The Humble Steak

     I know, I know, "Steak? Really? C'mon man!"  I've chosen steak for my first topic for one simple reason.  Steak is recognized, uncontestedly, as the quintessential American dinner.  Eating a nice, fat, juicy steak is a truly wonderful experience.  While this may be true, it is also true that a lot of Americans can't put a decent steak on a plate to save their lives.  This I hope to change.
     Think about it.  Aside from some oil, salt, and pepper, it's all technique.  Good technique can make a mediocre steak exquisite, while bad techniqe can ruin a good one.
     Before we get to cooking, let's look at just what a steak is.  A steak is any cross-cut slab of meat, generally beef and usually between one and two inches thick, that is meant to be cooked quickly over high heat.  They are cut from large chunks of meat called sub-primals.  A steer has two of each of the following sub-primals:  chuck, rib, short loin, sirloin, round, flank, plate, brisket, and shank.
     Now we choose out steak.  I prefer the rib-eye, or eye steak.  It contains lots of intramuscular fat which melts when cooked, lubricating the muscle strands, making it oh so tender.  That's why this steak is excellent for beginner cooks and why it feels so juicy even if it is a bit overcooked.
     In my opinion, a perfect steak is one darkly seared on the outside with an interior cooked not one degree past 130 F.  While this can be accomplished on a grill or in a broiler, those are tricky propositions at best, especially with rib-eyes because all that intramuscular fat, when it melts, drips and tends to cause rather nasty flare ups in open flame environments.  So, your best bet is pan roasting; searing the outside in a hot cast-iron skillet and finishing the interior in the oven.
     Oh, and after you cook your steak to perfection, let it rest for at least five minutes.  Heat is like pressure, and cutting your steak before it cools a bit is akin to opening a spigot.  Just cover the meat in aluminum foil or a metal bown while it rests and it'll stay plenty warm.
     Okay, are you ready to cook now?  I hope so, because here we go!
You'll need:
Hardware:  a 12-inch cast-iron skillet
                  tongs
                  a colander
                  a metal bowl
                  a pot lid
Software:  2 boneless rib-eye steaks
                 1 teaspoon canola oil (enough to coat the steaks)
                 1 teaspoon salt
                 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (freshly ground, of course)
1)  Allow your steaks to come to room temperature for 1 hour.  (Trust me, it helps in the browning process.)
2)  Preheat your oven to 500 F and slide in your skillet
3)  When your oven finishes preheating, carefully move your skillet to your cook top over high heat for five minutes.
4)  Lightly coat the steaks with canola oil, then sprinkly with salt and pepper, place carefully in the skillet and do not touch for 30 seconds.
5)  Flip the steaks with the tongs (they keep the juices in the steaks, unlike a fork which releases them into the pan) and cook for another 30 seconds.
6)  Move the skillet back into the oven for 2 minutes.  Flip the steaks and cook for another 2 minutes.
7)  Remove the skillet to a heat-safe surface.  For medium-rare, the internal temperature of the steaks should be between 130-140 F.
8)  Allow the steaks to rest in a colander, set inside a metal bowl, covered with the pot lid for 5 minutes.
9)  For a fast and easy steak sauce, remove the colander and move the metal bowl (along with the drippings from the steaks) to the stovetop over high heat and whisk in a little butter.
     Well, now you've cooked a delicious steak and made a sauce for it.  It wasn't that hard, was it?  Enjoy!