flat iron steak (ssamjang, crispy potatoes, spinach)

Whoever said that 3rd year of Rx. school was the easiest is a liar and deserves a swift kick in the...ahem. Anyways...

I've been really really ridiculously good looking busy lately and when I do cook it's just fast, easy and boring things. Not really blog worthy I think. Who wants to see toast and eggs and kimchi jjigae every single week?

While paying attention really well during class, I saw a recipe on the NY Times and I bookmarked it (or..at least I thought I did) to cook later on during the week. Simply a steak on top of a bed of spinach and crispy fried potatoes. The original recipe calls for deglazing the pan with red wine to create a quick sauce after frying the steak but I said screw it to the red wine sauce and just spooned some ssamjang on top of the steak instead. 

Ssamjang is a mixture of gochujang (Korean red chili paste), doenjang (fermented soybean paste), as well as other ingredients like garlic, scallions, onions, sesame oil, etc. You could make your own...but in all honesty - some of the store bought stuff is just as good, if not better. The Sunchang brand ssamjang is absolutely fire (no pun intended). If you can get your hands on a tub, buy that instead of anything else you see on the shelves.

Flat Iron Steak (Ssamjang, Crispy Potatoes, Spinach)

Adapted from the NY Times, Serves 2

Ingredients:

- 2 pieces of steak (flat iron, sirloin, strip...whatever)

- 1 gold potato

- handful of baby spinach

- 2 teaspoons of ssamjang

1) After scrubbing and cleaning the potato, cut it really thin (about 1/8 of an inch) using a sharp knife or carefully use a mandolin to slice them thin. Set aside.

2) In a cast iron pan, add enough olive oil to come up about 1/4 of an inch and over medium to medium-high heat, fry the potatoes about 2 minutes per side until crispy and browned. Remove the potatoes to a plate with paper towels to drain. Work in batches and set aside once finished.

3) In that same pan, add more oil if you need it and fry your steaks. The cooking time will vary depending which cut of steak you use. For my flat iron, I seared it on high heat on all sides until browned and then finished it in a 400 degrees F oven for 6 minutes. After resting, they came out a yummy medium-rare.

4) To serve, arrange the baby spinach leaves like a flower, make a circle in the middle of the spinach bed using the potato chips and then place the steak on top. Spoon a teaspoon of ssamjang over each steak and serve.

Fast, easy and yummy. If you're kinda intimidated by the ssamjang or the spicy punch it brings to the table, you can do the red wine reduction thing. Or...just get the A1 out of the fridge. It's all good.

Did you know? Not pictured here is Mickey Mouse - my eating buddy when I'm alone. He was shy and hiding that day :)