Grilled Steak with Orange Teriyaki Sauce

Summer means grilling, and in my house, grilling, much of the time, means steak.

I like me some steak.

Recently, I pulled out an "old favorite" recipe and gave it a little bit of a change up.  I came up with my recipe for orange teriyaki steak last fall when I discovered some steak in my freezer that had been there about three months.  The steak I made recently with this recipe didn't require as much help as the deep-freeze steak.  And I happened to have some mushrooms (I'm on a bit of a mushroom kick), so I added those to the mix.  Pair it with some fresh sweet corn - oh wow!

Now, I will share the marinade for the steak, but the process I want to go through with you specifically is for the sauce.
It really doesn't matter what cut of steak you use - choose what you like.  I tend to choose what's on sale at the grocery store.  Unfortunately, I'm really bad about recalling what cut of meat I use whenever I grill, but I can tell you that while it's not the top of the steak hierarchy, it's certainly not the cheapest cut of meat either. Regardless of what cut you choose, a little bit of marinade goes a long way.

Orange Teriyaki Steak Marinade
Ingredients

• 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (I prefer Kikkoman)
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Place the steak in a gallon sized Ziploc bag, then sprinkle the steak with the spices.  Add the liquids.  Close the bag, removing all the air.  Work the liquids around the steak (this helps distribute the spices).  Place the bag in the refrigerator and marinate at least 12 hours, or overnight.  Halfway through marinating, rework the liquids around the meat and flip the bag over.  Grill steak as preferred.  Let sit a few minutes before cutting to serve.

Now let's discuss the sauce.  Sauces can make or break a dish, in my opinion.  This sauce is actually pretty simple.  Normally I make it in a 1-quart saucepan, but because I was adding the sauteed mushrooms, I made the sauce in my skillet.

First, sauteing the mushrooms.  There really isn't a trick to this, though I do recommend using a nonstick skillet.  One of these days I'll make a tutorial on sauteing mushrooms, but for now, you'll have to make due with my picture and description.

Wash the mushrooms (I used white button mushrooms), removing any surface dirt, and pat dry.  Slice mushrooms into 1/8-inch slices.  In a 10-inch nonstick skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and two tablespoons of butter over medium heat.  When the butter begins to foam, add the mushrooms. You can either use a spatula to keep the mushrooms moving, or, if you're brave, you can toss them in the skillet.  I usually use a combination of both.  The weird thing about mushrooms is that they absorb all the liquid in the skillet and then all of a sudden release it again.  So don't be alarmed if your skillet suddenly goes dry.  Cook the mushrooms until they're tender, then remove from the skillet with a slotted spoon.

They'll look something like this when they're done:

I used the same skillet to make the sauce.

Spicy Orange Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 tablespoons butter, plus two tablespoons butter reserved
• 1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1/4-1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the skillet over medium heat until foaming.  

Meanwhile, combine the rest of the ingredients in a measuring cup, stirring well to incorporate the cornstarch.  Note that you may have to give the measuring cup another stir before adding the contents to the skillet, as the cornstarch can settle out.

Slowly pour the contents of the measuring cup into the skillet, and stir with a whisk (I happen to have one that's nonstick, and I don't recommend using a wire whisk with a nonstick skillet - use a rubber spatula if you don't have a whisk that's safe for use with a nonstick skillet).

Stirring frequently, let the sauce come to a boil and reduce.  It will get sort of syrupy. 

This will take about five minutes or so once it comes to a boil.  If you're not adding mushrooms, you're done and can serve the sauce with the steak.  But I had those mushrooms.  So if you do too, just add them back into the skillet.

The mushrooms are already cooked, so at this point you're just sort of reheating them through.  You'll want to lower the heat slightly, and keep stirring until the mushrooms are coated with the sauce.

To finish the sauce, mushrooms or no, you'll want to either remove the pan from heat or turn the heat way down to low, and add the reserved 2 tablespoons of butter.  Stir gently to incorporate.

That's pretty much it!  You can pour the sauce over the steak, if you're serving it on a platter, or serve the sauce on the side and let your guests serve themselves.

It's really delicious and really easy.  I suggest you go buy some steak right now and try it.