Perfect Steak

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Ingredients

• 1 steak, any cut (as long as you know how to cook it)
  
• 3 cloves of garlic, bashed once and still mostly intact
• 3 sprigs of rosemary
• salt & pepper
• knob of butter

Jeez I've been eating a lot of steak recently...

This is a very simple method of cooking steaks that gets absolutely fantastic results.  Next time you cook a steak, don't just fry it in oil, try this.  What you get at the end is a steak with miles more flavour, and not dried out on one side which can happen if you're just nuking it in the pan without much thought.  Treat your meat well!

1. Season the steak generously with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a glug of olive oil in the pan until it is hot.  You want the steak to sizzle as soon as it hits the pan.  If it doesn't, that means you're just boiling the meat in oil and too much oil will penetrate the meat, making it greasy.  If it doesn't sizzle, just take the steak out and wait a bit longer.
3. Seal the steak on one side in the hot oil.  Turn the steak over and add the garlic cloves around it to perfume the meat.
4. Lay the rosemary sprigs on the steak and add the butter to the pan.  Let the butter get nice and hot, then with a metal spoon start spooning up the butter and meat juices and basting the top side of the steak (pouring it over the rosemary to allow the flavour to permeate the meat).  Tilt the pan slightly to make it easier for you to spoon up the oil.  Careful as you do this, mind.  Keep basting.
5. Remove the rosemary temporarily with tongs.  Turn the steak over, put the rosemary back on and resume basting.  The oil should sizzle in a satisfying manner when you pour it on the meat.  Numnumnum.
6. Continue for as long as you like your meat done.  I'm a medium / medium-rare type of guy and like it pink.  Remove the steak from the pan and let it sit for a few minutes before slicing and serving.

I served mine with a garlic mash (so easy, I just grated a clove of garlic, sizzled it in a bit of olive oil and added it to mashed potato with salt and pepper) and some steamed green beans.  A really simple, yet totally delicious dinner.  For one.  Ho hum.

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  dubow says

  i wonder if this technique will work with other meat... like lamb!

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  yongfook says

  yah prollys will work

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  telliecoin says

  but i heard that if you season it with salt that the salt will dry out the steak ..

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  slacker says

  Dubow...for lamb, I prefer it to be yogurt marinated, preferably overnight. After wiping off the yogurt, prepare as Yongfook recommends. It will melt in your mouth, with none of the "gamey" flavor that lamb sometimes has.

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  jojoyuki says

  is okay to marinate the steak with salt a la minute, not to marinate overnight as the salt will penetrate to the meat n cook the meat. another way is seal ur steak on pan for 5 min for all the side of ur steak, then put into oven baked for another 5 min, it depends on the thickness of ur meat and the doneness u prefer.

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  BlueNinja says

  looks absolutely perfect. just the way i like my steak.

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  MrGado says

  Great Recipe! the result was fantastic; however, I mixed in some cooked onions and mushrooms...

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  japzkyootipie says

  what type did you use for the photo? does the meat need to be cooked until a certain temperature or is it pretty safe to have it so red...

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  yongfook says

  this was a piece of sirloin. red meat is safe to eat cooked like this. just steer clear of undercooked white meat.

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  keungjai says

  and something else i heard was that you should try to eat red meat like this only if it is fresh.

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  MsNyanko says

  I like medium rare for sirloin

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  bohemian says

  Hmmm, medium rare & looks succulent. Just perfect. I've never try to do garlic mash before. It sounds interesting.

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  Nagarjuna says

  You, ALWAYS salt steak after cooking - while it is resting. Otherwise it toughens while cooking. I usually pepper and smear with a little oil and cook on a really hot griddle, salting afterward. Really no need for anything else with good steak!

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  Nagarjuna says

  You, ALWAYS salt steak after cooking - while it is resting. Otherwise it toughens while cooking. I usually pepper and smear with a little oil and cook on a really hot griddle, salting afterward. Really no need for anything else with good steak!

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  yongfook says

  ew, so you end up with a steak crusted with bits of crunchy raw salt? no thanks. I've never heard of a chef seasoning anything *after* the cooking process...

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  rachel says

  well actually the best way is to season the steak just before cooking (the moisture getting drawn out only really happens if you leave it soaking in the salt for a long time) AND after you take it off, before you let it rest. for seasoning after it's best to use fine grained sea salt, as - like you've noted - it's not always the best feeling to chew down on large grains of salt, unless of course you're talking about some perfectly pan-fried foie gras that's crispy on the outside and molten on the inside. a beautiful crystal of salt really elevates the flavour then.

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  KamanKaman says

  i cooked this for my bf's bday. He loved it! Shanks! :)

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  KamanKaman says

  oh yea, and i salted it like yongfook said before cooking. It was good.

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  ALIMONI says

  Looks and sounds delicious...will try it tomorrow!!

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  BagaHien says

  wow no smoke rings! how do you do thaaaat! i always sear my steaks, oven it, and then cook it some more to make it look like yours yongfook.

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  mcnee says

  japz... as long as the exterior hits the 160range it's ok. Most "bug" problems with whole cuts of beef are on surface. Thats why nobody does anything but "well" burgers anymore... there is surface inside the whole thing.

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  cubus says

  Looks like a delicious way to prepare a steak indeed. To add my contribution to the seasoning discussion. :) Normally I try to turn my steak only once, and I start to bake the 'presentation' side first, without any salt or pepper. While baking this side I start seasoning the 'raw' side. By doing so you get a nice piece of baked meat without any burned pepper pieces on it, and by pooring the butter over it you add enough flavor to both sides... Thanks for sharing

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