Pan-Fried Ribeye with Maitake and Bravas Sauce

My next-door neighbor's window sits close enough to my balcony that a charcoal grill just isn't happening. I've made peace with the fact that I won't be grilling in summer, but I do miss a good hardwood grilled steak.

Over the years I've found alternatives, like adding some rice straw to my fish grill with the steak, or using a smoking gun to impart flavor after cooking, but they all have their trade-offs. Recently I found a solution that's not only easy, it's good enough that it's already in regular rotation in our household.

The idea started because I was craving a steak salad. But instead of the usual vinaigrette I took inspiration from last week's recipe and made the vinegar-based pan sauce I usually do for patatas bravas. Paprika, garlic and vinegar emulsified into olive oil, it comes out smoky and tangy with a pungent garlic bite. My cheat is to add a small amount of potato starch, which gets the liquids to emulsify instantly into a rich velvety sauce with enough body to cling to everything you drizzle it on.

Between the smoked paprika in that sauce and the thick brown smoked salt crust on the steak, it creates a convincing flavor illusion that the steak was grilled on wood.

To get that crust, the trick is flipping the steak, and flipping often. Leave a steak on one side and the heat drives deep into the meat before the crust ever forms, which is how you end up with an overcooked slab of beef. Turning it every minute or so alternates between intense heat and the drying effect of being face up, which helps build a thick brown crust, while the center comes up to temperature gently.

Hand-torn maitake clusters pan-fried in the beef fat not only soak up the flavor of the steak, they lend a firm meaty texture that's the perfect contrast to the tender juicy ribeye, while contributing boatloads of umami. They also turn one 300 gram steak into dinner for two, which changes the math on buying a good cut of beef.

I never did get around to adding greens, but a few sprigs of rosemary from my windowsill planter push back on the paprika's warmth. Together with the vinegar, the rosemary is what keeps a plate of beef fat and mushrooms feeling light enough for the August heat.

If you want to turn this into a full one-pan meal, boil a few potatoes and pan-fry them alongside the mushrooms, or serve it over a bed of thick-cut fries.