Grass-Fed Steak with Caramelized Onion Butter, Rosemary-Thyme Fingerlings, Rainbow Carrots, and Lemon Broccolini
A juicy grass-fed steak seared in a cast iron skillet, basted with butter and herbs, and crowned with a melting coin of sweet caramelized onion butter. It's served with crispy rosemary-thyme fingerling potatoes, caramelized rainbow carrots, bright lemon-garlic broccolini, and a fresh herb and chèvre garnish.
Yield: Serves 4 · Active: 50 min · Total: 1 hr 15 min (plus 1–24 hours dry-brining the steak) ·
Year round (with seasonal vegetables) Best in North America from fall through winter, when carrots and broccolini are sweetest
Best eaten: early evening
Your Game Plan
The day before, or at least 1 hour ahead: Dry-brine the steaks.
About 1 hr 15 min out: Caramelize the onions for the butter.
About 50 min out: Heat the oven to 425°F. The fingerlings and carrots go in.
About 25 min out: Take the steaks out of the fridge. Mix the onion butter and the herb garnish.
About 15 min out: Sear the steaks.
While the steaks rest: Cook the broccolini.
Ingredients
Steak
2 grass-fed ribeye or New York strip steaks, about 1¼ inches thick (about 1 lb each)
2 tsp Baja Gold sea salt
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 tbsp grass-fed ghee or tallow
2 tbsp grass-fed butter
3 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
2 sprigs fresh rosemary and 3 sprigs fresh thyme
Caramelized onion butter
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp grass-fed butter, for cooking
6 tbsp grass-fed butter, softened
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Rosemary-thyme fingerlings
1½ lb fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
2 tbsp grass-fed ghee or beef tallow, melted
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped, plus 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
3 garlic cloves, smashed
¾ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
Roasted rainbow carrots
1 lb rainbow carrots, halved lengthwise if thick
1 tbsp grass-fed ghee or extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Lemon broccolini
2 bunches broccolini, trimmed
1 tbsp grass-fed ghee or extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Zest and juice of ½ lemon
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Herb and chèvre garnish
¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Zest of ½ lemon
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
2 oz fresh goat cheese (chèvre), crumbled
Method
Dry-brine the steaks. Pat them dry and season all over with the salt and pepper. Refrigerate uncovered 1–24 hours. The salt seasons the meat all the way through and helps it form a deep, crisp crust.
Caramelize the onions. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, 25–30 minutes, until deep golden and jammy. Let them cool, then chop them finely.
Make the onion butter. Mash the cooled onions into the softened butter with the thyme and salt. Spoon it into a small dish, or roll it into a log in parchment and chill until firm enough to slice.
Roast the fingerlings and carrots. Heat the oven to 425°F. Toss the potatoes with the ghee, rosemary, thyme, garlic, and salt, and spread them cut-side down on a sheet pan. Toss the carrots with the ghee, salt, and thyme on a second pan. Roast both 25–30 minutes, flipping once, until golden and crisp at the edges.
Mix the herb garnish. Stir together the cilantro, parsley, olive oil, lemon zest, and salt. Fold in the chèvre gently, keeping it in soft crumbles.
Sear the steaks. Take them out of the fridge 20–30 minutes before cooking. Heat the ghee in a cast iron skillet over high heat until just smoking. Sear the steaks 3–4 minutes per side, until deeply browned. Lower the heat to medium, add the butter, garlic, rosemary, and thyme, and spoon the foaming butter over the steaks for 1–2 minutes. Pull them at 125–130°F for medium-rare. Grass-fed beef is leaner than grain-fed, so it cooks faster and is most tender at medium-rare to medium.
Rest the steaks 8–10 minutes on a cutting board, topped with a generous slice or spoonful of onion butter so it melts over them.
Cook the broccolini while the steaks rest. Heat the ghee in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the broccolini and salt, and cook 4–5 minutes, turning, until bright green and charred in spots. Add the garlic for the last minute, then finish with lemon zest and juice.
Plate. Slice the steaks against the grain and arrange them with the fingerlings, rainbow carrots, and lemon broccolini. Top the steak with more onion butter, and spoon the herb and chèvre garnish over the potatoes and carrots.
Storage: Steak, up to 3 days refrigerated (it's wonderful sliced cold over a salad); vegetables, up to 4 days. The onion butter keeps up to 1 week refrigerated, or 3 months frozen. Slice off a coin to melt over eggs, vegetables, or fish.
Seasonal Vegetable Options
Spring and summer: rosemary-thyme fingerlings, rainbow carrots, and lemon broccolini (see above).
Fall and winter: roasted cauliflower, beet ribbons, rainbow carrots, and sautéed rainbow chard.
Roast the vegetables. Heat the oven to 425°F. Toss 1 small head of cauliflower or romanesco (in florets), 2 medium beets (peeled and shaved into thin ribbons on a mandoline), and 4 rainbow carrots (cut into matchsticks) with 3 tbsp melted grass-fed butter, salt, and pepper. Spread them on a sheet pan in separate sections, so the beets don't bleed into the others, and roast 25–30 minutes, until golden and crisp at the edges.
Sauté the chard. Chop 1 bunch of rainbow chard, keeping the leaves and stems separate. Sauté the stems with 2 minced garlic cloves in 1 tbsp butter for 3 minutes, then add the leaves and another tablespoon of butter and cook 2 minutes more, until wilted. Season with salt.
To plate: spread the chard on each plate, then top it with the roasted vegetables, the sliced steak, and a thick disk of onion butter.
Nourishment Notes
Grass-fed beef — complete protein, heme iron, zinc, B12, and creatine, plus more CLA, omega-3s, and vitamin E than grain-fed beef.
Grass-fed butter and ghee — vitamins A and K2, plus butyrate.
Caramelized onions — quercetin and prebiotic fibers.
Fingerling potatoes — potassium, vitamin C, and B6. Cooled leftovers form resistant starch, which feeds your gut bacteria.
Rainbow carrots — beta-carotene (made more absorbable by roasting in ghee), plus anthocyanins in the purple ones and lutein in the yellow.
Broccolini — glucosinolates, vitamin C, and vitamin K. The lemon's vitamin C also helps your body absorb the steak's iron.
Chèvre — calcium, protein, and mostly A2-type casein.
Cilantro, parsley, rosemary, and thyme — vitamin K, apigenin, rosmarinic acid, and thymol.
For your cycle: The steak's heme iron, zinc, and B12 make this especially restorative during the menstrual phase, and the broccolini's glucosinolates support estrogen metabolism in every phase.
Sourcing
Steaks — 100% grass-fed and grass-finished ribeye or New York strip, from a local farm, White Oak Pastures, or US Wellness Meats
Fingerlings, rainbow carrots, broccolini, onion, garlic, herbs, and lemons — organic, from a farmers' market
Cauliflower, beets, rainbow chard, and romanesco — organic, from a farmers' market in fall and winter.
Grass-fed butter, ghee, and tallow — organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows; grass-fed ghee; tallow rendered from grass-fed suet
Chèvre — a fresh farmstead goat cheese from a local dairy, organic when you can find it
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt; Maldon for finishing
— Anna aka Food Marshall