grilled steak with red radishes

i tend to avoid ordering dishes that i already know how to make at restaurants. it's an issue i am dealing with. the problem is if i've made a dish, i know exactly how much it costs me to make, and i realize how much profit the restaurant is making off of me. of course, you can argue you're paying for service, atmosphere, blah, blah, blah... but it's just something i haven't figured out how to reconcile yet.

steak is one of those entrees that causes this problem for me. unless the steak is of a quality or a cut that i can't get my hands on, preparing steak is a quick and easy task in the kitchen. let me explain...

for dinner tonite, i seasoned an 8 oz cut of beef chuck flat iron steak generously with salt and pepper. i then grilled it on a non-stick grill pan over medium heat for a total of 8 minutes, flipping twice. i then tossed up a quick salad added some fresh red radishes. voila! a quick, tasty steak dinner within 15 minutes.

8 minutes for this 1 1/2-inch thick steak resulted in medium rare. perfect. i finished it off by drizzling some kalamata olive oil right over the steak.
as the steak rested for 5 minutes to redistribute juices, i rinsed radishes free of grit and sprinkled some coarse sea salt over sweet cream butter as a dip. if you've never had this, the crisp, cool, peppery bite of radish pairs perfectly with creamy butter and crunchy sea salt. a handful of lettuce and herbs tossed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper provides a little bit of acidity and balances the heavier protein.

cutting into the steak, it's tender, moist and full of beefy flavor. flat iron steak is a pretty popular cut these days at restaurants and is perfect for the home cook. just remember not to overcook it.

with the economy still recovering, consider having some steak for dinner this week. the cost for my steak dinner tonite? somewhere right around $4.