Basil-Butter Steaks with Roasted Potatoes

Spring break — one week off from school, the last spring break of my career, and I am using it for Passover preparation and for writing and for time with Marvin and for the specific kind of rest that is not inactivity but a change of activity, which is the only rest available to a woman who cannot sit still and does not want to learn.

The Passover dishes are washed. The chametz is being systematically eliminated. The matzo balls are in my future — forty of them, because I always make forty, because forty is the number of years the Israelites wandered in the desert and also the number of matzo balls that my family requires, and the coincidence is either divine planning or mathematical convenience and I choose divine planning because it's better for the narrative.

Rebecca called to tell me she got tenure at Columbia. She called on Wednesday afternoon — I was elbow-deep in Passover dishes — and she said, "Mama, I got it," and I sat down on the kitchen floor (the kitchen floor is where I receive all major news, this is established) and I cried and I said, "Of course you did," and she said, "You said I would," and I said, "I'm your mother. I'm always right about you," and she laughed and I laughed and the laughing was mixed with the crying and the crying was mixed with the pride and the pride was enormous, the specific enormous pride of a mother who spent forty-two years teaching other people's children to think critically and whose own child is now a tenured professor at Columbia University, and the chain — the intellectual chain, the chain of women who read and think and teach and refuse to be silent — the chain holds. Rebecca is tenured. Sylvia would be so proud she would say nothing and serve brisket. I am so proud I am saying everything and also serving brisket. We are our mothers, but louder.

Sylvia would have served brisket, and I will too — the brisket is coming, the brisket is always coming — but Rebecca’s call came on a Wednesday and I needed to mark the moment that night, with whatever was in the kitchen and whatever heat I could bring to it. Steak with roasted potatoes is not a Seder dish, but it is a “my daughter is tenured at Columbia” dish, and I decided on Wednesday that those are the same thing. The basil butter melting over the pan is not so different from the pride melting into everything else — it gets into all the corners.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs baby Yukon gold potatoes, halved
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
4 boneless ribeye or strip steaks (about 6 oz each, 3/4 inch thick)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

Roast the potatoes. Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss halved potatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread in a single layer cut-side down and roast for 25–30 minutes, until golden and fork-tender, flipping once halfway through.
Make the basil butter. While potatoes roast, combine softened butter, chopped basil, minced garlic, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes (if using) in a small bowl. Stir until fully incorporated. Set aside at room temperature.
Season the steaks. Pat steaks dry with paper towels. Season both sides with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes while the potatoes finish.
Sear the steaks. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large cast-iron or heavy skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add steaks and sear without moving for 3–4 minutes per side for medium-rare, or until internal temperature reaches 130°F. Work in batches if needed to avoid crowding.
Finish with butter. Remove pan from heat. Place 1 tablespoon of basil butter on top of each steak immediately. Let steaks rest in the pan for 5 minutes, tilting the pan and spooning the melting butter over the meat once or twice.
Serve. Plate steaks alongside roasted potatoes. Spoon any remaining pan butter over everything. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Basil-Butter Steaks with Roasted Potatoes — For the Night We Celebrate Everything