I am not much of a steak person but in my quest to learn how to adeptly cook more dishes this year, I’ve decided to master this beloved dish. The best part is that it’s simple. Well, deceptively simple. There are a few things that can mess a up steak. The easy way to mess it up? Being a baby and overcooking your steak. Overcooked steak is gross. Don’t do it. I mean, cook it, just don’t make it raw.
In terms of ingredients, we don’t need much here. A steak, whatever cut you want. Mine was a boneless rib eye I got from the co-op. In my experience, its best to look for ones with some marbling and fart. Did I just write fart? I meant fat. I am leaving that typo there. Don’t fart on your steak. This one was quite thin and cooked a little fast. I have learned that a thicker steak is easier to avoid over cooking. You can always ask the butcher for a thicker cut steak. Yes, even a super market butcher will do this.
Ingredients
1 good steak (described above)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1-2 tablespoons of kosher salt
15 cranks of fresh black pepper
Butter, lots of it
Technique
Okay, I am not the best at this yet and it takes practice. Yes, you might ruin a $10 piece of meat. Maybe try with a cheap steak first. Regardless, this is all about timing and seasoning.
- Take your steak out of the package and dab it dry with a paper towel. You need to get rid of the excess moisture in the steak. Feel free to give it a good smoosh with your hands. Don’t destroy the thing, just don’t let it off easy.
- Season both sides of your steak with salt and pepper. Be generous. don’t be scared, this will help deliver lots of flavor while it cooks.
- Next, wait. Like, wait a while. Let the steak sit at room temperature for about 20 to 40 minutes. We don’t want to put a cold steak on the skillet because the outside will burn but the inside will be undone.
- Heat up your skillet with some oil in it. In my opinion, you should be cooking this on a nice cast iron skillet. You can get a Lodge cast iron skillet from target for about $30. Its worth the money and the skillet will be around long after you expire.
- Put your steak on the skillet. Lay it away from you. This is so you don’t get grease in your face. Or lay it towards you and splash hot grease on your face. I don’t care, its not my face.
- Let the steak sit for a about a minute a develop a nice sear. Check it after a minute and it should be a little brown. Move your skillet a bit to get the oil under the steak. It should be smoking now and making a nice sizzle sound.
- At this time, add a nice knob of butter and let it quickly melt in the pan. Once it is melted add another knob. Grab your garlic and rosemary add it to the pan. Let it cook with the steak. Now grab a spoon, tilt the pan, and use the spoon to scoop up the butter and baste the steak.
- After a minute or two, flip your steak and let it cook for a couple minutes. Then, repeat the basting process as you did before. Feel free to add more butter. At this point, the butter should have turned into a brown color and have a nice nutty aroma.
- Well, here is the big question: how do you tell if the steak is done? You have to touch it! First, touch your chin. See how hard it feels? That’s medium. Now, touch your cheek. That is rare. Finally, touch your forehead, that is well done. Any harder, it will be like eating a shoe. Now poke your steak with your finger. What does it feel like? Your cheek, chin, or forehead?
- Finally, remove the steak from the heat. Let it sit for 5 minutes before you cut into it. This will allow the meat to retain its juices. If you cut it right away, you will lose lots of flavor.
Bam! There you go, hopefully you have a perfectly cooked steak. Now grab your favorite beverage and enjoy your steak. Remember, it takes practice! Don’t be discouraged if you over cook it. I did not site a specific time for a reason, it varies by the cut of meat. Touch it like I said. If you want to use a thermometer, poke it into the steak and make sure its about 125 to 135 degrees.
Raptorchef 