I was sitting down to dinner the other night and had made one of my all time favorite dishes. Steak with a mushroom port sauce. It doesn't matter what kind of steak, although I used Bison steaks this time, this sauce is so good it works with any kind of steak. As I was eating, it dawned on me that I have never written about this recipe. how I managed to over look that is beyond me.
It is one of the first things I learned how to make way back in 1998 when I returned home from the Navy. I saw Emeril Lagasse make it on one of his TV shows and ran out to buy everything I needed. I didn't have any venison or wild game at that time to use so I bought strip steaks at the grocery store. I love Port wine and always have a bottle on hand for drinking. The first time I tried this with venison I was sold and it is one of the dishes I make sure to serve to anyone who claims they don't like venison. I made it for my mother-in-law and she told me that this sauce would make cardboard a delicacy.
It goes like this, salt and pepper your steaks generously. Then melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium high heat. Sear the steaks for 2-3 minutes per side until you get a nice crust. Remove the steaks and set aside.
Add another tablespoon of butter to the pan and add minced garlic and shallots. season with salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute. Dump in the mushrooms (I like to use hen of the woods mushrooms for this but I also will use a wild mushroom blend that I get at the grocery store) and cook for 4-5 minutes. Pour in the broth, port, Worcestershire and balsamic vinegar and continue coking until the liquid reduces by half. whisk in 2 more tablespoons of butter. Return the steaks to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. To serve Place the steaks on the plate and spoon the mushrooms and the sauce over the steaks.
Its not a bad Idea to have some good bread on hand to soak up the sauce. Otherwise you will end up licking the plate and nobody wants to see that.
Mushroom Port Sauce
8ounces of fresh mushrooms, stems discarded and caps sliced thin
