Steak with red wine, shallots and peppers

Ingredients:
Steaks (2 lb), preferably ribeye or tenderloin and preferably grassfed beef (bison might work well too)
Dry red wine, 2-3 tbsp
Shallot, coarsely chopped (2)
Mini sweet peppers, yellow and red, coarsely chopped (4)
Butter, 1 tbsp
Olive oil, 1 tbsp
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Sauté peppers and shallot in butter and olive oil, in an overproof pan, until soft. (I use a Le Creuset cast-iron skillet.)
2. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 375 F. Rub steak with salt and pepper.
4. Place steaks in same pan. Drizzle with olive oil and pour peppers and shallots over.
5. Place pan in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes (for rare) or 15-20 minutes (for medium rare).
6. Pour wine over steak, just before removing from oven.
7. Place butter on top and allow it to melt. Serve.

Serves: 4 people, but you can easily adjust the number of steaks accordingly

The story: 

I usually buy the best beef I can find (I like Niman Ranch, or when I have the freezer space, going more local and buying a side) and cook steaks as simply as possible - lightly rubbed with salt and pepper, then grilled outside or in (on the grill plates that fit my panini press) for a few minutes on each side. (I like my meat barely breathing!) But this recipe belongs to my mom, who remembers that my grandfather always made steaks in the oven, with a little dry red wine poured over and some butter on top. My mom writes, "He was a wonderful man, kind and generous, who loved children." (And of course, he was a good cook, like everyone who appears in this blog.) We recommend serving with sautéed mushrooms, oven-roasted salt potatoes, and a light salad of arugula dressed with lemon juice, olive oil (1:2 parts), sugar, salt and pepper. If you have it, a little maple pepper is a great addition to the dressing.

My grandfather Peter tending bar in his restaurant, c. 1940s
He immigrated to the U.S. from Italy by himself at the age of 13