A Great Steak...

How to Cook a Great Steak

So, this might seem like an article better suited for the beginning of summer, but in reality, steak is great ANY time of year, and the best preparation is probably sans grill anyway.

Steak is one of those kind of garbage in/garbage out foods.  If you take a tough, inexpensive cut of meat and marinate it for a long time and/or tenderize it and take great pains in preparing, and cooking it, you will probably end up with something tasty, but the reality is that you will have an easier time if you start off with a better cut. 
Fillet is always a great choice, but at least a New York, Top Round or Sirloin cut is advisable.  One of the problems is that each store, and even different butchers refer to cuts of meat with different titles, and descriptions, so you will have to get some clarification.  Plan on spending at least $7 to $10 a pound, even upwards of $15 for a good quality steak.

You will also need:

-     Course sea salt

-     3-5 pepper blend

-     Virgin olive oil

-     A good stainless pan or iron skillet-capable of tolerating high heat

-     A pan for the broiler

There are a couple of different techniques/schools of thought:

Most people will take a cut of meat and salt and pepper it while heating the pan, and the oven.
An old chef friend once told me that you should not salt and pepper a steak until it has been in the pan for 20 or 30 seconds as it gives the pores in the meat a chance to open up and “accept” the spices better.  I have used both techniques (salt and pepper before, and during cooking) and I feel that you get better results during.  Either way you will be fine.

Put the oven on broil, somewhere between 475 and 500 degrees.  You can leave the oven open a crack to keep the element on.  Place the rack in the middle of the oven. Start heating your stainless pan or skillet on the stove, you want to have it on 7 or 8, and get it good and hot- for at least a couple of minutes.  Then, you want to tilt the pan slightly away, and pour in your olive oil.  It should only be 20 or 30 seconds and the oil will start to smoke.   This is when you want to take some tongs and put your steak in slowly, as you don’t want to oil to splash. Take the tongs and lift the meat slightly to make sure you get some oil underneath and it is not all displaced to the sides.  Then, go ahead and turn the meat to the other side and salt and pepper the side you had down.  As before, make sure you have oil down under the meat.  STEP AWAY.  Do not “worry” the meat with constant movement, and adjustments.  The meat should be searing, and smoking a bit.  Anywhere from 2-3 minutes is good.  Go ahead and flip the steak over, delicately, and salt and pepper the side that was just down.  This side will not take as long, maybe 1.5 to 2 minutes.  Make sure that you have your broiler pan sprayed with Pam or oiled.  If you have an exceptionally thick cut of meat, or if your steak is wrapped in bacon, you might want to take your tongs and turn the meat on its side to just get a little color on the edges and/or cook the bacon for a couple of minutes.   You should have a nicely caramelized piece of meat with a nice outer crust.

Now, go ahead and put your meat on the broiler pan, and put it in the oven.  You can close the oven, or keep it open a crack.  The time in the oven will vary, depending on the strength/calibration of your oven, and how you want your steak.  Figure 5-7 minutes for Medium Rare, up to about 12 minutes for Medium Well.   Take the steak out a bit before you feel it is completely done to your taste, as it will continue to cook for a bit (see below).

Of course you know that when you take your steak out, you want to let it rest for 7-10 minutes to seal in the juices before cutting into it. 

Okay!  This steak should be tender, and good enough to eat solo, or with just a splash of Worcestershire.  However if you want to put some peppercorn sauce on, here is the link to a demo:

http://youtu.be/3dAawsEZFI4