I may have a lot of vegetarian and vegan recipes under my belt, but I still love me a good steak. There is no reason why a restaurant cooks a better steak than you except that they just know how. With practice you'll find that YOU can actually cook a better steak than most restaurants! You can cook an amazing steak with nothing more than meat, salt, pepper, and a grill. It all comes down to cooking technique, and quality of the beef. See my cooking lesson below to learn a couple of the secrets to making a great steak. In the meantime, enjoy this delicious recipe for a great rubbed steak with garlic butter.
Ingredients
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 New York Strip Steaks
2 tsp olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, minced
Instructions
1. Remove steaks from refrigerator and any packaging. Rub each side with the olive oil to coat.
2. Combine the salt, pepper, and onion powder in a small bowl. Rub both sides of each steak with the rub mixture. Let steaks sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before cooking.
3. Cook steaks on a hot grill until desired done-ness is achieved.
4. While the steaks are cooking, whip the butter with the minced garlic. When the steaks are removed from the grill, immediately top with 1 tablespoon of the butter mixture and allow the steaks to rest 10 minutes before cutting into them.
Grades of Steak
There are three grades of steak that you will find in a US supermarket: Select, Choice, and Prime. Select is generally the grade of sale-priced, or advertised meat. If it is choice grade, it will be advertised as such. Select grade is just above what the USDA deems edible. So if you buy Select grade meat, don't be surprised when it isn't that great. It will always be worth it to pay the extra money per pound for the Choice grade. If your supermarket carries Prime grade, lucky you!
Lesson: Only buy Choice or Prime Grade steaks.
Levels of Doneness
Whether you like your steak bleeding on the plate, or dry as a bone, this steak doneness chart should help you out. The chef's standard level of doneness is medium-rare. At this point it won't be bleeding, but will be tender, juicy, and if you do it just right the steak will melt in your mouth. With practice you can tell how cooked a steak is just by feel alone. Every steak has a different cooking time due to varying thicknesses of the cuts. Be wary following anything that tells you a cooking time rather than a temperature.
