THE SEQUIM FOOD GUY - Editor and Publisher, Thomas Pitre, Sequim, WA On line since 2011.
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Good Steaks
Adrienne Flowers, who tries very hard not to sound pretentious Written Nov 13 It’s been a while, but I’ve worked the grill at a high end steakhouse and can replicate it it home. Here’s how: Start with dry aged prime beef. Generally you want a ribeye , New York strip, or filet (or t-bone or porterhouse, which are NY strip + filet), though other cuts are starting to become popular. Keep in mind that the steak you buy at the grocery store is not prime aged beef. It’s going to be less evenly marbled, and it will have been wet aged (all commercial beef is aged at least a little), which tastes entirely different. Make sure the meat was never frozen, it changes the texture. Blot moisture from the surfaces, sprinkle with kosher salt. Bring to cool room temp (about 60 degrees). Before cooking, blot again, then season. I like kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and coriander, but possibilities are nearly endless. Do keep in min that the freshness of the spices will affect the finished product. Place on a searing hot surface This is the one that can be hard to do at home, as some stoves and grills just don’t put out enough heat. My grill is one of ‘em, so I use a big all-clad saute pan, though this is one of those spots where cast iron would be better . I hit the pan with butter just before the steak goes in. Mmmmm…. butter. Flip it when the bottom looks nice and brown, then move it from the intense heat to something a more moderate, either a spot on the edge of the grill or in the oven at about 400 (yes, 400 is moderate compared to the heat you use to sear.) Leave it there until it temps 5 degrees cooler than your desired doneness using an instant read probe thermometer. Set it out somewhere warmish and leave it alone for a few minutes. You don’t want it to get cold, but it needs to rest to finish cooking and redistribute juices. Before serving, slap a chunk of butter on top. Voila! Here’s the thing… every bit of this is critical. If we both take identical pieces of meat and you follow the instructions and I just slap it on the grill straight from the fridge, they’ll taste different. If you get prime beef and I get grocery store stuff (or a frozen steak) and we follow the same process, they’ll taste different. Once you’ve made about 100 steaks like this it becomes second nature and you forget there’s any other way. A few weeks ago I was visiting my grandmother and she decided to make steak for dinner. She pulled a couple of Omaha Steaks out of the freezer (Don’t get me wrong, Omaha Steaks are decent steaks, and are a better choice than some of what’s in the grocery store) and stuck them in the microwave to thaw. Then, right out of the package and wet, she slapped them on a cold Foreman grill and started to heat it. No seasoning because ‘I don’t like salt, you can add it at the end’. She left them in until they were 140, then put them on the plate straight from the ‘grill’. Gray, dry, mealy, and flavorless. I’d forgotten how underwhelming a steak could be.
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