With all of the running I’ve been doing lately (~28 mpw!) my carnivorous cave-woman body has started heavily craving meat. A lot of meat. All the meat.

I found this recipe for Nicaraguan steak that sounded pretty good but didn’t have the best reviews (people thought it was bland. How a steak could be bland is beyond me.) I figured the answer was to add more flavor, marinate it for longer, and cook it in butter. I’d like to think I was right.

*Note: this recipe includes marinating the meat for two days. Sorry procrastinators, you are going to have to plan ahead on this one.

Ingredients

• Your choice of a 12-16 oz cut of beef (I used chuck because it’s cheap and I’m poor. Also the marinade has a lot of acid which breaks down the connective tissue making this normally tough cut rather tender.)
• 1/4 cup of fresh orange juice
• 1/2 of a juiced lemon
• 1/2 of a juiced lime
• 1 large garlic clove diced
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs butter
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

1. Pour the orange, lemon and lime juices into a large (big enough to fit the meat and liquid) plastic bag.
2. Add the garlic and olive oil.
3. Shake the sealed bag a few times to mix it all up.
4. Take out your piece of beef and marvel at its glorious-ness. (I know I’m not the only one who does this. You know who you are.)
5. Put it into the plastic bag and seal it, trying to remove any excess air.
6. Place the marinating bag of delicious into the fridge and forget about it for two days.
7. Take the bag out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature.
8. Remove the steak and salt & pepper each side.
9. Melt the butter on medium-high heat, quickly stir in half of the cilantro and then add the steak. *
10. Put the heat towards the high side of medium-high.
11. Cook for about 4 minutes and then flip and cook for about another 4 minutes. (This will give you a medium-rare steak. Want it cooked more than that? You’re crazy! Just add about another minute after flipping it.)
12. Take the steak off of the skillet and onto a plate. Cover it in the rest of the cilantro, and then cover the plate in aluminum foil. Leave it alone for 10 minutes **.
13. Eat.
14. Enjoy.

Master pro chef steak cooking tips:

* Want a juicy steak? Only flip it over ONCE. This applies to cooking it on the grill too. Don’t poke it too much either. Both of these things will allow all of the precious juices to escape, which would be a tragedy.

** After cooking a steak don’t immediately cut it. Give it 10 minutes to rest covered on a plate so the juices can settle. If you don’t listen and cut it open early, you will be disappointed in your dry steak, and I will be disappointed in you.