Once your onions and mushrooms are browned, put them on a plate and put your pan back on the stove. You're done with the lid now.

This is the point where shit gets real. Once the steak goes into the pan, you're in a fire drill. Everything has to happen at the right time or else you're going to end up with a tough steak.

There's essentially no such thing as "too hot", but there is absolutely such a thing as "too long", so you need your pan to be HOT before you drop the steak in it.

If you have a great stove, lucky you. If you have a crap stove like mine, it's all the more important you get that pan as hot as possible before you drop the steaks in.

ALSO: This is the part where your kitchen is about to get Smokey. Open a window, close the door, turn on the vent, do what you gotta do. If you have a smoke detector in your kitchen, you might just have to stick to soylent.