The WSJ tells us how to cook a steak. Since the article is by subscription only on line, as a service to my readers I’m copying it:
- Preheat your oven to 450F degrees
- On the stove top, heat a large, dry skillet until it is very hot. Season the steak (a 4-5 lbs porterhouse or bone-in-ribeye steak, 1 1/2″ to 2″ thick) well with salt and pepper and sear for 2-3 minutes on each side, until it has a dark crust [Note If your smoke alarm is very sensitive, like mine is, make sure to run the hood fan or you’ll get blasted]
- Place skillet in preheated oven for about 14 minutes for a 1 1/2″ steak. Cook to between rare and medium rare, because residual heat will continue cooking the meat while it is resting. To test for doneness, press your finger to the meat: it should yield to the touch but not be soft. The chef says a thermometer will pierce the meat and allow the juices to run out.
- Rest steak for at least 5 minutes before slicing or serving
Tester’s note: If you don’t feel confident about judging the doneness of the meat the way professionals do, use an instant-read thermometer to be sure the meat has reached an internal temperature of 120F for rare or medium rare
And here’s the steak:
Baked potato with sour cream and butter, a salad, and maybe some green beans with almonds.
The perfect meal.
It seems just wrong to cook a steak without an open flame. And a beer.
That’s true, Ken.
‘Specially about the beer.
P. J. O’Rourke once wrote up a recipe similar to this one, though he recommended slicking down the skillet with “any kind of oil other than motor or olive” and finished with “As soon as you think you should cook it just a little more, stop cooking it.”
Me, I rely on the kindness of George Foreman.
Suggestion: Cast iron skillet. When properly seasoned and pre-heated, their ability to give good steaks a marvelous crust is amazing.
‘Nother suggestion: Cast iron grill skillet. Sure, it’s nothing like having a real grill. But for those of us sad folks who’s condo has no back porch, and who have such restrictive grill policies that we were forced to give our beloved Brinkmans away (no, I’m not bitter… really…), it’s a damn good substitute.
Yet ‘nother suggestion: Coarse salt and pepper. They seems to work far better than their finely ground counterparts. Sea salt or kosher, either works. And God bless real peppermills. Seriously, coarse grinds make a real difference.
Above knowledge gained from practical experience, and making many mistakes (Example: Too much vinegar in a homemade teriyaki marinade just ruins a good cut of meat… although oddly enough, it seems to help a cheap cut… lesson: Don’t marinate good cuts (ribeyes, porterhouses, etc.), they don’t need it). Also gained from many years or experimentation. Which is why my cholesterol level is so damn shocking. 🙂