Who doesn't love a juicy medium-rare steak? Now pair it with some simply grilled greens and the most delicious onion soubise sauce, and you are left with a dinner for any guest to your home (or just you and the ladyfriend doing date night!). My steak & onion soubise recipe is one that has been made 6 times in the past month for various guests as we come to terms with our social life decreasing slowly. Nope, not due to COVID (although it has played its part) but due to Little Miss AnotherFoodBlogger now being 4, demanding so much of our time and all the extracurricular activities we are now doing in order to pass the buck on parenting a little bit 😉
STEAK
What cut did I use in my steak & onion soubise dish? And what cut is best? Simply put, there is no right or wrong answer to this. The right answer to what cut I used is a nice juicy striploin. What should you use? Whatever cut you like and whatever is in your budget.
Eye Fillet - can be pricey, but it's super lean (low on fat content) and cooked correctly. It's fit for a king.
Rib Fillet - my favourite cut. Plenty of good marbled fat, juicy as hell and cooked medium-rare it's a thing of beauty.
Sirloin or Striploin - another great cut - firmer in texture than the 2 above. A good balance of fat: meat too
Hangar/Flap/Skirt - these guys are often underrated. A cut of meat that is prized for flavour. Cooked hot & fast on the BBQ to medium-rare and sliced thinly. Good budget steak that offers TONS of flavour
Short Ribs - not exactly a steak but picture some slow-braised ribs or smoked ribs with this creamy onion/garlic sauce. Excuse me while I wipe the drool from the keyboard!
WHAT IS ONION SOUBISE?
Onion soubise is made from a mixture of bechamel sauce and slow-cooked pureed onions. It's really quite simple. But sure isn't everything when you know how or have a simple recipe in front of you. Oh yeah, scroll on, and you will have 😉
Bechamel sauce is a white sauce made using butter, flour & milk. You can add things like clove, garlic, bay, and onion to bechamel too, but given we are using onion & garlic in the pureed onions, I omitted those in the bechamel. It is described as a medium-thick white sauce in French terms. Used in making Lasagna as the base for Mac n Cheese, Onion Soubise & Mornay Sauce.
HOW TO MAKE ONION SOUBISE
Let's start with the onions - simply get a fine dice going on some white onions. Fry them in butter with a good amount of chopped garlic on low-medium heat. The key here is you want them to cook slowly and not brown in the pan. It'll take about 10 minutes, but boy, is it worth it. You are left with glossy, buttery, sticky onions that have sweetened up from the onions' natural sugars. Once this is done, then chuck 'em in a blender until smooth and set aside.
For the bechamel, we are melting butter in a saucepan, adding flour, and cooking the flour for a minute. Now for the IMPORTANT bit. Slowly whisk in the milk, but whisk fast & furious! Using warm milk will help you limit any lumps in your sauce, so either chuck the milk in the microwave for 30 seconds or use a second pan. Once the milk is incorporated, then add a pinch of nutmeg, bay leaf, and clove and let cook on low heat for approx 5 minutes.
Finally, add the onion & bechamel sauce together, and at this point, you can just stir them, or if you want it smoother, blitz it again in the food processor.
WHAT ELSE WILL ONION SOUBISE WORK WITH?
Many things! I can just imagine a large flat cap mushroom being basted in butter and garlic with the soubise, add a poached egg some sourdough, and hey presto you've got brekkie. Check out my roasted mushroom recipe for inspo! If mushrooms aren't your thing, then some grilled or BBQ'd chicken would work great alongside a little red wine jus (or just red wine!!). It's a super versatile puree that can be substituted as a sauce in many recipes, too - one less thing to cook for the dinner party!
WINE PAIRING
This week we are working with the Heirloom A'lambra 2018 Shiraz from Eden Valley. Over the past few months, I have come to know and LOVE the Heirloom wines. I picked up my first bottle from the guys over at winedirect.com.au. I knew it was a bunch of wines I wanted to drink more of. Next, I tasted the Alcazar pinot (prob my current fave pinot out there right now), and boy was I impressed. So, when the opportunity came about to create some recipes to pair with their wines, how could I resist?
We had some friends over for dinner, and Andrew, like myself, is big into his vino. He brought over some crackers, including a Bordeaux from the '80s. I cooked up the steak & onion soubise dish and also decanted a bottle of my A'lambra shiraz. Everyone at the table LOVED the food (why wouldn't they), but more importantly, the Heirloom Shiraz was the winner on the night. So much so that he went out and bought a 6pck the next day, and I picked up a 6pck of older vintages.
The wine, not yet rated by Mr. Halliday, receives 96 and/or 97 pt ratings the last 3 vintages, showing you the consistency in winemaking. I only wish my school grades were that good back in the day 😉 A beautiful deep, dark & plummy colour that offers aromas of spice, ink, plums & subtle oak. Tannins are present - in a good way. They aren't in the front, leaving you drier than the Aussie outback, more on the back palate, which makes this wine all the better. Drinking great now after an hour in the decanter, but those tannins will help keep this wine improving over the next 5 - 8 years. Though it's gonna take a lot of will power to not drink all mine before then!
I can't recommend this wine enough, and what's more, if you sign up their site you get a free $75 voucher to spend on wine #winning
OTHER STEAK RECIPES
Looking for further steak inspiration? Check out these recipes by yours truly and enjoy!
Cooked my Steak & Onion Soubise dish? Send me some pics or leave a comment - would love to hear and see how you got on. Tag me @another_food_blogger on insta!!
Ingredients
- 4 x 300g striploins ribeye, fillet, sirloin also work
- 2 bunches broccolini
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt
Onion Soubise
- 400 g brown onions 2 medium sized
- 2 cloves garlic
- 20 g flour
- 70 g butter 20g for roux & 50g onions
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 500 g milk
- 1 clove
- salt
Instructions
Onion Soubise
Onions
- Dice the onion & garlic
- Fry onion & garlic in 50g butter and pinch of salt until v soft – approx. 10-15 minutes *see tips*
- Puree onion mix and set aside
Bechamel
- Warm milk in saucepan or microwave & set aside *see tips*
- Melt butter in saucepan, add flour, stir to combine and cook for 1 minute
- Gradually add in warm milk, whisking vigorously to avoid lumps *see tips*
- Add bay leaf & clove and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until thickened – approx. 5 minutes
- Remove bay & clove when finished
Soubise
- Combine bechamel and pureed onions together and serve hot
- If it’s still a little lumpy then blend bechamel & onions in food processor/stick blender
Steak
- Remove steak from fridge 30 minutes prior to cooking, season with salt and a drizzle of olive oil
- Heat BBQ to 200c and cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until internal temp reads 52-55c for medium rare *see tips*
- Rest steak for as long as it takes you to cook the broccolini (approx 5 minutes)
Broccolini
- Season the broccolini with olive oil and a good amount of salt
- Place on BBQ and cook for approx. 5 minutes, turning regularly so the florets char but don’t burn
Notes
Essential Tools
- measuring utensils
- chef knives
- chopping board
- saucepan
- frying pan
- blender
- BBQ
Tips/Tricks
- warming the milk first will stop a huge % of mess – cold milk will splatter when added to the warm pan and spray everywhere = more clean up!
- adding the milk gradually to the saucepan and whisk vigorously. This will stop lumps forming.
- if you find your bechamel is slightly lumpy at the end – don’t fear. It may not be perfect but pass it through a sieve and it’ll work. Just don’t do it for Gordon Ramsay!
- i like my steak medium-rare, if you want it more or less cooked adjust times accordingly. Also, the steak I used was striploin so a little thicker than a ribeye typically is.
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