Rosemary Steak with Pear Sauce

Ok, let's just jump right in here and start out with meat.  I can't tell you from personal experience that this tastes good because I have never had it, but my husband was speechless when I served this to him.  This was the first fleishig thing I ever made for him.

The original recipe can be found here.

Here is how I came upon this recipe:  I was looking at website (I can't remember which one at this point) that had short videos of recipes playing in the corner as you browse the home page.  One of those recipes was this one.  At the time I thought it sounded interesting - I like fruity things.  I think it was the next day that my husband went to kollel and one of his friends told him he had been given a steak by his parents but that he didn't want it.  This friend knew that my husband was meat deprived and so he offered it to him.  My husband asked me with a puppy dog face if it was ok.  If you ever see my husband's puppy dog face you will know it is impossible not to give into it.  (Note to self:  do NOT let him teach our daughter how to make that face!)

Here is the recipe the way I made it:

-Steak (I don't know anything about steak - I just know I was given a piece of meat and that's what I used.  The recipe calls originally for filet minon, but since we are Ashkenaz Jews, we don't eat that.)
-Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
-1 Tbsp Olive Oil
-1/2 C Pear Nectar
-2 1/2 tsp All Purpose Flour
-1 1/2 tsp Chopped Fresh Rosemary or 3/4 tsp dried
-1/4 tsp Salt
-1/2 C Pareve Heavy Cream such as Rich's Whip
-2 tsp white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Garnishes:
Red Bartlett Pears

Season both sides of steaks with salt and pepper then set aside. Heat a heavy, medium skillet over medium high heat. When pan is hot, add olive oil. Place steaks in pan and brown both sides, turning with tongs to brown sides, so steaks are nicely browned all over. This should take 3-3 1/2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, pour in pear nectar, and cover pan. Simmer until meat is done to your liking (time will depend upon thickness of steak. Remove steaks from pan and set on a plate to rest 6-7 minutes, tenting plate lightly with foil. Sprinkle flour into the liquid in pan and whisk until combined. Turn heat up to medium and stir in rosemary and salt. Gradually stir in cream and vinegar. Bring to a boil, and boil about 1 minute, or until thickened, whisking constantly. Turn heat to lowest setting if steaks are still resting. To serve, divide sauce evenly amongst dinner plates, using about 1/4 cup sauce per plate, making a nice, even pool of sauce off to one side. Place steaks on top of sauce. Garnish plate with sliced pears and sprigs of rosemary. 

The photo doesn't do the dish justice, I promise...er, um, well, my husband will promise on my behalf if I tell him to.  Hehe.

He was very sad when it was all gone.  He wanted to lick the plate, but I'm probably not supposed to tell you that, so SHHHHHH!!!

I recently wanted to make this again for Shabbos, but while I put steak on the shopping list, I ended up with brisket.  I was a little at a loss as to what to do with brisket when I asked for steak, but luckily, my father-in-law is a gourmet chef and came to the rescue. 

(As a side note, do you know how intimidating it can be to marry the son of a gourmet chef?  Especially when you count being able to cook as one of your selling points?  Time to dial things up a notch, eh?)

Anyway, we learned this recipe works well with a brisket too.  The instructions are basically the same except that instead of frying it you are going to put the brisket in a pan and broil it for about 5 minutes per side and then reduce the oven heat to 225°F.  Pour in the pear nectar, cover tightly with foil and continue to bake for 2-3 hours.  Remove meat from the pan and pour the juices into a pot.  Follow the directions for the sauce as above.  Cut the meat and put on a serving plate.  Pour gravy over the meat and garnish with pears. Enjoy!