GREAT Steak Recipe!

Savory K.C. Strip Steak

Last night was a good night for steak (or, as the BEP's William sings, a good-good night ~ love that song), so I broke out the flat iron griddle.  This fine piece of grilling cookware runs 2nd to the grilling love of my life; the charcoal powered Hasty-Bake, with the ubiquitous Jenn-Aire gas grill running a distant 3rd.  But, since there are not many days in fall/winter that are Hasty-Bake worthy, and I don't really like the gas grill, I have perfected quite a few fall/winter steak recipe's for indoor grilling.

Starting with a trip to Sam's to choose from their supply of steaks, a package of four strips was chosen.  I love Sam’s strip steaks, and their T-bones, and baby back ribs, and spare ribs, and tenderloins, and . . ., you get the picture; I love meat. 

Sam’s meat, while not grass fed, is the tenderest (or is it the most tender?) grain fed beef that I’ve ever found.  It has just the right amount of marbling, and the outer ridges are trimmed with just the right amount of fat for sizzling flavor.  Plus, it is Choice.  This is an excellent go between cut of beef.  It is not as great as Prime, but way better than Select, and Sam’s ‘Choice’ is priced lower than most stores selling the shoe leather tough ‘Select’ beef.

It’d been a typically difficult Monday.  Our crews were rained out from working on projects, but that doesn’t mean that there was no work in the office.  Plus, I needed a good workout at Gold’s, and had to meet with another insurance adjuster at our home in the afternoon too.  Coming home to cook a great steak, paired with a Sam Adams Oktoberfest was going to be just the ticket I needed to punch for the rest of my day.

So, for those of you needing a cooking lesson, here’s how to do it:

Place your steaks on a clean plate and allow them to come up to room temperature for one hour.  If your refrigerator is really cold, it might take 1.5 hours for them to come up to room temp.  Do not season them though at this point.  Just let them set, the juices will settle, and the outer edges will become prepared for the seasoning to come.

When the steaks are at room temp, turn on your flat iron griddle, and set to 375.  Also, place your meat presses (at least two) on the griddle so that they will heat up to the same temp as the griddle is, and at the same time.  One could argue for 350, but I prefer 375.  I like the first searing to be just a little hotter because the temp of the steak will cause the griddle temp to fall to 350 anyway.

For seasoning, my favorite recipe for flat iron griddle steaks comes from one of my Williams-Sonoma cookbooks, slightly modified with garlic.  ‘Ample amount’ means just right.  Too light, and you won’t taste it.  Too heavy, and that’s all you’ll taste. 

You can’t use “T” or “t” with these ingredients, as the various sizes of the steaks completely screws up the ratio of seasoning if trying to stay with the conventional measuring T or t.  A good rule of thumb with these seasonings is that after the steak has been seasoned, you’ll see about 40% red meat, and the rest will be covered with seasonings.

Season in this order (all ingredients are to be an ‘ample amount’, evenly hand applied, unless otherwise noted:

Ground Summer Savory or Thyme.

Ground Marjoram.

Kosher Salt (do not try it with regular salt).

Lightly applied Garlic Powder.

Then, using a pepper grinder, apply a generous portion of cracked black pepper (about 8 twists).

Pat steaks lightly to secure seasoning.

Turn steaks over, and repeat seasoning process.

There will be some seasoning left on the plate between the steaks.  Turn the steaks on edge and dab the fat edge onto the excess seasonings to pick up the leftover seasoning.

~

To cook the steaks; I cook my steaks to Medium.  Some steak aficionado’s believe that Medium Rare is the best way to enjoy a steak, but that’s just a little too cool for me.  Rare means raw, and if I wanted raw, I’d give you a cooking lesson in Steak Tartare.  And if you’re one of those guys that like their steaks well done, well, what can I say, you’re wasting good money on steak.

Anyway, your griddle and meat presses should be at 375 by now.  Place your steaks on the griddle, and apply your meat presses on top of the steaks.  This gives an immediate searing to both sides of the steak at the same time.  Searing is important as it seals in the seasoning, and helps to seal in the juices.

Set your timer to 6 minutes and leave the steaks alone.

Turn your steaks over, and reapply the meat press.

Set your timer for 3 minutes and leave the steaks alone.

Remove your steaks to a plate, and immediately cover with aluminum foil or a cookie sheet.  If you need to use a cooking thermometer, do so at this time, but you should know just by touching the cooked meat if it is the right temp on your fingertips.  (Wash your hands first of course).

Set your timer for 7 minutes and leave your steaks alone. 

While your steaks are setting, their juices are stabilizing/settling, and by setting them off to the side, it also allows the meat to finish cooking with the internal heat of the steak.

While your steaks are setting, this is a good time to sauté some spinach that takes about 2 minutes.  Sam’s sells an excellent Organic Spinach, already pre-washed.  It is very simple to cook.  Place a large skillet on the stove; cover the bottom of skillet with 1t of EVOO, and 1t of Organic minced fresh garlic (kept in a refrigerated jar).  Heat on medium-high, then fill skillet with spinach.  If you’ve never sautéed spinach, it takes an entire skillet to yield one large serving once it is sautéed.  Keep stirring the spinach until it is cooked soft.

Or, if you prefer salad with your steak, Sam’s also sells an excellent Organic lettuce mix.  I’m not going to teach you how to make a salad.  If you can’t do that, you’ve got real problems.

Open up a bottle of Oktoberfest (or your favorite beverage of the season), and Bon Appetit!

*Note to eater: Do not add A1, Heinz 57, or any other type of steak sauce to your steak.  If you do, once again, you are just wasting good money on steak, and you also wasted your time by following this recipe to begin with . . .