Skirt Steak with Radishes in Mustard Sauce

Skirt steak with radishes in mustard sauce is a French bistro-style one-person dinner that makes the case for using the entire radish bunch. The roots get halved and simmered in butter and water until they turn sweet and silky, losing most of their raw bite. Then the peppery leaves go in to wilt, and whole-grain mustard and fresh tarragon finish the sauce.

Meanwhile, a quick-broiled skirt steak gets rubbed with garlic and broiled hot and fast for medium-rare. The trick that makes this dish work: slicing the skirt across the grain so the fibers shorten into tender bites, then laying the slices right over the warm radishes so the beef juices mingle with the mustardy pan liquid underneath.

Kitchen Tips

• Do not skip the radish leaves. They taste like a cross between spinach and arugula and are the whole reason this dish works. If your bunch has tired or yellow tops, swap in a handful of baby arugula.
• Slice skirt steak across the grain, always. Cut with the grain and even a medium-rare steak eats tough and stringy.
• Rest the steak a full 2 to 3 minutes before slicing. Skirt is thin so it cools fast, but that short rest keeps the juices in the meat instead of on the board.
• Use stone-ground whole-grain mustard for texture. Smooth Dijon works but loses the pop of mustard seeds against the soft radishes.

Variations

• Swap skirt for flank steak or hanger, broiled the same way.
• Use dill or chives instead of tarragon for a cleaner, less anise-forward finish.
• Add a splash of white wine to the pan after the radishes soften for deeper flavor.