Fast Friday: Steaks with blue cheese onion sauce

Whoomp, there it is!  "It" being Friday.  Nothing like some old school Jock Jams to pump you up and get you excited for the weekend!

But, really, you don't even need Jock Jams to get your blood flowing.  You need only look at these pictures, knowing this was BY FAR the best dish I've ever made.  Like, ever ever ever.  Take that, T. Swift.

Grilled steaks with blue cheese onion sauce.  Swoon!  Be still my fluttering heart and longing taste buds.

I've got to be honest with you about something:  I'm so not a steak person.  It's not that I don't enjoy it because I totally do.  It's just that, when presented with so many options in a restaurant, I'll almost always choose some kind of fish or chicken.

The same goes for cooking at home.  Chicken, fish, turkey, or ground beef.  Rare(ly) steaks.  See what I did there?  That's word play, friends.

My lack of experience eating steak has translated into some hesitation as far as cooking steaks.  I worry they'll be undercooked or overcooked or not seasoned properly, and we'll be stuck eating a piece of leathery beef for dinner.  Not fun.

While I'm not a steak gal, Matt is, as so many guys are, a steak man.  Give him a piece of steak, some mashed potatoes, and a biscuit and he'll be the happiest guy in North America.  Throw in a hot dog for "dessert" and he's yours for life.

For Valentine's Day, I floated the idea of making steaks to Matt.  His response was simple: "I'm never going to say no to a steak dinner."

Well, turns out, if this were the only way steaks were prepared, I'd never pass up a steak dinner either! Even if that meant I were the one preparing said steaks.

I couldn't believe how easy and fool-proof this dish was.  Have the words "easy" and "fool-proof" ever been used when describing a dish that could come from a four star restaurant?  Probably not!

I bet you're wondering how this kind of dinner has ended up on a Fast Friday post, right?  Because it was ready in under 30 minutes!

I know I normally have trouble shutting up.  It's a problem, I get it.  But I'm really never going to shut up about this dinner, especially this sauce.  Ever ever.

Healthy it is most certainly not, but delicious it surely is.  Good gracious.  Thick and creamy and with oodles of flavor from the two star ingredients -- caramelized onions and tangy blue cheese.  I just.  I can't.  There are no words for how good this stuff is.

Yeah, I licked the spatula.  So what?  I'd have licked the plate, too, if I would've been alone weren't such a classy lady.

Think of the best steak dinner you've ever had.  I promise you this is better.  Don't wait for a special occasion to make it either.  Any day is a mighty fine day for a steak!  More importantly, any day is a fine day for blue cheese onion sauce.  I'd take the worst day coated with that sauce over the best day without it.  It's that good.  Truth!

That being said, I wish you a fantastic Friday and delicious weekend... with sauce!

One year ago: Walnut rosemary chicken

Two years ago: Simple bolognese with rigatoni

Three years ago: Grilled peanut butter & banana sandwich

Grilled Steaks with Blue Cheese Onion Sauce
(adapted only slightly from The Pioneer Woman's recipe)
-serves 2

A few notes: I bought one large ribeye steak (about 3/4 pound) and cut it into two steaks, smaller for her and bigger for him, and trimmed them of excess fat around the edges.  

2 ribeye steaks (size of your choosing, but 6-8 ounces each is a good estimate)
Salt
Pepper
1 Tablespoon butter
Nonstick cooking spray
1 large sweet onion
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese

Allow covered steaks to sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes prior to cooking.  This will ensure more even cooking when the chill of the fridge has worn off.  Preheat grill, Griddler, or stove-top grill pan to high ("sear" setting on Griddler).  Salt and pepper both sides of the steaks.  Coat pan with nonstick cooking spray and cook steaks until medium (use your keen eye to judge), flipping halfway through.  Top each steak with half of a tablespoon of butter and allow it to melt as steaks continue to cook.

Meanwhile, preheat a skillet over medium high heat.  Coat with nonstick spray and add onions.  Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until dark and caramelized, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to simmer and pour in cream.  Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until volume has reduced by half.  Stir in blue cheese until melted.  Divide onion cheese sauce between two plates and serve steaks atop sauce and, if you're feeling green, a bed of baby spinach.  Enjoy and, as the PW correctly says, "faint."