Recipe: Seared Angus Half-Steak with Half-Caramelized Onions

Theme of the month: laziness.

Pictured above is just a quick meal mom and I whipped together for tonight. Seared angus steak on a bed of onions with a side of spaghetti al nero di seppia in mentaiko (明太子 spicy cod roe) sauce. My mother has a decidedly less stubborn palate than my father, so when he is out of town for business, the family kitchen simmers down to a slow tempo of enjoyment and experiment.

Ingredients (1 person serving):
•1 strip of steak
•1/2 yellow onion
•4 tsp salt
•1 Tbsp brown sugar
•1 Tbsp black vinegar (or balsamic vinaigrette)

We've also been slightly obsessed with these angus steaks that are sold at this Japanese grocery close to our house, USDA Angus steaks that are just beautifully marbled.

Salt the steak well on all sides (We only went with one steak in the end, because my mother decided she wanted to have something else). Leave it alone for a while and let it really soak in all the salt, or at least tell yourself that's what's happening when you're actually just abandoning the kitchen to watch "An Idiot Abroad". That is a FANTASTIC show, by the way, and I highly recommend everyone go watch it.

Next, slice up the onion in thin wedges. Most chefs recommend leaving the root tips together when chopping up onions for caramelization, but since this is the half-assed lazy version, we can forgo that.

Heat up a non-stick frying pan on full whack - burn, baby, burn - and make sure the surface is well hot before you throw the steak in there. We want to sear this on high heat to make sure it locks in all the juices when it cooks. When you drop it in there, you should hear a nice healthy sizzle, and just leave it there. Don't move it. Also, don't worry about greasing the pan beforehand - the meat itself will release a good deal of fat and moisture, and if you put butter on a hot surface like this it's just going to brown and burn.

I don't really have a gauge for how much time each side should really sear for, but I do sort of rely on smell. Once the gorgeous smell emanating from the pan starts taking on a scent of slightly charred, smokey beauty, then it should be safe enough to flip. I've read mixed directions on whether you should just leave meat on the pan on one side until it's done and then flip it only once, and also directions on flipping it as often as possible. My opinion? Um.. Whatever floats your boat? I'm not really qualified to tell anyone anything.

I mean, look at that. Gorgeous. I definitely could have left it for a little bit longer, but I am a very fussy cook and just like to get in on everything and fiddle around a lot, so that's that. I ended up flipping it quite a few times and using the finger test to decide when I wanted to take the steak off the stove.

The finger test is something I came across on Simply Recipes a few years ago, and it's a rather ingenious method of determining how cooked your meat is just by touch. The article is here.

After having flipped the steak, the pan should have a decent coat of grease on parts of it already, so I just went ahead and dumped in my finely wedged onions. I didn't bother salting them because they were soaking up whatever small amounts of grease and salt left over from their bovine neighbor, and it turned out alright.

Once the onions brown a little and started sweating, throw in the sugar and toss it around a little bit. If you like your steak medium-rare, or if you're uncomfortable cooking two things together in the same pan, feel free to remove it at this point. Pour the vinegar over the onions. This will cause the pan to emit quite a bit of smoke, so make sure a.) your smoke alarm is off b.) you have a fan on. Let everything cook for a few more minutes, and plate!

As for the pasta, we just cooked it according to the package and tossed it in this: