Chef Secrets: How To Cook The Perfect Steak
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The secret? A cast-iron frying pan, and popping the steak in the oven to finish the cook.
Ingredients
2 steaks, dry-aged New York strips or a similar cut
coarse sea salt, to taste
coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp cooking oil, (high heat oil)
2 tbsp butter
Montreal steak spice, for finishing (optional)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Remove steaks from the fridge, pat dry with some paper towels and season both sides with coarse sea salt (or kosher salt) and coarsely ground black pepper, to taste. Just eyeball the spices, but make sure you use enough to form a nice crust. If you have a favourite meat seasoning blend, you can also use that. Let the steaks rest 45 - 60 minutes on the counter prior to cooking so the meat comes closer to room temperature, tempering the steak.
Add 1 tbsp of cooking oil to a seasoned cast-iron skillet and turn the burner to medium-high heat. Warm the oil until the surface just begins to shimmer (that's how we know it's hot enough to sear).
Place steaks into the hot pan (it should sizzle). Make sure not to crowd the pan. If you're cooking more than 2 or 3 steaks you may need to use two pans. Let the steaks cook for 2 minutes. Flip the steaks over, then let them cook another two minutes. If you need to use a timer, you can. If you have a nice thick steak, you might want to sear the sides of the steak also: cook them for about 30 seconds on each side using your tongs to hold up each steak.
Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and let it cook for 4-5 more minutes. This will create a medium, pink centre. If you want it medium rare or rare, try 2 - 4 minutes.
Tip: A few minutes before serving, when you plate the meat, top each steak with a tablespoon of butter. Give it a minute to melt over the steak, then serve. (Another kitchen secret, before serving, you can sprinkle fleur de sel — it's a top-quality French finishing salt — over the buttery steak.)
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