Seattle's star chef Brock Johnson is the executive chef at Dahlia Lounge, the seasons-centric Pacific Northwest restaurant icon. He recently revealed to us his two favorite summer steak dinners, which both take full advantage of what summer in the PNW has to offer.
Image credit to Dahlia Lounge
1. He calls the first one “The birthday steak”
because every year when he celebrates his birthday in mid-August, Chef Brock Johnson marks the occasion with the same exact meal, right down to the napkins.
“It's a ribeye cooked in a pan — always in a pan, so that you "render," or melt, the fat better. Have it with toasted and buttered bread, and sliced tomatoes fresh from the garden. Tomatoes may sound simple, but they're so good this time of year -- they can carry it.”
How to make The Birthday Steak
- Pan-seared ribeye (here's our recipe)
- One small loaf of fresh bread
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 heirloom tomatoes, sliced
- Salt, to taste
- Brock's favorite chimichurri sauce
Brock's Pro tip: “Melt the ribeye fat in the pan, then wipe your bread through it.”
2. The customers-love-it cheap steak dinner
Here's where things get interesting, delicious, and cheap. Chef Brock told us:
“My favorite value cut we're using at Dahlia Lounge right now is called teres major. It's also called the petite tenderloin, even though it's not actually from the tenderloin at all. It's just one tiny muscle on the shoulder."
The petite tender (a.k.a. the steak of many names) has been killin' it with his customers.
"At Dahlia Lounge, we get more complaints about New Yorks and Ribeyes than the teres major. It's tender, relatively lean, and it has really good beefy flavor. And they're hard to find. You won't see them at PCC.”
How to prepare delicious petite tenders
Brock's pro tip: “With the teres it's much more lean, so you want something heavier, like creamed leeks.”
- 2 lbs pan-seared petite tender (here's our recipe)
- One small loaf fresh bread
- One bunch leeks (here's our recipe for creamed leeks)
Thanks for sharing your steakly wisdom with us, Chef Brock!