Steak with mushroom cream sauce and baked sweet potatoes

So I sometimes get a crazy idea for a recipe and try my best to put it on a plate. I only have one issue, I NEVER write down what I did. A few weeks go by and my brother walks into the kitchen and goes "Can you make that steak and mushroom thingy with the sweet potatoes?" That only gets him the puzzled look of "I wish I knew how I had made that" Well I tried this recipe again and it came out perfect. Well kinda. Ill explain later.  

I love this recipe because it requires very little ingredients. The same components you use for the steak are the came for the potatoes. Not to mention it doesn't take very long to cook all of it. As long as your prepared. 

By the way! You don't have to put this all on one plate. You can put the mushroom sauce on some chicken and penne, Have the steak with some A1, and make the sweet potatoes and a side dish to your favorite meal. 

Grilled Steak:
~1.5 lbs of any thin cut steak ( I usually use flank steak but my family doesn't like all the gristle and fat on it. I honestly cant remember what kind of steak this was but I will update as soon as I go back to the market again!)
~3/4 cup Dark brown sugar
~1 tsp Meat tenderizer
~1 tbsp BBQ seasoning (This can be substituted with some smoked paprika and onion powder in my opinion)
~1 tsp Ground sage
~Garlic powder, Salt, and Pepper to taste


Combine all the dry ingredients in a small bowl. 


Take a heaping tablespoon and rub both sides of each steak generously. Really scrub the meat with the mixture.


It will look nice and sticky. Place it in an airtight container and let it rest a bit. I usually do this right before I prep the rest of the meal but it can be left over night as well. 

I've learned through trial and error with cooking thin steaks that they don't need to be cooked very long at all. I started to use the brown sugar to get the nice caramelization I like instead of over cooking the steak. Make sure the grill is very hot and clean. Throw the steaks on for about 7 minutes on each side. When you get the juices going on the first side you can use that as a guide as to how long you should cook it on the other side. 

Crimini Mushroom sauce:

~ 2 Five ounce packages of Crimini mushrooms (other varieties may be used but I love how meaty Criminis are and they don't lose their bite either)

~2tbsp of butter or margarine

~2oz cream cheese at room temperature

~3/4 cup half and half

~Juice and zest of one lemon

~3 cloves of garlic grated with a microplane 

~Garlic powder, Salt and Pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Before it browns add the mushrooms. Yes it looks like a lot of mushrooms for one pan but it cooks down. 

Once you cook that down add your lemon zest and garlic. Mix well until you can smell the garlic and lemon zest. Just as that happens, deglaze the pan with the lemon juice.

Once you deglaze the pan make sure you get all the bits and yummyness off the bottom! Next add your half and half. Yes its going to curdle a bit like the picture below. I will spare you the profanities the first time I tried this. IT WILL BE OK! Promise 

Now that you have your breathing under control, add the cream cheese. This is what smooths out every thing. A whisk is your best bet to smooth it out. But if you have a Persian mother like me they have super sonar hearing when it comes to metal hitting the bottom of their pans. In that case use a spatula or wooden spoon. It will take longer but it will still become smooth. Spoon it on to your steak or whatever you decide to top this with. 

Its oh so yummy!

Baked sweet potatoes:
Pre-heat oven 350 degrees


~3 or 4 sweet potatoes peeled and sliced into
  coins about 1/2 inch thick
~1 cup dark brown sugar
~1/2 cup olive or vegetable oil
~1tsp ground sage
~ Garlic powder, Salt and Pepper to taste

Coat the potatoes in all of the ingredients in the pan you are going to bake them in. No point in making more dishes dirty. Once your oven is pre-heated, place them on the center rack. ( but not before watching your brother try and eat the raw sweet potato he just stole from the baking sheet)

 Bake at 350 for fifteen minutes or until you can see the edges brown. Then using a spatula or tongs mix the potatoes around. The wont be flat on the pan like when you first started and that's ok. Once you've mix it all up turn the broiler on and put them back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes. 

 That gives you yummy crispy edge but nice soft center. As for the one mistake I made I used WAY too much brown sugar on my potatoes this last time. Some of the pieces just stuck to our teeth. I cut down the sugar by half in the recipe above which will be perfect. Hope you try one or more of these. Its so quick and simple yet full of flavor! Until next time I try and recreate the next recipe my brother remembers, Happy cooking!