Does anyone else use Instacart? For those of you who aren't familiar with it, you can go online and order your groceries from local stores, and a shopper will bring them to you at home. I try so, so hard to stay away and just do my own grocery shopping, but it's just so EASY to order them when you can do it online or from an app! I've (almost) successfully weaned myself off of it for when I'm just being lazy, but I completely swear by it for when I'm traveling and want fresh groceries soon after getting home. Plus, it saves me the embarrassment of walking around DC with my handy dandy bright blue Whole Foods grocery trolley, which I hate to admit actually does make grocery shopping and getting all my stuff home SO much easier.
Anyway, I have a post-travel Instacart order to thank for the MASSIVE ribeye I made for dinner a couple weeks ago. For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you already got a taste of this story, but for those of you who don't, the gist is: apparently, you have to be a little more specific on Instacart when ordering from the meat counter. If you order 2 lb of ribeye, you can't assume that they'll know you want two SEPARATE ribeyes - instead, you might get one single huuuuuuuge 2 lb steak! Best. Mistake. Ever.
Combining that with my dad's incredible jalapeño steak marinade, Tim and I ended up with one of the best dinners we've had in recent memory. Actually, this was the very first meal I ever made Tim when we were dating in college. I mean, jalapeño steak? Foolproof. Me trying to use a grill for the very first time... less foolproof. But that's neither here nor there. This more recent steak was so good that I walked into the kitchen later and found Tim eating it directly off the bone. So, I'd say this recipe was a success!
Jalapeño Steak
Serves 1 person per half pound of steak
- 1 ribeye steak, 1 1/2ish inches thick - choose size depending on how many people you're feeding (1/2 pound per person)
- 1/2 cup pickled jalapeño slices
- 1 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup soy sauce (use gluten-free if needed)
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
The night before you plan to make your steak, make your marinade. Add apple cider vinegar and soy sauce to a large bowl and taste - you shouldn't be able to pick out either flavor very strongly. If you can taste one more than the other, add whichever needs more and continue tasting until you get the ratio right. The ratio above worked for me, but it may depend on your sauce brands. If you want to use this as a sauce when serving, reserve a quarter of it in the fridge. Add jalapeño slices, garlic, and steak to remaining marinade and cover. Let marinate overnight. You can also do this a few hours before you plan to cook the steak, but the longer you let it marinate, the more flavorful it will be!
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 400. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat, and, when it begins smoking, add steak only (no jalapeños). Let sear for 3-4 minutes and flip. Let sear an additional 3-4 minutes - note that if your steak is thinner, this will go faster. Add jalapeños to skillet and let cook for about a minute - sear sides of steak while jalapeños cook. Once done, place jalapeños on top of the steak and put the skillet in oven for an additional five minutes for medium rare. I HIGHLY recommend using a meat thermometer for this, as it takes a lot of the pressure off here. If using a thermometer, take steak out of oven at 140 degrees.
After removing the steak, move to serving platter ASAP so it doesn't keep cooking on the hot skillet (learned that lesson the hard way). Loosely cover with tinfoil for five minutes, slice, and serve!