Off to IMHO.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Grilling over charcoal is the best way to go, but if you don’t have a barbecue, using the broiler of an electric oven usually works well. Put the oven shelf rack on the highest level, so the steak is right up near the top cooking element. Set oven to broil, only the top element should operate. Leave the oven door open an inch or so (hope you have a vent fan!)… Put the steak on a broiler pan, which pushes it up another inch towards the heating element. Cook for 3 to 5 min, flip over and cook 3-5 more min. Works like a charm.
I just had a particularly excellent 2 in thick filet mignon the other day, I fired it on my gas grill, it was pretty good but I wished I had the charcoal grill set up. I like to put a small amount of garlic salt and fresh ground pepper on the steak. The salt seems to tighten the surface of the meat and make it grill better. I also like worcestershire sauce applied to the steak before cooking, but you have to be careful when grilling, it tends to blacken too much if you don’t cook it slowly.
Very true. Personally, I every time I go to Salt grass steak house, I buy a couple of bottles of their seasoning(which includes kosher salt). I use thier seasoning on everything, including Ice Cream
bdgr’s TECHNIQUE is perfect, but I disagree with him (and everyone else) about the time for salting/seasoning.
Salt and fresh black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder (yeah, you can rub it with cut fresh garlic and onion, but I usually resort to a good-quality powder), and a VERY light sprinkling of dried oregano on both sides, then let the meat sit out and get to room temp for at least an hour. Follow bdgr’s directions from there on in: hot hot grill, sear, cook till done.
Christopher Kimball, author of THE COOK’S BIBLE and editor of COOKS ILLUSTRATED magazine, concurs, as do Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly, authors of THE COMPLETE MEAT COOKBOOK. The beef just tastes better when it’s pre-seasoned. And I’ve never had any problem with precious juices squirting all over the place just because I salted first.
Listen to the Ike man, boys and grills. You want the flavor cooked into your meat. There are exceptions as to which spices you want on the cut while it cooks but in general, season the meat beforehand. Harold Magee also advocates seasoning meat before cooking. Ever tried frying hashbrowns without adding any salt during the cooking process? The same goes for meat. Ike, you are nearly describing my own recipe for Arachera para Parilla. I use it in a wonderful Mexican seasoned steak sandwich. I’ll post the recipe here again just for grins.
This is one of the most satisfying sandwiches I’ve ever had. It is also one of the boldest and novel flavors you could hope for. Oscar at Holder’s Country Kitchen here in Silicon Valley taught me this one when I was a chef there:
It’s a sort of Torta con Aracherra para Parilla:[ul][li] Hammer flat a 3-4 ounce nugget of tri-tip[/li]
[li] Sprinkle with lemon juice[/li]
[li] Dust the beef palliard with;[list][] garlic powder[/li][li] onion powder[/li][li] white pepper[/li][li] salt[/li][li] powdered oregano[/li][li] mild chile powder (very light)[/ul][/li][li] Pan fry or broil the beef with high heat and melt some Jack cheese over it while finishing[/li]
[li] Make into sandwich with:[ul][] Toasted torta French roll[/li][li] Lettuce[/li][li] Tomato[/li][li] Avocado[/li][li] Onion (very light)[/li][li] Jalapeño rajas (optional)[/ul][/li]Mayo is optional but this is a sandwich that has no reliance upon it. Absolutely no mustard or pickles allowed.[/list]
Harold Magee also covers this as well. Heat tends to release the juices (i.e., water) in any food that you cook. Meat contains a large quantity of water. When you allow the cooked meat to rest before serving, the cut will reabsorb the released moisture. Otherwise the juices will merely end up on your plate if you don’t give the meat time to rest. This is why you always let a turkey rest for twenty minutes before carving it.
The sandwich sounds GREAT…the technique beating the meat (ooops) reminds me of the Argentinean restaurant specialty of serving what’s basically a beef wienerschnitzel alongside a pile of pasta marinara.
Great stuff (of course, in Argentina they consume steaks like Chicagoans eat hot dogs), and makes you wonder why we Americans don’t prepare more beef this way, rather than veal. (I guess chicken-fried steak is a variation on this, but it usually has a gloopier coating on it.)
Question on tri-tip: I read recently that this is a very popular cut of beef on the West Coast, but it’s not something that appears often in the rest of the country. What would be a good substitute? Round steak?
First off if you want to cook a good steak you need to be using a grill of some sort. And not the George Foreman Grill either. I set my gas grill to medium heat and for the most part I end up with a steak that is medium to medium well. Medium rare to me is a cool pink center and I just don’t like something that rare.
I use oil in most of my marinades. That seems to help keep moisture in the steak so I recommend it.
Marc
We sprinkle a large pinch of kosher salt on each side of the steak, along with good ground black pepper and garlic powder. The salt is the most important thing aside from the cut of meat. I likes it very rare, so gimme a thick strip.
See, I believe that simplicity has its elegance when it comes to steak. The goodness of the steak is inherent in the meat if you buy a good cut. Don’t try to pound flavor into the steak, because it is already there. Is that deep or what?
Just an opinion.
Scylla’s Steak Wasting.
I really appreciate your consideration in avoiding stepping on my penis - Spiny Norman
[sup][sub][sym]©[/sym][/sub][/sup] Jeg elsker dig, Thomas [sup][sub][sym]©[/sym][/sub][/sup]
It could probably take a couple of months to work my way through all of the ideas on this thread, and I don’t know if I will. But tonight I’m going to try the mat of onions on the grill that EvilGhandi posted.
I’ll let y’all know.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Step away from the oven and drop the steak!
Besides that there are some pretty fine suggestions here.
Now, I don’t know. It COULD be worth trying.
I know people in Seattle who SWEAR by cooking a whole salmon in the dishwasher.
You fail to mention whether they use Cascade or Jet Dry.
As to your question about tri-tip, Ike. The tail of a honking big New York strip would be the best, but you could also go with a chunk of thick cut Spencer or ribeye steak. London broil or sirloin would do in a pinch but you want the fat in there too for all that rich and tasty goodness. Cholesterol phobes feel free to piss off!
The onions were an interesting idea. I probably could have used a bit more (I used half of one white onion) onion. Just to make a real bed.
It certainly added some tang to the beef. I don’t know how soon I’ll do it again, but it was pretty good.
It did add some cooking time.
I’m very late getting here, and everything seems to be covered thoroughly except for one thing… to make the best steak, you have to start with the best quality meat possible. This is one area that you really don’t want to skimp on. If possible, get prime… if not, get certified Angus… if not, get choice… if not, consider chicken for dinner. And look over the meat before you buy it. Make friends with your butcher and pick his brain on what you should choose.
Once you have done this, follow the other advise (except for that foil in the oven idea) and you should be in beef heaven.
No truer words have been spoken. A dry aged cut of prime beef is a wonder all its own.
NOTE: Angus is available in both Prime and Choice, it is not a grade unto itself, but more like a brand name. Most of the steak I get is USDA Choice from Costco or Sams. I buy a whole ribeye from them, and have them cut it into 1 inch steaks. I get it for 4.43 a pound that way, instead of the 8 bucks a pound for choice ribey at most grocery stores. I eat a lot of ribeye. There is a place near here that sells USDA prime, but at about 13 bucks a pound last I heard, I just stick with choice. The only steak I buy is Ribeye, except for Zensters Chicken Fried Steak, for which I use USDA Choice sirloin. If you havent tried his recipie, it is truly excellant.
This thread reminds me of this thread. Steak lovers, read at your own risk. :eek:
bdgr, please give the Torta con Aracherra para Parilla recipe listed above a try. I know you’ll really enjoy it. And you are totally right about using a sirloin cut for the CFS recipe. Anything better is just gilding the lily.
A quick anecdote about Angus beef.
My highschool chums had raised an Angus bull on their hillside ranch in Lafayette, CA. It was range fed and finished with grain for the last few weeks. After helping herd it into the truck I was given a pack of steaks from the slaughter. When we cooked those steaks all of our dogs went nuts, whining and running around in circles. Yes, the steaks were rather tasty.