I'm a steak and potatoes kind of girl. Whether it's rib-eye, new york strip, or filet mignon I'll eat it all! And who doesn't love potatoes? baked, mashed, fried, sauteed, grated, the list goes on and on. I love the simplicity of this dish and the satisfaction you get after eating a good steak.
At the store I found some good thin rib-eyes. Get whatever looks best or has the best price that day. You want the beef to be a bright red and no blood should be pooled at the bottom of the packaging. It's always a good idea to be friendly to the meat guy because friends don't let friends buy crap.
If you don't have a ton of time to cook the potatoes, you can start them in the microwave. Poke them with a fork and put in the microwave on high for about 5 minutes. Then finish in the oven for about a half hour to get that delicious baked taste.
Want to make this meal extra fancy? Make a gravy! While the steaks rest add 1/2 cup beef stock and 1/2 cup red wine into pan you cooked steak in. Scrap up all brown bits on the bottom of the pan and let liquid reduce by 1/4. Add 1/3 cup of cream and allow to cook 2 more minutes. Pour over steak when ready to serve. I was lazy and didn't do this but it adds a lot of flavor.
Ingredients:
Steak 1 per person
Russet potato 1 per person
salt and pepper
steak/grill seasoning if you have it
butter
olive oil
Directions:
1. preheat oven to 350-375
2. Wash russet potatoes and poke with a fork. If you don't do this they will explode in the oven so POKE THEM WITH A FORK!!!
3. Place on a foil lined baking sheet. Cover outside in olive oil and salt.
4. Place in oven and cook for about an hour to hour and a half depending on size. They're done when you can really easily insert a knife into the potato and feel no resistance.
5. When potatoes are about 1/3 done pull the meat out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temp. A cold steak and a hot pan are not friends, so don't make them meet!
6. When potatoes are very close to done lower oven temp to 200 degrees and season steaks with olive oil, salt, pepper, and grill/steak seasoning.
7. Using a really hot heavy skillet or cast iron pan place steaks down for about 3 minutes. Don't touch the steaks. Let them form a crust. This step will probably cause a lot of smoke so turn on the ventilation and open a window.
8. Flip steak over and let cook for another 2 minutes. Put a pat of butter on top of each steak and place pan into oven and allow to finish for 4 to 5 minutes for medium rare.
9. Remove steak from pan and place on a plate. Cover with aluminum foil and let rest for a minimum of 5 minutes. You have to let the meat rest so the juices can redistribute. The steak will still be hot and even more delicious.
10. Serve steak and potatoes together on a plate. Feel free to add other veggies like mushrooms and onions, broccoli, green beans, squash, anything that sounds good to you. Adding lots of sides can stretch your steak and make everyone feel much fuller.
what would you recommend if i don't have a cast iron skillet or an oven-proof frying pan? because the frying pan i have said that it was oven-proof when i bought it, but i don't really trust it. i've put it in the oven before to finish off omelettes... but never with steaks.
ReplyDeletealso, would you say it tastes better when started on a skillet or on a grill?
great questions pauline!
ReplyDelete1. If you don't have an oven proof skillet you could put a casserole dish in the oven to come to a low temp. Then pull it out and place the steaks in it and put it back in the oven to finish. You won't get as brown of a crust but the steaks will still be juicy.
2. If the grill is electric, I don't think there's going to be much of a difference. Charcoal or wood is a different story. The smokiness would probably infuse in the beef which would be good but still finish it off in the oven. It doesn't matter what kind of charcoal or wood you use because the unique flavors of each wood take a long time to get into the meat and your steak would be toast by then so it doesn't matter.