GoProvidence.com and the Providence Journal bring you Small Bites: Easy-to-Digest Recipes. At the Tiverton Casino Hotel, chef Shawn Thomas pleases players with great steak. The casino location of Trattoria Romana restaurant is the only outpost of the locally owned mini-chain, which includes a steakhouse dining room, Tuscan Chophouse. For this week's Small Bites, Thomas demonstrates how to bring the steakhouse experience home with his Steak Oscar recipe. The classic preparation involves topping a seared sirloin with poached crab meat, béarnaise sauce and asparagus, which is in season in Rhode Island.

Steak Oscar

- 1/2 ounce tarragon

- 3 ounces white vinegar

- 3 egg yolks

- 4 ounces clarified butter

- 4 ounces Alaskan King crab meat

- 6 stalks of asparagus

- 1/2 ounce chopped garlic

- 1 ounce chopped parsley

- 16 ounces sirloin steak, seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides

For the Tarragon Reduction:

Place dry tarragon in a sauce pot with white vinegar and reduce until it's a paste-like consistency.

For the Oscar: 

Make the béarnaise sauce by heating egg yolks in a mixing bowl over a hot water bath. Carefully cook and whisk constantly for about 4 minutes, so as to not scramble the yolks. Slowly incorporate clarified butter, the tarragon reduction, and salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the crab meat and asparagus by poaching in warm butter. Add garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about seven minutes or until asparagus is tender.

To cook the steak, preheat a frying pan coated with olive oil for a few minutes at high heat. Sear each side for approximately 6 minutes, also sear the edge with the fat for four minutes. Then put in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 10 minutes for a medium steak. For more well done steak, leave in for an additional five minutes. Let the steak rest for five minutes before serving.

To serve, place cooked sirloin on a plate, generously spread the crab and asparagus mixture over the steak and top with béarnaise. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Serves: 2

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