This is a story about how I went from only ever eating steak out at restaurants, to how I’ve ruined it for myself by learning how to prepare a steak so well, that expensive cuts in top restaurants now do nothing but disappoint.
It used to be the case that the only time I’d ever eat steak was when I was out for dinner somewhere, simply because I didn’t know how to prepare a good steak myself.
It was always totally overdone and chewy.
Or completely chargrilled on the outside and cold and blue on the inside.
It was frustrating as hell because I am a HUGE meat fan.
Then one day I stumbled upon the “Sexy Time Steak” recipe Tim Ferriss talks about in his book The 4 Hour Chef, and my life changed.
This is what the finished product will look like for you
Bear with me through this, because even though it might SOUND complicated and like a long drawn out process, I promise you it is simpler and more straight forward than you can imagine, and the results are literally mindblowing.
THE INGREDIENTS
– 2 Rib Eye Steaks
– Salt & Pepper
– Fresh Rosemary Sprigs
– Clove of Garlic
– Butter (I would say the grass fed kind, but we’re in Ireland, so what else is there?)
Next week you’ll see a blog post about how to make the perfect sweet potato fries and a delicious muddled lime and mint drink to wash it all down with
The entire process starts about 2-3 hours before you want to eat the steak, so think about things in advance. All good things go those who wait, and you can’t rush this.
Step 1. Dry brine the steak
Cover one side of the steak with sea salt and place in the fridge salt side up. Leave it there for 30-45 minutes so the salt can pull the moisture out of the steak, and be reabsorbed in, flavouring and tenderising the meat.
Once the time is up, rinse the excess salt off the steak and pat it as dry as possible with kitchen towel. Getting it VERY dry is crucial.
Step 2. Season & ‘freeze’ the meat
Chop your half clove of garlic in half, rub one side of the down with the chopped up clove. Add sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
Elevate the steaks so the air is free to flow all around them – I usually put them on straws / pencils over a chopping board, or you can use a steaming rack. Place it into the freezer for 40-45 minutes.
Your freezer is the driest place in your house, and all the moisture on the surface of the steak will be dried off, which sets the stage for a beautiful sear once it hits the pan.
Step 3. About 5 minutes before your 45 is up – turn your pan up to high heat and preheat your overn to about 90-100deg. The low heat allows for a slow cook, incredibly flavoursome meat, and a large margin of error your first time out with timing etc. Open up some windows or turn on your extractor fan because things are about to get smokey.
Step 4. Throw your steak onto the pan (griddle works best) and leave it for 45-90s per side until the outside has a solid sear on it. You can add some butter to the pan beforehand if you like, but it’s going to be so hot that it will mostly likely just burn anyway.
Step 5. Place the freshly seared steak on a bed of rosemary with a knob of butter on top of each.
The rosemary and butter will add some beautiful flavour to the steak as it cooks, and the rosemary can be used to mop up any excess juice during the cooking process to recoat the steak after it’s done.
Place in the oven for 15-30 minutes (or until done to preference).
WARNING: if you try and rush this by turning the oven up, or if your oven has poor temperature regulation, this step can get messy and destroy the steak. So watch it carefully. If you’ve a probe thermometer you can use that too, apparently around 57deg celsius is about right there. But I’ve never used that method so can’t comment.
Step 6: Once it’s cooked, grab some rosemary and mop up all the juices that are left over and ‘paint’ both side of the steaks with it. Throw it on a cutting board, slice it up, serve it with whatever you want and enjoy the absolute hell out of the best steak you’re ever likely to have.
Make sure you check back on the blog soon, because next time I’ll be showing you how to make PEFECT sweet potato fries, and a delicious muddled mint and lime drink which goes perfectly with your freshly prepared steak.
I’m not saying this WILL get you laid every time, but it at least triples your chances of a successful encounter.
(…or taken another way, which is typically my dilemma, if you’re bored with nothing else to do, you make as well cook and prepare an amazing meal for yourself rather than melting your brain with crappy television shows and continuous refreshing of facebook in the hopes something has happened!!)
This is DEFINITELY my favourite meal to eat as a “treat” when in hard training.
Curious to see what we do with our clients? You can book a free personal training session with us where we’ll have a chat about your goals, discuss your background and problems, go thru some mobility drills and fixes to any problems you have, before taking 30 minutes to run thru the basics of squat, bench press and deadlifting too.