I’m going to preface this post by saying that this is a lot of instruction. Bear with me, cause the end result is SOOOO worth it.
I love me a good steak (as does the hub) but am not fond of paying restaurant prices. We tried making steak at home, but we got to the point where we would pay restaurant prices because our at-home efforts turned out so poorly. After some research into restaurant steak-cooking practices, we think we have a reasonable alternative to dining out. I’m not a steak expert by any means, but if you follow a couple of guidelines, you too can produce a restaurant-quality steak at home!
First, you need to buy a high quality steak. Look for a steak with good fat marbling. A lean steak is okay, but the end result will not taste as good without the fat. My personal favorites are ribeye and porterhouse. These are on the costly end per pound, but I would rather have the exact steak I want and have it less often, than have inferior steak all the time. Also, you can consider buying one steak for 2 people. We often buy one steak for the two of us and have lots of veggies on the side. The other consideration is the thickness of the steak. It needs to be at least one inch thick. This way you can leave it in the pan long enough to form a crust on the steak and still have a nice medium to medium-rare steak.
Second, you want to dry out your steak. True dry aging will make a steak more tender and intensify the beefy flavor of your steak, but it is difficult for the home cook to achieve. If you want to know why this is, just google it and read up. Otherwise, take my word for it that this is a fairly important step in producing a good steak. To dry age (nominally) at home you are going to have to spring for the expensive fat-marbled steak. This will not work with the leaner or less expensive cuts of meat because the fat is a requirement for dry aging. Buy your steak up to 3 days before you are going to eat it. I find the optimal amount of time for drying at home is around 3 days, but 1 or 2 days is just fine and is better than no drying. Unwrap your steak, rinse it with water and pat it dry. Then, wrap it in a clean dish towel, or a whole mess of paper towels so that the steak is completely covered. Put the wrapped steak on a plate on the lowest level of your refrigerator. Turn the temp of your fridge so that it is nice and cold, but not so cold that stuff starts to freeze. Change the wrapping every day.
Third, you will need to invest in a cast iron skillet. I cannot rave enough about cast iron skillets. I have four skillets in various shapes and sizes, 2 dutch ovens and a cast iron griddle pan. They are pretty awesome as universal cooking vessels and impart so much flavor to food. For an apartment-dwelling person, it is a great alternative to a grill. It fabricates grill-like flavor and will create a nice crust on the steak. For a steak, I would recommend a 12-inch cast iron skillet. You need cast iron because you will be cooking this steak over screaming high heat, and cast iron is the best for handling high heat. You might also want to invest in a splatter screen, especially if you are cooking on a gas range. Also, this WILL set off the smoke alarm, so set yourself up with a fan to blow the smoke out a window, or my personal favorite, arm the husband with a kitchen towel to fan the alarm 🙂
Fourth, use good cooking techniques. DO NOT move the steak around as it is cooking. Preheat the pan, put in a little oil right before you’re ready to put the steak on, then add the steak. DO NOT TOUCH IT UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO FLIP IT. Leaving it just as it is ensures that a happy little caramelization crust will form on your steak. If your steak is about an inch thick, you will want about 3 minutes per side for medium to medium rare. Go to 4-5 minutes per side for medium to medium well. If you must kill your steak (i.e. well done), cook 5 minutes on one side, flip it and immediately transfer the pan to a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. You need to transfer to the oven instead of finishing on the range because the crust on the steak will burn if you continue to cook for that length of time on direct flame. Transferring to the oven will gently cook the inside of the steak without burning the outside. But do us all a favor and don’t kill your meat. Learn to love medium. To help yourself determine how done the steak is, make a loose fist with your hand. Press on the fleshy part between your thumb and knuckle. This is how a medium-rare steak will feel if you push on it. Tighten your fist like if you were holding a coffee cup tightly and press on the same fleshy part. This is how medium will feel. Tighten your fist as hard as you can go and this is how well-done will feel. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER cut your steak to test doneness. If you do this, you will lose all the lovely juice in the steak and end up with a tough piece of shoe leather. Practice will make perfect and you will slowly be able to tell by pressing on the meat how done it is. When you have cooked the steak to your preferred doneness, remove it from the heat and let it rest on the counter for at least 5 minutes. This redistributes all of the juice in the steak. Dot the top of the steak with butter while it is still hot. All the good restaurants do this. Yes, it is not healthy and yes, it is very decadent. This is why you should exercise portion control and not make steak very often. Really, if you’re going to have steak, do it right.
If you follow these rules, you will end up with a perfect steak and a happy mouth!
Steak Grilled in a Cast Iron Skillet Prep time 3 days; Cook time 30 min
1 lb or larger ribeye steak, at least 1 inch thick
Steak Rub
1-2 tbsps butter
Mushroom and onion garnish
Steak Rub
2 tbsps brown sugar
1-2 tbsps kosher salt
2 tsps cajun spice
1 tsp ground black pepper
Mushroom and Onion Garnish
4 tbsps butter, divided
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
8 oz (or larger) package of mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbsps bourbon (I like Jim Beam)
Salt and pepper to taste
Take your steak out of the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before you are ready to cook it. It needs to come to room temperature before you put it in the pan.
While your steak is coming to room temperature, start on the onions. In 3 tbsps of butter, saute the onion and mushroom over medium heat. You want to soften them first, then let them brown just a touch. Add the chicken stock and bourbon and simmer until moisture is completely absorbed. Add the last tbsp of butter, and salt and pepper to taste.
While the onion and mushroom is softening, stir together the rub ingredients. Break up the brown sugar so that there are no clumps. Store in an air-tight container. Remove the paper towel from the steak and coat in a little vegetable oil. Sprinkle a generous amount of rub on the steak and press down so that it forms a thin crust on the steak. Start to preheat your pan over highest heat. This should take about 5 minutes. The pan should be smoking and when you add a drop of water to the skillet it should almost dance across the surface. Add a little oil to the pan and turn the pan to coat. Add the steak to the skillet. (At this point, you should be adding the chicken stock and bourbon to the mushrooms and onions.) Cook 3 minutes, then flip the steak and cook 3 more minutes. Remove the steak to a plate and dot with butter. Let it rest on the counter for at least 5 minutes. Garnish with the mushroom and onions. Enjoy thoroughly!!