Perhaps I am a bit of an odd duck.

Scattered in the recesses of my hard drive, among the photographs of my kids playing soccer, the boys wrestling with their dad, family get-togethers, first-day-of-school shots and the like are . . . pictures of steak.

Lots of ’em.

So, when my computer goes into “sleep” mode it randomly chooses photos from said hard drive to display.

It goes a little something like this:

Photo of kids in swimsuits

Shot of family dog (now deceased)

Group shot of kids playing soccer

Picture of raw meat

Posed family beach vacation photo

Picture of my husband and I at some tourist spot in New York

Closeup of steak simmering in its own juices

Weird. I know.

When friends come for dinner (inevitably, beef is involved), they must walk by my “sleeping” computer in my home office to get to the nearest bathroom from time to time.

They’ll stop and admire the photos. Until . . . the meat starts popping up.

“What is that?” they’ll inquire, exasperatedly. Like they weren’t expecting meat or something. Sheesh.

Then I go into my love of steak, the sheer beauty of a great food shot, what it takes to really focus on the main dish in the front of the plate, while still featuring the sides, blah, blah, blah.

I’ll tell them about this blog if they aren’t already aware of it, and what a true “steak enthusiast” is.

It’s my way of educating the public. One recruit at a time.

Most of the time they are intrigued. They want to know more and, perhaps, they wonder why THEY haven’t been photographing their dinners too.

There’s room for all of us, I say. Steak enthusiasts unite!

Because a great cut of meat is truly a concept we can all get behind.

Except for strict vegetarians.

And I don’t know any of those.

Oh, ho ho.

Rich. Decadent. Saucy.

The Pioneer Woman says this sauce is almost a side dish on its own.

It looks dreamy.

Mixed with a tender ribeye, just brimming with its own juices? This recipe is absolutely mouth watering.

I am in love.

Check it out for yourself. . .

Grilled Ribeye Steak with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce

Ingredients

2 whole Ribeye Steaks

2 Tablespoons Butter

Salt

Pepper

4 Tablespoons Butter

1 whole Very Large Yellow Onion, Sliced

1 cup Heavy Cream

½ cups Crumbled Blue Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Salt and pepper both sides of the steaks. Grill in 2 tablespoons butter until medium rare.

Saute onions in 4 tablespoons butter over high heat. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until dark and caramelized. Reduce heat to simmer and pour in cream. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, or until reduced by half. Stir in blue cheese until melted. Serve steaks on generous portion of sauce.

Faint.

Photo and recipe courtesy of Ree Drummond at ThePioneerWoman.com.

This. Looks. So. Tender.

I want to eat this right now. This sirloin steak is browned and then put in a roasting pan with other goodies, then placed in the oven for a couple of hours.

What a perfect winter pick-me-up! This one will make your whole house smell amazing for hours. To me, this says, “Welcome home!” Even if you’ve been there all day.

Stewed Steak

Serves 4-6

3 pounds of sirloin, cross-rib or round steak (or similar cut)

1 cup flour

2 tsp ground thyme

2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg.

Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Mix together the flour, thyme and nutmeg. Dredge the steaks in the flour mixture, then brown them on both sides in a little canola oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. No need to cook them fully, just brown the surfaces well. Drain the excess oil from the skillet and deglaze the pan with a little beef stock before adding it to the steak in the roasting pan.

Place the browned steaks in a covered roasting pan and add:

5-6 cups of good beef stock (low sodium stock if you are using sore bought)

NOTE: You can substitute 1 cup of broth with a cup of red wine for an even richer gravy.

3 cloves minced garlic

4 tbsp Worchestershire Sauce

1 tsp ground black pepper

Cover and slow cook the steaks in the oven at 300 degrees F for 2-3 hours or until the meat is very tender and begins to fall apart. The flour that was used to brown the steaks helps to thicken the gravy as it cooks. I like to skim any surface fat off the gravy before serving. Serve with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables.

Recipe and photo courtesy of RockRecipes.Blogspot.com.