Beef Steak in Pepper Mushroom Sauce w/ Mashed Sweet Potatoes

I wish I could give this recipe a shorter name but then no one will understand what's going on in the recipe.

So just to tell you what's going on here is that one of my very good friends Osama from Karachi who also goes by the handle of @ashaqeens on twitter asked me to make a beef steak for him BUT he did not want me to just make it on snapchat or for the blog, he wanted me to come to Karachi, make this recipe for him and serve him as well.

I would love to do that someday but right now since I am in a different time zone I have to make this this way. Why would I do this for Osama you ask? Because he is a Hotel California pretty pretty boy.

This recipe has four steps. Making the mashed sweet potatoes, making the steak, making the pepper mushroom sauce and then searing the steak into the sauce.

Also grabbed some fresh thyme for the garden for the steaks.

INGREDIENTS:

FOR MASHED SWEET POTATOES:

2 Sweet potatoes (shakarkandi)
2 Tablespoons of butter
2 Tablespoons of milk
Salt and pepper to taste

FOR BEEF STEAK:

2 Sirloin steaks (you can take any type of steaks)
2 Tablespoons  of butter
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Small sprig of thyme
2 Garlic cloves lightly crushed

FOR PEPPER MUSHROOM SAUCE:

4-6 Mushrooms sliced
Half onion finely chopped
1 Tablespoon of crushed black pepper
1 Cup beef stock
1 Cup of cream
1 Tablespoon of butter
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
2 Garlic cloves finely chopped

We will start with the Mashed Sweet goddamn Potatoes. I HATE TO WRITE ALL OF THESE NAMES AGAIN AND AGAIN.

Peel off the skin from the sweet potatoes, cut them into big cubes and boil them in water for 8 to 10 minutes.

Drain all of the water out of them using a strainer.

Take the potatoes out in a bowl and mash them. Add butter, milk, salt and pepper.

Mash them again to the desired consistency.

Time to move on to the steak but before that I am going to roughly crush some whole black pepper in the coffee grinder.

Now season the steak generously with with salt and pepper.

Crush two garlic cloves and keep a small sprig of thyme on the go.

Warm up you pan with olive oil.

Add the steak to the pan and hear the magical sound of the steaks cook.

When nothing else in life is magical trust me the steaks are, just if you want to feel good about yourself.

Cook the steaks for a minute on all four sides on high heat.

Now time to put some butter into the pan along with the garlic and thyme.

Cook the steak on medium flame for 6-7 minutes on each side.

Tilt the pan every 2 minutes and with the help of a spoon pour the butter over the steak frequently to enhance the flavor.

Rest the steaks aside after they are done.

Do not clean the pan yet, if you have some greens cook them in them in the pan before you clean it for the sauce.

Time to start working on the sauce. Chop the onions and mushrooms.

Warm up some olive oil in a pan on medium heat and also melt some butter in it.

Start with frying the onions and garlic.

As soon as the onions start turning brown add the mushrooms and black pepper.

Cook for 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms are done.

Add a cup of beef stock and cook it till it is reduced to half.

If you don't have the beef stock you can use chicken stock instead and if you don't have that then I am truly sorry for you.

Add a cup of cream after than and no you cannot replace it with anything because somethings are irreplaceable.

Cook it till your desired consistency. Sear the steaks in the sauce with the juice (for extra flavor) and cook it on low flame for 2 minutes.

Everything is ready to be served.

This is a colossal meal and should be eaten empty stomach only.

Presenting you the behemoth Beef Steak in Pepper Mushroom Sauce w/ Mashed Sweet Potatoes.

Deep Sea Prawn Biryani

I was craving biryani since the past three weeks. Not one, not two but three weeks. The reason why I could not have it was that I had other requests to fulfill for the blog and I wanted to make mutton biryani BUT THEN some good people suggested me to make Prawn Biryani and I was like HEY YOU SO CALLED CHEF why don't you make prawn biryani?

So I bought some prawns in this scorching heat and decided to boost my blood pressure by making this amazing spice blend to create one of the best biryanis I have ever made.

INGREDIENTS:

FOR BIRYANI MASALA:

1 tablespoon zeera

1 tablespoon fennel seed

4 cardamom

2 cinnamon sticks

1 black cardamom

1 star anise

1/2 sliced javitri

6-8 black pepper corns

FOR PRAWN MARINATION:

500 grams of prawns (peeled and devained of any size)

1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder

Juice of one lemon

FOR BOILING RICE:

whole garam masala

2 cups rice soaked in water for 30 minutes

2 bay leaves

salt to taste

mint leaves

2 tablespoon oil

FOR GRAVY:

1 chopped onion

2 tomatoes chopped

375 grams yogurt

2 tablespoon biryani masala

2 tablespoon red chili powder

1/2 teaspoon tumeric Powder

salt to taste

1 tabolespoon ginger garlic paste

FOR BIRYANI TOPPINGS:

4-5 tablespoon oil

1/4 cup mint leaves

fried onions

food color or saffron mixed in warm water or milk

Let's start with making the biryani masala.

Add the fennel seeds, cumin seeds, green and black cardamom, javitri, star anise, cinnamon, cloves and black pepper corn in a grinder.

Grind until everything becomes a fine powder.

Marinate the prawns in 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and lemon juice.

Now it is time to boil the water for rice. Fill half of your boiling pan with water and add salt to taste, whole garam masala, 1 tablespoon of the biryani masala we made, bay leaves, oil and a handful of mint leaves.

After the water boils add the soaked rice to it and cook until 80% which means that the rice should have a bit of grainy feeling to it. If you cannot feel the rice then you cannot feel anything.

Strain the rice when cooked. Would take less than 5 minutes if the rice are of good quality.

Time for the base of biryani, the gravy.

Start with frying some chopped onion in oil.

Add ginger garlic paste and salt. Cook until onions become translucent.

Add chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chili powder, biryani masala and whipped yogurt.

NOTE - If you do not whip yogurt by adding some water in it and add it then it will form small lumps. DO NOT ADD THE YOGURT WITHOUT WHIPPING IT. WHIP IT!

Cook until the oil separates and add a little water to it.

Cut and add some green chilies if you want to spice things up.

Add the prawns with some chopped coriander, mint and some fired onions to the base gravy.

Cook them for 3-5 minutes. That's all the time they will take to release their flavor in the gravy and cook completely.

Once the gravy is cooked lower the heat. Form a layer of cooked rice onto the gravy.

Sprinkle coriander and mint leaves along with fried onions, oil and food coloring.

I add saffron mixed with warm milk instead of food coloring.

Cover the lid, cook on high heat for 5 minutes and low heat for another 5 minutes.

Turn the heat off, if you know what I mean.

Let the biryani stay covered and rest it for 20-30 minutes.

Uncover and mix.

Straight from the oceans, the Deep Sea Prawn Biryani is ready to be served.