The World War II Meal I Can't Stop Eating
Steak and eggs may be the best breakfast of all time.
For me, it's because it's a delicious, indulgent,
protein bomb designed to fuel your day,
kind of like during a war.
But more on that in a bit.
For now, I'm gonna amp up this meal even more
with a bonus side dish.
What's better than steak and eggs?
Steak, eggs, and potatoes.
This is the home fries recipe
that I learned early on in my restaurant career,
and it's going to set this off.
We're gonna start by medium dicing up one yellow onion.
Then I have about three pounds of Yukon potatoes.
You could also use russets or even reds.
I'm going to cut them into roughly
3 1⁄4 inch to one inch cubes.
Once you're done prepping those,
let's head over to the cooktop.
I'm going to be using a large nonstick skillet.
This is going to be crucial
to ensure the potatoes do not stick.
Let's crank the heat up to high.
Add in enough oil to coat the bottom of a pan.
I prefer to use a neutral flavored oil like avocado.
Then once the oil begins to lightly smoke,
let's add in the potatoes,
followed up with adding in the onions.
We are gonna let these sit untouched
for seven to eight minutes.
This timing is crucial to ensure
we get a beautiful brown crust on these potatoes.
However, we can be a great steward of our time
and prep up a few other things,
beginning with one red bell pepper,
which we're going to seed, and then small dice.
And it's been a longstanding issue with me
that I hate green peppers.
They're dumb, they don't have any flavor.
So I'm gonna sub that out for a poblano pepper.
Again, seed and small dice.
Last but not least for the prep,
let's mash up and finely mince five whole garlic cloves.
And at this stage, let's go back to our cooktop
and have a look at our potatoes.
And what we're gonna do at this stage
is just saute them for an additional three to four minutes.
Let's add in the peppers, garlic.
Next, I'm gonna add in one teaspoon of regular paprika,
smoked or sweet would also work.
Then we're gonna generously season it up
with coarse salt and fresh cracked black pepper.
Let's mix everything together,
get all those flavors moving around.
And we're just gonna saute these
for an additional three to four minutes
just to get a light brown on those peppers.
Adjust any seasonings and then finish it
with about one tablespoon of unsalted butter.
And of course, let's try it out.
It's ridiculous.
Now these potatoes can absolutely hang
for an additional 10 to 15 minutes,
so we're gonna pop them in the oven
on the middle rack at 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
And we're just about to get to that steak,
but first, let's make this sauce
that I promised you was going to be so good.
In a small bowl, I have 1 1⁄2 tablespoons of Worcester sauce.
Next up, I'm gonna add a tablespoon
of white distilled vinegar.
You could also use red wine vinegar here.
Then 1 1⁄2 teaspoons of sugar,
one teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes,
one tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce.
I'm just gonna use Tabasco here.
Then last but not least, three tablespoons of water.
Let's mix everything together until it's combined.
And I like to give it a little taste.
This one has some zip, but I promise it will cool down
with a little trick at the end when I finish it in the pan.
We're gonna set this to the side
and a few more things for the sauce.
Let's mash up and finely mince six whole garlic cloves.
Then I need 1⁄4 cup of thinly sliced green onions.
And finally, let's bring out the steak.
And let me tell you this,
any steak will work for this recipe.
Sirloin, filet, flank, ribeye,
New York strip, flat iron, you name it.
However, if it's a tougher cut like a hanger or flank,
I personally prefer to slice it thin
because I'm not really into over chewing at 6.30 a.m.,
but hey, you do you.
For me, I'm gonna opt for the ribeye.
This steak is about 20 ounces,
anything more than one pound is perfect for this recipe.
And it's a steak that can just melt in your mouth.
What I wanna do first though
is pat it dry very well on all sides.
Remember, moisture is the enemy of a beautiful sear.
Next up, what we wanna do is generously season it
with coarse salt and fresh cracked black pepper on all sides.
Now, another option would be seasoning with salt
for a dry brine if you want it.
Now, this is really only good
if you're making this for a special occasion
or if you know the night before
you want it for a perfect Saturday morning.
This will help the steak create a better maillard
when searing it and retain more juices
when it's finished cooking.
All you do is pat it dry on both sides
and then generously season it on both sides
with coarse salt.
Then you place it in the refrigerator
uncovered for as little as four hours
and all the way up to 48 hours.
Then when you're ready to cook it,
pull it out of the refrigerator
and you'll be able to see that it has a sort of thin film
or skin, almost like a membrane on the top.
This is known as a pellicle.
It's also going to help in the browning maillard process.
Plus, it'll be perfectly seasoned.
Then all you need to do at this stage
is just season it up with pepper
because it's already been seasoned with salt
and then cook it.
All right, one last option.
If you're using a slightly tougher cut
like a hanger strip or sirloin,
instead of pounding it out or even slicing it in half,
try using a needle meat tenderizer instead.
There's no reason to sacrifice flavor and juices
for a thin cut steak.
What this does is it cuts through the muscle fibers
and connective tissues, improving the tenderness.
Then all you do is pat it dry, season it up
with coarse salt, fresh cracked black pepper on both sides,
and you're good to cook it.
Speaking of cooking,
I've got my seasoned up ribeye back over to the cooktop.
I have a 10-inch cast iron skillet.
We're gonna crank the heat up to high
and add in enough neutral flavored oil.
Again, I'm using avocado to coat the bottom of the pan.
Once it begins to lightly smoke like this,
I'm gonna grab my ribeye,
mop up all the leftover salt and pepper on the plate
on that fat cap side,
and put it fat cap side down right in that oil.
I am gonna cook it here and hold it for 30 seconds
to help render a little bit more fat
and brown up that fat cap.
Once it looks like this, we're good to flip it on its side.
We're gonna let it sit untouched for exactly one minute.
Then let's grab our tongs and flip it over.
You can see the outside edges are brown,
but what about that middle part?
Here's a little technique that I learned and loved.
We are gonna move the steak around in a circular motion
for 90 seconds on the dot.
And if it doesn't, we got one more thing we can do.
This looks pretty dang good.
We're gonna let this sit for one minute,
but to turn the Maillard up
and make the flavor even better,
we are gonna turn the heat down to medium-low
and add in three tablespoons of unsalted butter.
And what we're gonna do is baste this
for two to two and a half minutes.
This is going to get all those areas on the steak
that aren't perfectly browned up,
and it's going to flavor it.
Now, these cooking times will render you
a perfect medium-rare internal temperature,
which is going to be about 125F when it's all finished.
Now, to get that myoglobin running all the way back
through edge-to-edge on my steak,
I'm just going to set it to the side on a rack
and let it rest for five to six minutes.
And for all those folks who are using
a thinner cut of steak, like a skirt,
in a hot pan just the same way,
I'm adding it in and letting it sit untouched for one minute.
Then we're gonna move it around in a circle for 45 seconds.
That is it.
Flip it over.
You can see it's not perfectly browned,
but don't worry, we'll get to that.
Right now, we're gonna let it sit untouched for one minute.
Then we're turning the heat down to low-medium,
adding in three tablespoons of unsalted butter,
and we're gonna baste it
for an additional one and a half minutes.
Remove that steak.
Let it rest for five to six minutes.
Then whenever it comes to slicing these thin steaks,
always against the grain, as thin as possible.
And I like to do it on a bias
because it just looks nicer.
Now for the pan with all that oil and fat in there,
we need to cook the sauce,
but first we need to fry up some eggs.
And there is just way too much oil in this pan,
and plus it's extremely hot.
So I'm just going to discard most of it.
Then I'm gonna return it to the cooktop
and cool it down for just one to two minutes.
Then over low to medium heat,
I'm adding in two tablespoons of unsalted butter.
Once melted, I'm gonna start cracking in my large eggs.
You can add as many eggs as you want here.
I'm going to do four
because this is easily going to feed two to three people.
And if you add in the potatoes, you could easily feed four.
Now my goal here is to fry these just on one side,
which is going to take in between two or three minutes.
And at this stage, you might be asking,
why is there so much protein in this dish?
It was actually created in Australia
in the early 19th century.
However, it really didn't become popularized
until World War II,
when the United States Marine Corps
discovered this Australian gem.
And as nature would have it, the men fell in love with it.
And then after the war, it of course came back to America
and it's been on menus ever since.
Okay, let's finish up those eggs.
Once the edges become nice and crispy like this,
that's what I'm looking for,
I'm going to gently season with coarse salt
and just set them to the side on a plate.
And then of course that sauce,
do not miss this, over low to medium heat.
Let's add in the six finely minced garlic cloves,
give it a stir and cook it just until fragrant,
which is only gonna take 30 to 45 seconds.
Then we're gonna pour in that spicy, salty liquid,
cook it for maybe 30 to 45 additional seconds.
We're gonna turn the heat off
and we're going to mount it with butter.
Or as the French say, mount au beurre.
So swirl in two total tablespoons.
It should become like a nice emulsified sauce,
should not be broken in any ways.
And of course, even at this stage, you have to taste it.
Oh, you'll wanna drink it, it's so good.
Last but not least, I finish it
with all those sliced green onions.
Boom.
And oh yeah, the sauce is done, the steak is done,
the eggs are done, but for that steak,
let's just slice it and see where we're at.
Yes, medium rare.
Perfection, my friends.
To plate this up, don't forget about our potatoes
in the oven, they've only been in there for 10 minutes.
Let's finish them off with little sliced green onions.
I'm gonna serve that steak right in that same
cast iron skillet, load it up with some potatoes,
add on those fried eggs and finish it with that sauce.
And yeah, I think this is the perfect breakfast.
And it doesn't matter if it's just you getting in on this
or if you're serving it up to family and friends.
It's so good, the sauce, insane.
The potatoes, ridiculously delicious.
And if you love big, hearty breakfasts like this,
you have to check out my corned beef hash.
It's one of my all-time favorites.
I've got a great recipe video, see you on there.