The Perfect Steak
There is nothing better than a proper steak. Something so simple, can be made even better and personal to your diners depending on your seasonings, the cut of meat you use and the temperature you cook the steaks to. There are a few tricks to making the best steaks. Personally, BBQ over charcoal is my favourite - but the weather doesn't always permit it. So I have found the best way to sear steaks on your stove-top and have the best steak - all year round!
Ingredients
2 steak cuts (I prefer a juicy tenderloin or top sirloin)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 garlic bulb - cut in half
2-4 sprigs thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
Before you start, there are a couple of tricks that I find give the best results.
1) Take the steaks out of the fridge about an hour before you cook them. Bring the meat to room temperature - when the meat is room temperature, it allows the meat to penetrate the meat properly.
2) Once the steak is at room temperature, rub the steak with olive oil and season generously with rock salt and fresh crushed pepper.
3) You need to make sure that the pan you use is screaming hot. The pan should smoke once the steaks hit it. The extreme heat will give you that delicious crust that every steak needs.
4) I use a griddle pan in order to get the proper sear marks. This has been the best pan that I have used to date - and I recommend it greatly.
5) Unless your diners are fussy on a specific temperature of their steak, you should aim to cook the meat to medium-rare to rare.
6) The last trick to the best steak is the resting. I rest the steaks with a small knob of butter on each of them - this adds flavour and moisture as they rest.
Let's start.....
Take your steaks out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before you plan to start cooking them. Bring them to room temperature. Rub each steak with a generous amount of olive oil. Season with rock salt and crushed black pepper. Massage the steaks to make sure the oil and seasoning is evenly covered.
Put the steaks to the hot pan. Depending on the thickness of the steaks, cook the steaks for about 6 minutes for medium-rare, or to your liking. I usually cook the steaks for 3 minutes, rotate them 90 degrees and cook them for another 3 minutes - creating a cross pattern (6 minutes total on the first side).
Turn the steaks over and rub with garlic and thyme. Cook for 2 minutes, then rotate 90 degrees. Add the butter to the pan and cook for the last 2 minutes. Keep the garlic and the thyme in the pan. Baste.
Before you serve the steaks, let them rest. There are two tricks to a satisfactory rest time.
1) Let the meat rest for five minutes for every inch of thickness
2) Let the meat rest for as long as you cooked the meat
I also rest the meat with butter, the thyme and garlic on top of them, to get more flavour into the crust.
middleeastcoastchef