Greetings, Culinary Jocks! What’s on today’s menu, you ask? Steak. It’s an American classic. The word brings to mind a juicy flank, slightly steaming, and cuts like butter. When the soft wedge hanging from your fork crosses your palette, it melts in your mouth with a savory flavor of a hint of char, salt, and pepper. The taste itself begs the question: How hard could it be to make a mouth-watering steak?
In reality, it isn’t that hard at all. On the other hand, when I tried out the following recipe, I learned that it isn’t that hard at all to mess it up either. Therefore, in the interest of avoiding a complete and utter disaster in a kitchen that I’ll have to clean up later, here’s a recipe to start us all off followed by what I did wrong.
Red Curry Flank Steak:
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon red curry powder
1/2 teaspoon red curry paste
1 (1 1/2-pound) flank steak
1 bunch fresh basil
So, we’re going to pretend for a second that I know what even half of those ingredients are (frozen dinners were invented for people like me. You know, the kind of people who are totally dependent on their parents when it comes to any sort of cooked food). Here’s where the rules of thumb start popping into play…
Rule #1 for not messing up steak is: Follow. The. Recipe.
Apparently, the writer of the above recipe meant it when he recommended curry powder AND curry paste. I figured how about we try chili powder and butter. The effect, while not horrible, was just not what I was looking for.
Moving on.
Naturally, of course, I did try to follow the rest, but I got to wondering why I was getting all technical. I imagined the smell of fish sauce mixed with vinegar and realized those were NOT two great tastes that go great together a la the Reese’s candy ads.
And then it hit me…
HUZZAH!
Why not make my own original cooked steak strategy? If it was my own made up approach (highly influenced by all those episodes of the Food Network I’ve drooled over), how could I possibly mess it up? Creative control! That’s what I needed!
Huzz…ah? Ah? Ah…Yeah…apparently I only have one original idea a day. But, the rules come easy.
Rule #2: Practice makes perfect, people.
Actually, that’s not remotely true. That’s a cliché my Karate Master uses just to get me to work harder after I’ve messed up the form for the 50th night in a row. But I shan’t give up! I shan’t! Because that’s admitting defeat and admitting defeat is just not done. My Karate Master said that too. However, seeing as I’ve already failed…ahem…a few times…telling you a simple method that finally worked for me might be in all our best interest.
GRAB THESE INGREDIENTS
Butter is your friend…preferably the fully salted kind.
Break out the salt.
Break out the pepper.
Like it were manna from heaven, pull the steak from its wrapper and place it on a large tray or plate.
And then in this order…
Turn your oven on to about 375 degrees, and get out the aluminum foil and a large oven pan for later. Glass or metal is fine.
Put about a ½ cup of butter (that’s a stick) in the biggest skillet you can find, and melt it on just below high. Swirl it around so it doesn’t burn.
While it is melting, rub salt and pepper onto both sides of your steak. Be generous, but sensible. You know what too much salt tastes like on popcorn. And not even butter can save you if there is too much salt.
Drop the steak in the skillet with a pair of metal tongs, and listen for a sizzle. Don’t use your mother’s wooden salad tongs…. she’ll crab at you about germs.
At the two minute mark, flip that beautiful meat over for another two minutes to get a nice sear on both sides.
NEXT…
Get your oven pan, and gently drop the steak into the pan. Then, lovingly drown that steak in the butter leftover in the skillet. Trust me, it will thank you later with its flavor for that warm bath.
Cover the steak with aluminum foil. The foil should not touch the steak.
Place the steak in the oven for 8 minutes to cook it medium well if it is a 1” steak.
FINALLY…
After 8 minutes, and using an oven mitt, pull the steak pan from the oven.
Pull the aluminum foil back gently while using your oven mitt.
Breathe in deeply…that smells good!
Wait a second. Frown, and ask yourself: How do you know it’s done? It’s actually an important question. E. coli is not your friend.
There are two methods for knowing when a steak is done. The first one is highly recommended by everyone.
You use a meat thermometer and you make sure that your meat is at 160 degrees before you dive right in. OR—
You can also eyeball when meat is done coupled with a quick press in multiple places. Raw steak is ‘spongy’ when you push it. On the other hand, a well-cooked steak feels firm to the touch.
Now is the moment! You can cut right into it immediately because that ‘let the steak rest’ advice is really just a myth. Hey, I read that in a book. It can’t possibly be wrong? Here’s a picture:
Well, maybe you’d rather let it rest while you dip your plates for a yummy side dish. Baked potato, anyone?
Bon apetite!
Image credits:
http://www.homewetbar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/how-to-grill-steak.jpg
http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_resting_meat.html
Sources:
"Amazingribs.com." Amazingribs.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
"Red Curry Flank Steak Recipe." Allrecipes. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
"Steak Recipes : Food Network." Steak Recipes : Food Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.
