Steak & New Potato Toss

Memorial Day weekend and the ranch is in full spring operation: the first hay cutting still two weeks out, the garden up and needing its first cultivation, the horses on the full summer schedule. I worked through most of the weekend — not because I had to but because this time of year the land asks for attention and I give it gladly. There's a kind of joy in the physical work of late May, the warm mornings and the long evenings and the specific satisfaction of a ranch that's ready for summer.

Sarah reports that the first print run is forty percent sold through in the first two weeks, which she says is unusually strong for a regional debut. She's in conversations with the Bozeman press about a second printing. I try to hold this information proportionally — it's good news, and I let it be good news without making it the measure of the work. The work was the work. The sales are what happen to the work afterward. They don't change what it was.

Tom is three chapters into the third book. He called on Friday and read me a passage about the first time he understood that patience is not passive — that there's a kind of active, muscular quality to waiting for the right moment that is as demanding as doing. It was very good. I told him so. He said he wrote it at two in the morning when he couldn't sleep, which is apparently when he writes best. I told him I write best at five in the morning. He said "we approach from opposite ends of the night." That's the most Tom Whelan sentence I've ever heard.

Cemetery visit for Memorial Day — Patrick and me, same as every year, the same flowers on the same graves. My grandmother's grave, which Patrick stood at for a long time. The marble has settled slightly over the years and leans a few degrees east, toward the mountains. I've noticed this before and never mentioned it. Some things that lean toward the mountains are not in need of correction.

Grilled burgers on Monday evening, outside in the last light of the long weekend. Patrick ate his with mustard and onion, the same way he's eaten a hamburger his entire life, and I thought: this is what I want to keep. Not the book, not the reviews — this. The table, the last light, the mustard, the man in the chair who taught me what a year is worth.

We did burgers that Monday evening, but the meal I kept coming back to all weekend — the one that felt most like what the ranch asks of you in late May — was this steak and potato toss. It’s the kind of food Patrick would have made on a night like that: nothing fussy, nothing that asks for your attention when the light is doing what the light does at the end of a long weekend. You cook it, you sit down, and the table does the rest.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 40 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs sirloin steak, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 lb small new potatoes, halved
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups fresh arugula or baby spinach
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Boil the potatoes. Place new potatoes in a medium saucepan, cover with salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook 12–15 minutes until just fork-tender. Drain and set aside to cool slightly.
Season the steak. In a large bowl, toss steak pieces with 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt, and black pepper until evenly coated.
Sear the steak. Heat a large cast-iron skillet or grill pan over high heat. Add steak pieces in a single layer and cook 2–3 minutes per side until browned and cooked to your preferred doneness. Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes.
Make the dressing. Whisk together remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, and minced garlic in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Toss everything together. In a large serving bowl, combine the warm potatoes, seared steak, cherry tomatoes, and arugula. Drizzle with dressing and toss gently to coat.
Finish and serve. Scatter fresh parsley over the top. Serve warm, directly from the bowl, at the table.

Nutrition (per serving)

Steak & New Potato Toss — What I Want to Keep