Sirloin and Mushrooms in Dijon Cream

What. A. Week. As you all know from the yummy potato dish that I served as a part of a delightful "welcome home" meal, Mr. O-P is recovering from hip surgery.  I am recovering from his recovery of hip surgery. I'd forgotten what it is like to have a newborn in the house, but my guess is that the care, the hours, the laundry, the crankiness (don't get me started), and feeding schedule are shockingly similar. Then, as I was just about ready to collapse from the exhaustion there was a water main break and we were put under a boil order. I really do wish that I'd have found out about the boil order as soon as it was put into place, but no.  It wasn't until about 6 hours later after I had happily hydrated myself with six glasses of water that I learned that drinking the water would be bad. Ten hours later, and for the next three days, my stomach reminded me of this again and again. Did I mention that, in the midst of all of this (the very day of his surgery, actually) that we got a contract on our century home on the St. Louis side of the river after being on the market for three-and-a-half years?  Can you comprehend the timing?  But I digress.

The sun is starting to peek through the clouds; the dishes that had been stacked in the sink have been run through the dishwasher. Tainted ice cubes have been dumped and replenished, I found an app of sleep noises that has allowed me to get five hours of sleep running, and cooking has commenced. Life is slowly returning to normal.

I'm refraining from starting any dish that involves a great deal of time and trouble because I have little of the former and more than my share of the latter, so simplicity is the order of the day.  This dish is easy, goes together in about thirty minutes if you do your chopping ahead, and is satisfying and delicious. I served it over toast points, but for a heartier meal, it is heaven when served on a bed of Jasmine rice. It can also be made with a variety of mushrooms in place of the steak for a vegetarian main dish. Versatile!

Sirloin and Mushrooms in Dijon Cream

5 tablespoons butter

1pound sirloin steak, trimmed, diagonally cut into thin strips*

6 ounces crimini mushrooms, thickly sliced

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely diced**

2 tablespoons Dry Sherry

1 cup heavy cream

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 pieces of toast, cut into triangles

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet and sear the meat on both sides until nicely browned, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer the steak to an ovenproof dish and keep warm.

Add sliced mushrooms to the skillet and sauté in juices for about 3 minutes.  Add the mustard, ginger, salt and pepper.  Stir well and cook for 2 additional minutes.  Add sherry (bourbon in a pinch) and cream.  Cook at medium heat until cream reduces slightly and thickens.

Add steak to cream mixture, stir to coat, and pour back into the ovenproof dish.  Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes until bubbly.

Serves four.

*Freezing the meat for a while (or, if already frozen, don't allow to thaw completely) makes slicing a breeze.

**I store fresh ginger in the freezer.  It keeps for a long time, and makes slicing, chopping, dicing, and grating very easy.

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Be Inspired Friday

Foodie Friday

Friday Flash Blog Party