79 per, while top round goes at $5.59. Both cook easily on a stovetop and though the top round less tender than the flank, you don’t really notice it.
WHAT DIDN’T: Other than the store-bought guacamole being on the verge of passing its shelf life, everything here was fine.
WHAT DID THE WIFE SAY: It was different. I don’t know if I want to eat that all of the time, but you know how I feel about breakfast.
WILL IT MAKE ANOTHER APPEARANCE: Not soon, but I think it’s a worthy Sunday dinner later this winter.
Steak and Eggs
Adapted from Julia’s Kitchen
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1 packet Goya Sazon (I used the variety with annatto and culantro)
- 1/4 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. herbes de provence
- 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. top round steak, no more than 3/4-inch thick
- 2-3 tbsp. olive oil
- 4 eggs
- 4 small corn or flour tortillas
- guacamole, good-quality store-bought or homemade
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Combine the first six ingredients in a small bowl using a spoon. Lay the flank steak on a clean work surface and rub the spices into the both sides of the steak. Set aside and let stand until you are ready to use it.
Heat oil in a large skillet over a high flame until it shimmers. Add the steak and cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side to medium rare. You should have a nice browning on either side. Transfer the cooked steak to a cutting board and let stand 10 minutes before slicing.
In a clean skillet, heat a nonstick pan over high until it is too hot for you to hold your hand over the surface of the pan. Crack two eggs and cook them sunnyside up until the whites have cooked through. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining eggs.
Wipe the pan clean and return to the high heat. Cook tortillas, one by one, in the pan until the bubble up. Remove and transfer to clean dinner plates.
Slice steak on the grain and discard as much of the exposed fat as possible.
Add a spoonful of guacamole to each tortilla and spread a small circle of it in the middle of the disc. Set 3 to 4 pieces of steak on each tortilla, and top them with 2 tbsp. each of cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. Top each with two eggs. Serve with salsa on the side, if you choose.
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