Steak with red wine sauce

This is just your basic steak with a tasty sauce on top.


Serve with fries if you can (refer to diner burgers and french fries recipe).

ingredients:
for 2 people

1.  2 boneless 8-ounce rib-eye steaks or top loin steaks, 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick, thoroughly dried with paper towels
2.  1 small shallot, minced (about 2 TBL) - an onion may be substituted
3.  1 tsp brown sugar
4.  1/4 cup + 2 TBL dry red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
5.  1/4 cup + 2 TBL low-sodium chicken broth
6.  1 bay leaf
7.  2 tsp balsamic vinegar
8.  3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
9.  2 TBL unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces
10.  3/4 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves


recipe:
1.  Take out steaks from refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2.  Meanwhile, set up a baking tray with a wire rack on top into the oven.  Turn oven up to 275 degrees farenheit and allow to pre-heat for at least 15 minutes.
3.  Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the meat, then place into oven on top of wire rack.  Cook steaks for 15-20 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 100 degrees.
4.  5 minutes before the steaks are done, add oil to a large skillet and put over high heat.  As soon as the steaks internal temperature reaches 100 degrees, take out of oven and place directly into the skillet.  It should immediately begin to sizzle aggressively.
5.  After 2 min, flip over steak and sear the other side.  Sear the second side for 1 minute, then start taking the internal temperature of the steak.  As soon as it hits 125 degrees (NO MORE for medium rare), take it out of the skillet, place onto a plate and tent loosely with foil.
6.  Do not clean the skillet.  Off heat, add 2 TBL minced shallot or onion and 1 tsp brown sugar to the skillet.  Cook, stirring frequently for 1 minute, until shallots are softened and sugar is melted.
7.  Return skillet to high heat and add 1/4 cup + 2 TBL red wine, 1/4 cup + 2 TBL chicken stock, and 1 bay leaf.  Scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.  Boil until liquid is reduced to 4 TBL, about 4 minutes.
8.  Add any accumulated juices from the resting steaks into the sauce, 2 tsp balsamic vinegar and 3/4 tsp dijon mustard.  Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute.
9.  Take out bay leaf.
10.  Off heat, add 2 TBL of butter and 3/4 tsp minced thyme.
11.  Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
12.  Also adjust the sugar according to the criteria below.  Do this by literally adding around 1/32 tsp of sugar at a time, mixing, dissolving, and then re-tasting.  If it is too sweet, add a few drops of red wine, slightly reduce, then re-taste.
note: - Getting the sweetness level right is essential for this sauce.  If it's too sweet, the sauce will taste cheap and completely mask the bitterness of the wine.  If it's not sweet enough, it will simply taste like you poured red wine over your steak.
note: - The flavor you are aiming for is an initial taste of wine, but then the sweetness comes in and balances it out.  The sweetness should be obvious, but in no way overpower the bitter wine flavor.
13.  Make sure the sauce is syrupy.  If not, reduce until it is.
14.  Plate the steaks and spoon sauce all over the top of it.  Be generous with it.  Serve with fries if you can (refer to diner burgers and french fries recipe).