Pan Seared Steak with Porcini and Herb Butter

Megan finished her school year — well, she's on maternity leave now, starting a week early on her OB's recommendation because she's been on her feet all day with thirty fourth-graders for eight months of pregnancy and apparently that catches up with you. She came home on her last day with a stack of cards from her students and a plant they'd grown from a seed as a class gift, and she sat on the couch and read every card and cried happy and then said "okay, now I'm having a baby" like it was the first time she'd let herself fully believe it.

I made her a big dinner to celebrate — or to mark it, anyway. Roasted salmon with dill butter and roasted potatoes and a simple green salad. Nothing that took all day, just something that felt like occasion food on a Tuesday night. She put on Jeopardy and we ate on the couch and she fell asleep before Final Jeopardy, which I didn't wake her for because the category was 19th Century Literature and we both knew she wasn't going to get it anyway.

The freezer is so full I can barely close it. I made one last batch this week — a big pot of beef stew, old-fashioned, with carrots and potatoes and the thick gravy, plus a loaf of bread I froze whole. I looked at the freezer inventory I've been keeping on a notepad on the fridge and I think we're ready. The nursery is ready. The freezer is ready. Megan is on leave. We're 38 weeks along and holding our breath in the best possible way.

The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.

The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.

Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.

The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.

Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.

The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.

The salmon was right for that night — simple, quick, something that felt like occasion food without demanding the whole evening. But this pan seared steak with porcini and herb butter is the recipe I keep coming back to when a moment needs marking: the butter gets rich and earthy from the porcini, the crust on the steak is exactly what a couch dinner in front of Jeopardy deserves, and it comes together fast enough that whoever you’re cooking for doesn’t have to wait long. For a night like that one — the plant on the counter, the stack of cards, Megan finally saying it out loud — this is the kind of food I want on the table.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 2

Ingredients

2 ribeye or New York strip steaks (about 1 inch thick, 8–10 oz each)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1 tbsp neutral oil (canola or avocado)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 sprigs fresh thyme
For the Porcini and Herb Butter:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 tbsp dried porcini mushrooms, ground to a powder
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1/2 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions

Make the porcini butter. In a small bowl, combine the softened butter, ground porcini powder, parsley, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix until fully incorporated. Roll into a log in plastic wrap or set aside at room temperature if using within the hour.
Prep the steaks. Pat steaks dry thoroughly with paper towels — this is key for a good sear. Season generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes.
Heat the pan. Heat a cast iron or heavy stainless skillet over high heat until smoking. Add the neutral oil and swirl to coat.
Sear the steaks. Add steaks to the hot pan without crowding. Sear undisturbed for 3–4 minutes until a deep brown crust forms. Flip and sear the second side for another 3–4 minutes for medium-rare (internal temp 130–135°F).
Baste with butter. Reduce heat to medium. Add the 2 tbsp of plain butter, smashed garlic cloves, and thyme sprigs to the pan. Tilt the pan slightly and spoon the foaming butter over the steaks repeatedly for 1–2 minutes.
Rest the steaks. Transfer steaks to a cutting board or plate and let rest for 5 minutes. Do not skip this step — it keeps the juices in the meat.
Finish and serve. Top each steak with a generous slice of the porcini herb butter while still hot. Serve immediately, with the butter melting into the crust.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pan Seared Steak with Porcini and Herb Butter — The Dinner That Said “We’re Ready”