Steak, cooked the CORRECT way!
By Accipiter
Contents
Summary
Yes friends, yet another one of my "how to fuckin' cook" instructional threads.
In an effort to counteract the damages caused by recent threads alleging that they contain the proper methods of cooking a steak (HAY GUYS COAT YOUR FROZEN STEAK IN RANCH DRESSING AND MUSTARD AND THROW IT ON YOUR FOREMAN GRILL!), I went to the store and bought a steak to educate the masses on the right way to cook a steak. If you've been told a different way to do it, you've been misinformed.
System Requirements
To cook a steak properly, you don't need much. Gather together some extra virgin olive oil, fresh-ground black pepper, sea salt, and a steak. The hardware for this exercise consists of an oven, a well-seasoned cast-iron pan and a pair of tongs.
Preparation
Just as you're about to get started, turn on your oven. Set it to about 450 degrees. (It's handy to have an in-oven thermometer if your oven is like mine, and doesn't have any way of telling you when it hits temp.)
At around this same time, you'll want to put your cast-iron pan on a burner and get it really hot. Let it heat up during steak preparation.
Put your raw steak on a plate, grab a spoon, and pour a good size dollop of olive oil on top of the steak. Use the bottom of the spoon to rub the oil around the surface of the steak, coating the majority of its surface. Once you've coated it evenly and thoroughly, cover the top with a nice layer freshly crushed black pepper on top (or use a peppermill like I do), and a sprinkling of sea salt. Then grab your tongs, flip the steak over, and do the other side.
Once you're done, your pan should be nice and hot, so toss that sucker into the pan and sear it for 40-50 seconds on each side.
Once you've finished searing the steak, grab an oven mitt and take the whole shebang, pan and all and put it into your oven, which should have heated to around 450 degrees by now. Since medium-rare is how steak should be cooked, you'll want to let it sit in the oven for two and a half to three minutes on each side. This means that 2.5 to 3 minutes after you stick the pan in the oven, take it out, use the tongs to flip the steak, then put it back in for another 2.5 to 3 minutes.
While the steak is in the oven, this makes a perfect time to prepare your side dish(es). Personally, I like to steam asparagus. I take out my asparagus steamer, pour in about an inch of water, sprinkle some garlic salt into the water, and put in the asparagus. Once it's cooked, I take them out and lay them flat on a plate. Then I score their surface lightly with a steak knife, and drizzle them with lemon juice.
Once your desired steak cooking time has elapsed, take the pan out of the oven. It is important to let the steak "rest" for a few minutes after cooking so that it can reabsorb its juices. Use this time to get your plate ready, finish side-dish preparation, whatever.
(Simple Wine Sauce): If you want to put something on your steak, try this before you go get the A1, or, god forbid, ketchup.
You'll need: (this recipe if for 2 steaks) 1/3 cup dry red wine (something you'd drink), 1/3 cup cream, 2/3 cup water (or stock), a non-plastic spatula, a whisk, and the pan you just used for the steak, and all the crap stuck to the bottom of it.
Pour about half of the grease out of the pan, put it back on the burner at medium-high heat. Pick the pan off and away from the burner, and add your wine. *warning: wine is combustible, and so are you* Return pan to burner, add water, scrape the bottom of your pan with your spatula, getting all the steak particles loose. Bring to boil, whisk in cream vigorously, and keep doing so, reduce heat to a simmer. You'll want to let this reduce until you have about 1/3 to 1/2 of the original volume you started with (the less you have, the more concentrated the flavor).
- if you want it thicker add a solution of water and either cake flour, or corn starch. Add slowly until you reach your desired thickness (you can do this to make an amazing gravy as well).
Pour yourself a glass of red wine (I had iced tea because I had to drive after dinner), set out your food, and enjoy.
Steak, grilled the CORRECT way! by Jonathan
Cooking on the grill is nearly the same as cooking steak on the stovetop--high heat and a short and specific cooking time is crucial for the best results. I use the same timing as I do on the stovetop, 3 minutes per side and 3 minutes to rest for a 1-inch steak, and it never lets me down. It's important to keep the meat from scorching. As fat drips onto the very hot coals, flames may flare up through the frill rack and char the meat. I keep a spray bottle on hand when I grill steak, and spritz water on any open flame. Try to spritz through the cracks and avoid waterlogging your steak, but I say better a bit damp than burned black.
Although the T-bone is my ideal steak, I particularly like a New York strip on the grill. Buy a well-marbled piece, cook it medium-rare, and the meat will be positively buttery.
Ingredients
- 1 New York strip steak, cut 1 inch thick
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Bring the steak to room temperature. Prepare a very hot fire, in the grill, with the coals glowing red all the way through.
- Season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill for 3 minutes on one side, spritzing at any flames with a spray bottle if dripping fat catches fire.
- Turn the steak and cook for 3 minutes on the other side.
- Remove to a plate and allow to rest for 3 minutes. Salt lightly. Eat at once.
