Ingredients
For the burgers
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2-2 pounds ground beef
4 hamburger buns

For the steak sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2/3 cup beef broth
1/3 cup raisins
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions
1. For the burgers: Melt butter in 8-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic, onion powder, pepper, and salt and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour all but 1 tablespoon butter mixture into bowl and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

2. For the steak sauce: Meanwhile, add tomato paste to skillet and cook over medium heat until paste begins to darken, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in broth, raisins, soy sauce, mustard, vinegar, and Worcestershire, and simmer until raisins plump, about 5 minutes. Process sauce in blender until smooth, about 30 seconds; transfer to bowl.

3. Add 5 tablespoons cooled butter mixture and soy sauce to ground beef and gently knead until well combined. Shape into four (or more) 3/4-inch-thick patties. Brush each patty all over with 1 tablespoon steak sauce. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons cooled butter mixture with 2 tablespoons steak sauce; set aside.

4. Prepare grill.

5. Grill burgers until meat registers 120 to 125*F (for medium-rare), 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer burgers to plate, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Brush cut side of buns with butter-steak sauce mixture. Grill buns, cut side down, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Place burgers on buns. Serve with remaining steak sauce. 



Comments
This recipe is from the 2011 Cook's Country Annual and it’s awesome.  The burgers are supposed to be like the burgers you'd get in a fancy steakhouse.  The steak sauce was great and, unlike most steak sauces in stores, was HFCS free.  Always a big plus there since food I can eat is superior to food I can’t eat!  The buns were fantastic, the burgers themselves were juicy and flavorful.  These burgers rock. 

Shown here with New Funeral Potatoes.

Ingredients
For the roast
2 cups fresh cilantro
6 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (3-pound) boneless rump roast, trimmed

For the Cilantro-Horseradish Pesto
1 bunch fresh cilantro
1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon prepared grated horseradish
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 cup olive oil
4 Kaiser or other crusty sandwich rolls

Instructions
1. Combine cilantro, garlic, celery seed, salt, and pepper in food processor and process until smooth.  Rub this paste all over roast and refrigerate 10 to 60 minutes. 

2. Heat oven to 425*F.  Place meat on rack set into rimmed baking sheet. 

3. Roast 30 minutes then decrease heat to 300*F and roast until instant read thermometer reads 125*F, about 10 minutes per pound. 

4. Remove from oven and let stand at least 10 minutes before thinly slicing. 

5.  Meanwhile, combine all pesto ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.  To serve, place slices of beef on rolls and top with pesto. 



Comments
This recipe is from Food Network.  I wish I had made some notes while ordering the bulk cow, since I’m sure I had something in mind for rump roast while ordering.  I’m not sure what my intention was, though, so I tracked down this recipe to try instead. 

My only complaint is that the cut isn’t amazing and the grain direction changes which makes slicing hard, but that’s hardly a fault of the recipe.  The pesto was delicious and these made nice little sandwiches.

Ingredients
For the steaks
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 steaks, at least 1-inch thick (I used NY Strip steaks, any tender steak will do.)

For the herb sauce
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup Steak Sauce Base
1/4 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh chives, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh parsley, minced
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, minced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Salt and ground black pepper

Instructions
1. For the steaks: Heat oil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Meanwhile, pat steaks dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. Lay steaks in pan, leaving 1/4 inch between them. Cook, without moving steaks, until well browned, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, flip steaks and continue to cook until instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 120*F for rare to medium-rare, 3 to 7 minutes. Remove steaks to platter and tent loosely with foil while preparing herb sauce.

2. For the herb sauce: Return now-empty skillet to medium-low heat; add shallot and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add wine and bring to simmer, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add 1/4 cup Steak Sauce Base, vinegar, and any accumulated juices from steak; return to simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in chives, parsley, tarragon, and butter, season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve immediately. 



Comments
This recipe is from the Cook's Illustrated 2011 Annual.  We accidentally got some NY Strips in our recent bulk cow pickup – we had wanted the cut whole, not as steaks.  Luckily, we like NY Strips so it’s all good.  It’s rare that I get the chance to cook steaks inside these days, Art usually claims them all for grilling!  But I saw this recipe and decided it would be fun to try and a good way to use up some steaks from the freezer. 

The sauce was deliciously rich and flavorful.  Almost impossibly rich, in fact.  The steaks were cooked perfectly, but I owe that to judicious use of my very awesome instant read thermometer.  Will I ever make the sauce again?  Doubtful.  It took hours and was not worth it.  However, I’d use this method for steaks again with no problems and pair it with another delicious sauce or compound butter. 

Shown here with Spaghetti al Limone.

Ingredients
3-5 pounds flank steak
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup onions, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2/3 cup water
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions
1. Heat grill or broiler. 

2. Season steak with salt and pepper.  Grill or broil about 6 minutes per side, or until desired doneness is reached.  Rest 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. 

3. Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in large skillet.  Add onion and cook until soft, 3 to 5 minutes.  Add mushrooms and cook until tender, 5 to 10 minutes more.  Stir in water, mustard, Worcestershire, and thyme.  Cook 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. 

4. Slice steak across grain and top with mushroom sauce. 



Comments
This recipe is from Taste and Tell. It sort of reminded me of stroganoff in sauce form over flank steak.  This was my first time grilling flank steak myself and I was fairly pleased with how it turned out.  It’s sort of a difficult cut of meat because it’s much thicker on one end than the other!  But I had my meat thermometer and was happy.  This sauce would work well on other steaks too. 

Shown here with Creamy Tater Tot Casserole.