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Recipe Detail Page
Salt-Crusted Porterhouse with Creamy Gorgonzola Mushrooms
Winter 2016
A single generously sized porterhouse steak can feed a small crowd with minimal fuss. The oil-free cooking method works like a charm to impart a fabulous crust. If you don’t have a cast-iron pan, choose the heaviest-bottom pan you’ve got. The luxuriously velvety mushrooms gild the lily. Serve with classic buttery mashed potatoes flecked through with chopped green onion.
Serves 4
¼ cup (60 mL) dried black trumpet mushrooms
¼ cup (60 mL) dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup (250 mL) hot water, divided
1 porterhouse steak, 1½ inches (4 cm) thick, 2½ to 3 lbs (1.25 to 1.5 kg)
1 tbsp (15 mL) butter
8 oz (250 g) mixed mushrooms, sliced or torn
1 small shallot, sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cup (250 mL) whipping cream
4 oz (125 g) Gorgonzola broken into small chunks
2 tbsp (30 mL) chopped chives
Fine sea salt
1 Place the trumpet and porcini mushrooms in 2 separate heatproof bowls; pour ½ cup (125 mL) hot water over each and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Take steak out of fridge and allow to warm to room temperature.
2 Drain black trumpet mushrooms from soaking liquid; discard liquid. Rinse mushrooms under fresh running water and gently squeeze to remove excess moisture; return to bowl. Drain porcini from soaking liquid, however, reserve liquid this time. Gently squeeze porcini over reserved liquid to remove excess moisture from mushrooms and roughly chop; add to bowl containing trumpet mushrooms. Set mushrooms and porcini liquid aside separately.
3 Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add fresh mixed mushrooms and shallot. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are light golden, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic, porcini and trumpet mushrooms; stir to combine and cook 1 minute longer.
4 Pour reserved porcini soaking liquid through a fine mesh sieve into pan, bring to a boil, and reduce until only a small amount of moisture remains. Stir in cream; boil until slightly thickened and sauce coats the back of a spoon. Whisk in cheese and stir until melted; add chives, remove sauce from heat and keep warm while preparing steak.
5 Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
6 Pat steak dry to ensure the best crust; season generously with pepper. Heat a large cast iron pan over high heat. Sprinkle ½ tsp (2 mL) of fine sea salt into pan and shake to evenly distribute. Once pan is smoking, place steak in pan over salt and cook for 3 minutes. Lift steak, add an additional ¼ tsp (1 mL) salt to the pan and shake once again to evenly distribute. Place un-seared side of steak down over salt and cook an additional 3 minutes. Place skillet and steak in oven and roast for 5 minutes for medium-rare, 6 minutes for medium.
7 Remove steak to a board and rest for 5 minutes before carving into thick slices. Serve 4 to 5 slices or so per person, topped with the mushrooms and sauce.
Serves 4
