Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy

Man, it seems like forever since I posted a new recipe. Well, here's a beefy-mushroomy-noodley dish of goodness that both Buppy and I think is a keeper. I found it on myrecipes.com, and it's originally from Cooking Light. Even better.

Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Gravy
Slightly adapted from myrecipes.com

2 c. uncooked egg noodles
Cooking spray
1 lb. rib steak tips, cut into 3/4" pieces
2 Tbsp. butter
1 lg. onion slice, diced
10 large white button mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. beef soup base (Orrington Farms is my fav, but bouillon will do)
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste
Blue cheese crumbles, optional garnish

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat; coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak, season lightly with salt and pepper and saute for 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan.

Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.

Melt butter (in the pan used for the meat) over medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms; saute 8-10 minutes. Add garlic; saute for 30 seconds. Stir in soy sauce. Sprinkle flour over the mushroom mixture ; cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes or until a paste forms and no white from the flour is visible. Add beef soup base, then water gradually and stir constantly. Add pepper, thyme and salt (if necessary, but be sure to taste to check). Bring to a boil and cook 3-5 minutes or until thickened. Return the beef to the pan; cook 3-5 more minutes to cook beef a bit more and heat through the center. Serve beef mixture over noodles and top with blue cheese crumbles.

Buppy and I were pleasantly surprised by this dish on Monday night. We went for a nice walk around our neighborhood, then I got busy with dinner and Buppy took a nap watched some TV. With his eyes closed. Anyway, he offered to help, but cooking puts me in a relaxed zone, so I declined his offer.

When I tasted the sauce as I was adding the meat back to the pan, I was amazed at how much flavor it had with such little effort and seasoning. Other than the beef soup base, the only real seasoning was thyme, which I generally find overwhelming and unwelcome. Truth be told, I don't care for a lot of spices, but that's a whole other blog topic. Back to dinner . . . I don't generally eat egg noodles either, or noodles of any sort. I'm a mashed potato kinda gal, but I figured, why not? Turns out the beef/mushroom mixture and the noodles combined very nicely, and the sauce wasn't too thin or thick for the noodles, which had originally worried me. The beef was cooked perfectly too, which always makes my day. When Buppy woke up and tasted the sauce, we both knew I'd be making this again. Enjoy!

*This post is linked to Miz Helen’s Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday for 5/19/11.