TO BE HONEST, I’d never heard of
steak Marsala until my editor handed
me this assignment. But the idea of
pairing full-fl avored beef with this
rich, slightly sweet sauce (based on its
namesake fortifi ed wine) sounded ap-
pealing, so I was eager to get into the
test kitchen and explore the idea.
The recipes I found for steak Marsala
followed a similar path: Sear steaks,
remove them from the skillet, and then
sauté mushrooms and onions in the
drippings. Add fl our, followed by broth
and marsala, and simmer. Slide the
steaks back in to warm through, and
then fi nish with a good knob of butter.
But there were three big variables I
needed to sort through: cut of beef, type
of mushroom, and variety of Marsala.
The steak was the natural starting
point, so I ordered several diff erent
cuts, seared them, and served them
with a basic Marsala sauce (I’d perfect
the sauce later). Rib eye was delicious,
but we didn’t think a bold Marsala
sauce made much sense on such a fl a-
vorful and expensive cut. Flank steak,
blade steak, and steak tips lent great
beefy fl avor to the dish but were all a
little too chewy. That left top sirloin;
this aff ordable, relatively tender, and
meaty-tasting cut is readily available
and was perfect here.
Moving on to the mushrooms. My
tasters had preferred the richer fl avor
of cremini to white mushrooms in my
initial tests. But I wanted even more
earthy mushroom fl avor. I tried ramp-
ing up the savoriness by adding soy,
fi sh, and Worcestershire sauces to the
mushrooms, but these muddied the
mushroom fl avor instead of amplifying
it. The solution was using dried porcini
mushrooms. One benefi t of employ-
ing these fl avor powerhouses is that
you need to rehydrate them, and the
rehydrating liquid becomes a potent
mushroom broth. The porcini and their
liquid added a satisfying layer of depth
to the sauce.
As for the Marsala, most old-school
recipes call for sweet Marsala; it lends
a caramel-y richness that beautifully
complements the savory fl avors of
meat and mushrooms. But many newer
recipes (including some of ours) have
turned to dry Marsala for chicken and
veal dishes; the dry type has a lighter,
brinier fl avor than sweet Marsala. In a
side-by-side test pitting sweet Marsala
against dry in a sauce over steak, my
tasters went old-school and chose sweet,
commenting that the dry Marsala was
a bit acidic and didn’t provide enough
sultry richness to stand up to the beef.
With these big issues settled, I could
turn my focus to the small details of the
dish. I found that starting the cooking
by searing the cremini mushrooms—
and not the steaks—meant that the
seared steaks were still warm when the
sauce was ready. After searing the meat,
I removed it from the pan and built the
sauce by sautéing shallot with rosemary
and the rehydrated porcini mushrooms.
I added a little fl our for thickening
and then the Marsala, some broth, the
porcini liquid, and the seared cremini
mushrooms. Finally, I fi nished it off
with butter, lemon, parsley, and a fresh
hit of Marsala to reinforce the fl avor. It
was very, very tasty.
Move over, chicken and veal. Steak
Marsala is here to stay.STEAK MARSALA
Serves 4 to 6
For a nonalcoholic version of this
recipe, substitute an additional ¾ cup
of chicken broth for the Marsala in
step 4 and omit the 1 tablespoon of
Marsala in step 5.1 cup chicken broth
1⁄2 ounce dried porcini mushrooms,
rinsed
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces cremini mushrooms,
trimmed and sliced thin
Salt and pepper
4 (6-ounce) top sirloin steaks,
trimmed
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose fl our
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
3⁄4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sweet
Marsala
4 tablespoons unsalted butter,
cut into 4 pieces and chilled
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
2 teaspoons lemon juice- Microwave ½ cup broth and porcini
mushrooms in covered bowl until
steaming, about 1 minute. Let sit until
softened, about 5 minutes. Drain por-
cini mushrooms in fi ne-mesh strainer
lined with coff ee fi lter, reserve liquid,
We like to serve
this rich, saucy
dish over polenta or
buttered noodles.Steak
Marsala
Buttery, sweet, and
savory Marsala sauce is
perfect when partnered
with chicken cutlets.
But what about pairing
it with steak?
by Heather Tolmie
and chop porcini mushrooms fi ne.- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch
nonstick skillet over medium-high
heat until shimmering. Add cremini
mushrooms, ¼ teaspoon salt, and
¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, cov-
ered, until mushrooms release their
liquid, about 3 minutes. Uncover and
continue to cook, stirring occasion-
ally, until liquid has evaporated and
mushrooms are well browned, about
8 minutes longer. Transfer to bowl;
cover to keep warm. - Pat steaks dry with paper towels
and season with salt and pepper. Add
1 tablespoon oil to now-empty skillet
and heat over medium heat until just
smoking. Add steaks and cook until
well browned on fi rst side, about
4 minutes. Flip steaks and cook
until well browned on second side
and meat registers 125 degrees (for
medium-rare), 4 to 6 minutes. Trans-
fer steaks to carving board and tent
with aluminum foil. - Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in
now-empty skillet over medium-high
heat until shimmering. Add shallot,
fl our, garlic, rosemary, porcini mush-
rooms, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ tea-
spoon pepper and cook until shallot is
beginning to soften, about 1 minute.
Stir in ¾ cup Marsala, reserved por-
cini mushroom soaking liquid, and
remaining ½ cup broth. Cook until
reduced to 1 cup and slightly thick-
ened, 5 to 7 minutes. - Reduce heat to low and whisk in
butter, 1 piece at a time, until emulsi-
fi ed. Stir in parsley, lemon juice,
cremini mushrooms, and remaining
1 tablespoon Marsala. Season with salt
and pepper to taste. Slice steaks thin
and transfer to warm platter. Spoon
sauce over steaks and serve.
Marsala: Sweet or Dry?
The famous fortifi ed
wine from Sicily, Marsala,
comes in sweet and dry
varieties. Some modern
recipes for chicken and
veal Marsala have turned
away from the traditional
sweet Marsala in favor of
its brinier dry cousin. But
we found that the deep,
smoky fl avor of the sweet
variety was a much better
match for beef.10 COOK’S COUNTRY • FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019