7 ways to make the best steak of your life
NEW YORK - Steaks are a treat, often one with a price tag to match. So when you do put them on the menu, make sure they have everything those commercials promise: The sizzle and sear, the dark brown crust, the fat and brawn. Start with these seven small tweaks, then experiment as you like until your
NEW YORK - Steaks are a treat, often one with a price tag to match. So when you do put them on the menu, make sure they have everything those commercials promise: The sizzle and sear, the dark brown crust, the fat and brawn. Start with these seven small tweaks, then experiment as you like until your favourite steakhouse is, well, your house.
1. Skip the marinade
Most marinade ingredients, besides sugar and salt, do not work their way to the meat’s interior and instead just sit on the surface. When the meat hits a hot skillet, the marinade on the exterior splatters, while any remaining in the bowl ends up down the drain. Is a marinade worth the ingredients, time and extra steps? Not typically. Simply pat your meat dry and cover all sides with salt.
2. Coat it with lots of black pepper
There is a reason beef and black pepper pair up in many classic dishes (Texas brisket, pastrami, pepper steak, steak au poivre). As the steak cooks, the peppercorns toast, growing darker and more intense, so it can cut through any richness and enhance the meat’s natural essence. When you season your steak with salt, add a few (or more than a few) generous grinds of black pepper. Opt for coarsely ground peppercorns (finely ground will burn more quickly), and massage them into the meat to help them stick.
3. Dot with compound butter
If you want to believe in the magic of cooking, swipe plain, softened butter on a just-cooked steak and watch a silky sauce form in real time. But mash seasonings, like garlic, herbs, citrus zest, green curry paste or blue cheese, into the butter and it will be so much better, as the butter’s fat and the steak’s heat amplify their flavours. Dot the steak with the compound butter as it rests on a cutting board, so the juices and butter mingle and turn into a low-effort, high-impact sauce. Serve more butter at the table.
4. Serve with an herb sauce
A bright, fresh, green herb sauce is everything a steak is not. So pair them. Any sauce made with olive oil, soft herbs (such as parsley, cilantro, dill or mint), acid (like lemon or vinegar) and maybe another punch like chiles, capers or scallions would be excellent – whether that is sauce rof, chimichurri or salsa verde.
5. Eat with tomatoes
That wheel of tomato on your burger or the pico de gallo on your steak taco is not just there for a pop of colour. Like herb sauces, tomatoes step in where steak falls short, offering bursts of fresh, sweet juiciness and accentuating steak’s savouriness without any additional richness.
6. Slice thinly and cook over high heat
Unlike cooking a whole steak, stir-frying thin slices maximises browning and allows every bite to soak up more sauce. Start by thinly slicing a well-marbled steak – such as sirloin, boneless short rib, New York strip or rib-eye – against the grain. For cleaner cuts, freeze the steak for 15 or so minutes to firm it up before slicing. Then, sear the slices at a very high heat. They will brown in minutes. There is no need to worry about the internal temperature – the pieces would be too thin to stick a thermometer into, anyway.
7. Use a thermometer
The easiest way to an excellent steak is not something you do, but rather something you do not: Not overcooking it. While there are many ways to tell if a steak is done – cutting into it, pressing its exterior – the soundest guarantee comes from using a meat thermometer.
For the most accurate reading, follow American chef Sohla El-Waylly’s advice and, using tongs to hold the steak upright, “insert an instant-read thermometer through the side of the steak into the centre”. As it rests, the steak will continue cooking, so aim for 49 to 52 deg C for medium-rare or 54 to 57 deg C for medium before transferring it to a cutting board. NYTIMES