It all began with Date Night In! The desire to create a special moment while at home that feels more than every other evening at home.

What comprises a successful date night in? For me, it starts with elevating your standard dinner moment with the right lighting, relaxing music, maybe some candlelight, and, most importantly, creating a fantastic meal!  And this night was finished off by watching a movie. I will say this meal delivered on elevating the evening, although, I do not remember what movie was on, I do remember this dinner!

Steak also screams Date Night (and goes great with red wine) – so, from there it was about finding the right steak meal. In true Experimental Spoon fashion, I wanted to find a new recipe to make and conquer for the meal. I’m a sucker for a good Chimichurri, so when I came across this recipe, I knew it was.

Prior to this meal, most of the Chimichurri’s I had come across were all green and totally herb forward – not much vinegar and definitely not the red pepper. This was a new combo for me and I am a fan. Although, throw fresh herbs and veggies together and I most likely will not be sending any of that back. Especially when combined with EVOO and garlic…can you make that into a perfume?!

There were a few steps, which made it over an hour of prep and cook time, but when you’re cooking for date night – go all out. 

The steak was cubed and marinaded in the dry rub while prepping the chimichurri.  The rice was started before heating the pan to cook the steak, and the timing was perfect.

The most enjoyable part was that the steak had that great balance of garlic, onion, sweet, and smoke from the dry rub, and then the punch of the vinegar and freshness of the chimichurri and smooth rice and these were bites kept us coming back for more. 

This will be a date night repeat for us, I’m sure.  (I’m sure because I will be cooking this again.)  Wishing you the same romantic date night in or just a wonderful family night dinner!

Rice Bowls with Steak & Chimichurri Sauce

Rice: Make jasmine or basmati rice in your favorite method. Our preferred is to sub chicken stock for water and add one pat of butter. This recipe called for a coconut milk rice and it was nice, but it works with all kinds.

Chimichurri Sauce Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbls red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbls finely diced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup coursely chopped parsley
• 1/4 cup coursely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Chimichurri Preparation:

Mix all the chimichurri ingredients together in a bowl. Put and refrigerator and chill for a minimum of 30 minutes. The longer you let rest, the more the flavors will combine.

Steak Bites Ingredients:

• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 lbs steak, cut into 2 inch cubes (I used new york strip cut)
• 3 tsp olive oil
• 1 Tbls salted butter

Steak Preparation:

Combine paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, and salt in a bowl and mix gently.  Coat the steak and toss to coat.

Heat 1 tsp of olive in a large cast iron pan over medium-high heat.  Add 1/3 of the steak to the pan and seared about 2 mins per side.  When done, remove from pan to a plate.  Add 1/3 of oil and steak and repeat with final third.  When final third is done, add all steak back to the pan add the butter and stir to combine.

To serve, place rice at the bottom of plate or low bowl.  Top with steak bites and drizzle some of the pan juices.  Then finish with chimichurri.  Enjoy!

Happy Searing!!!

*Recipe from Après All Day cookbook.