[MidniteSpecial]

Looks great.

I've been putting my steaks in a ziplock bag with Tons of crushed garlic, cilantro and lime with some salt and pepper too. I let it sit over night and cook it in the early afternoon. The taste is amazing.

[Veloce]

When I saw that article was written by a short-haired chick I thought, "This is fuckin horseshit".

But I gotta say, she nailed it. That is, step by step, what I was trying to convey in my original post. Thanks for the link.

For anyone wondering, this isn't "my" method obviously. This is a method used in many restaurants by many chefs and cooks, popularized by Tom Colicchio years ago (Before Top Chef) when he opened his series of Craft restaurants. I staged there in NY ages ago. Hundreds of cooks passed through those kitchens which is why you see the same method being used by many different cooks and chefs. There were (and still are) many techniques used in his kitchens that are considered the Gold Standard in cooking; vegetable cookery, fish, proteins, starches. He himself learned it in France, so we have them to thank for proper meat cookery.

He's got two cookbooks I'd recommend, "Craft of Cooking" http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Cooking-Reci...of+cooking
and "Think Like a Chef" http://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Chef-To...ike+a+chef

[lebensfreude]

(02-23-2014 12:50 PM)MidniteSpecial Wrote:  

Looks great.

I've been putting my steaks in a ziplock bag with Tons of crushed garlic, cilantro and lime with some salt and pepper too. I let it sit over night and cook it in the early afternoon. The taste is amazing.

I do something similar when I have some unused steak I need to freeze. Rubbing it with a little olive oil and spices before freezing them in a vacuum ziplock bag works well for me.

[TheChef]

As a fellow chef, I applaud your article. I like that you added the key tip of hitting the steak with butter, garlic and herbs (I go for rosemary rather than thyme)

The one part I'm unsure about is the "flip the meat" every minute approach. If a cut of steak is 1" or less, why flip it continually? It cooks so quickly, and my goal is always to get the fastest sear possible before getting a nice medium-rare temperature. I usually cook for 2-3 minutes per side and call it a day.

My boy Jamie likes flipping every minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46eRIxVxkG8

[Jaysive]

That's a damn good looking steak, beauty.

[Veloce]

(02-25-2014 01:19 AM)TheChef Wrote:  

As a fellow chef, I applaud your article. I like that you added the key tip of hitting the steak with butter, garlic and herbs (I go for rosemary rather than thyme)

The one part I'm unsure about is the "flip the meat" every minute approach. If a cut of steak is 1" or less, why flip it continually? It cooks so quickly, and my goal is always to get the fastest sear possible before getting a nice medium-rare temperature. I usually cook for 2-3 minutes per side and call it a day.

My boy Jamie likes flipping every minute: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46eRIxVxkG8

Heston Blumenthal did a good segment regarding this on his show "In Pursuit of Perfection", a principal he learned from Harold McGee. When you flip meat frequently, the exposed side gets a chance to cool down, allowing you to cook the meat more gradually even if it is a thinner cut. In this manner you're actually able to get a better sear than if you just flipped once like classic rhetoric teaches us.

Great video and worth checking out the whole thing, but skip to 26:00 to see the part I'm talking about.

[Gunner]

Two questions:

1.- Is it possible to make this steak in stainless steel? Or it MUST be cast iron?

2.- Do you have a nice mushroom or potatoes recipe to have at a side? Something like Spanish "champiñones al ajillo"

Thanks!

[samsamsam]

Just cooked a steak in bacon grease, 2 mins on each side on a cast iron skillet, then baked it at 400 while checking the temperature with a thermometer (one of my best investments recently). Cooled for a few mins wrapped in foil. Also baked some grilled onions and a jalapeno.

Delicious.

I maxed out the bacon grease, first I backed the bacon, then took the bacon out of the pan and threw some eggs in there, got the most perfect sunny side up eggs ever (dropped some oregano and parm on it), then used the grease on the steak (I strained it).

Good day so far

[eradicator]

What is a good way to prepare the skirt steak for carne asada tacos? You seem to be against marination, aside from salt and high quality vinegar and just using prime meats.

Carne asada tacos can be fantastic when using good quality items, (so can pollo asada, i sometimes just get the pollo asada from trader joes and heat it up, add it to cut orange peppers, avacadoes and tomatoes, and it's amazing). For the carne, I assume just get good quality skirt steak and prepare the same way you do in the original post in this thread? or perhaps something different?

[Praetor Lupus]

I appreciated the method, both for the phrase 'kitchen pirate' , which would go on an apron if I cared to wear one) and for the swearing. You can't talk or write about cooking a steak without some fucking swearing. And definitely with the butter. Nothing wrong it it at all.

But my thoughts:

1) Turn once a minute? Every 10-20 seconds at least, for exactly the reasons you described.
2) Try skirt steak. It tastes beefier than regular cuts. I never bother with rump now; it tastes like shoe leather. Skirt is very lean; I have a ribeye now and again but mostly it's skirt all the way.
3) And, generally, fuck sauces. Some salt and pepper and it needs nothing else.

[heavy]

Damn, I'm hungry now.

Question: How do you clean a cast iron pan? I looked it up and they talk about the pan's "seasoning" and concerns when cleaning.

[komatiite]

(03-04-2015 09:59 AM)heavy Wrote:  

Damn, I'm hungry now.

Question: How do you clean a cast iron pan? I looked it up and they talk about the pan's "seasoning" and concerns when cleaning.

Cast iron care:
http://www.derekoncastiron.com/2008/10/c...e.html?m=1

Great blog for simple recipes as well, too bad this guy seems to have stopped writing.

Edit- he suggests oiling with canola oil but as per Veloce you should avoid that oil type, i have been oiling with rice bran oil but in the past I've done this:
Heat at 200 to open pores
Rub a super thin layer of solidified crisco shortening on
Cook at 400 to basically bake it on then leave in oven for an hour then shut off oven and let pan cool overnight

Sort of a quick way to cheat a layer of seasoning on if you do it over time. Learned that from Martha Stewart

[heavy]

A picture is worth 4 pages of posts...
   

(I didn't feel like buying a cast iron pan...this was just done in my all purpose non-stick pan...a thousand Hail Mary's to Veloce)

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

What's that on the left?

[Veloce]

(03-03-2015 02:40 AM)eradicator Wrote:  

What is a good way to prepare the skirt steak for carne asada tacos? You seem to be against marination, aside from salt and high quality vinegar and just using prime meats.

Carne asada tacos can be fantastic when using good quality items, (so can pollo asada, i sometimes just get the pollo asada from trader joes and heat it up, add it to cut orange peppers, avacadoes and tomatoes, and it's amazing). For the carne, I assume just get good quality skirt steak and prepare the same way you do in the original post in this thread? or perhaps something different?

Definitely not against marination when it's for skirt steak and especially carne asada. I'll marinate skirt steak in lime juice, orange juice, a little beer, salt, pepper, and I'll make a paste of garlic and cumin in the mortar and pestle and mix that in. Marinate it overnight. I know a carne asada place that makes some of the best I've had...their meat had a depth of flavor that stood out, and I could tell there's a secret. Turns out it's cocoa powder, they put a little bit in the marinade. I haven't tried it yet but next time I make carne I'm gonna try it out.

Carne asada is one of the few times I'll cook meat well done. I'll get a charcoal fire as hot as possible and char the shit out of the meat before chopping it up taquero style and loading up some tortillas. Make sure to have a really good arbol chile salsa and some guac.

[Veloce]

(03-04-2015 02:47 AM)Praetor Lupus Wrote:  

But my thoughts:

1) Turn once a minute? Every 10-20 seconds at least, for exactly the reasons you described.

In restaurant kitchens I'd agree. When I would work meat stations I'd flip more frequently.

But my original post was written for home kitchens, and I find that when I flip that often at home, I don't get the same browning because of the lower heat output.

[heavy]

(03-09-2015 11:19 AM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  

What's that on the left?

Potato with cheese

[MMX2010]

Veloce: Thanks so much for this thread. I used your methods to cook a rib steak, and I liked it very much - but I have a question.

Should I be cooking on HIGH heat or MED-HIGH heat?

I used high heat and felt that, with practice, I could get a medium rare steak instead of the medium well I got. Or I could reduce the heat and give myself some leeway with regard to flipping and cooking time. Which do you recommend?

[CodyB]

It looks interesting, but a rib eye that rare would test super fleshy? I'm strictly a medium rare guy, but with a super thick steak I'll oft op for medium.

I like to cook a 250-300g piece of Scotch Fillet.

I'll rub it up with cajun seasoning, pepper, minced garlic and then base it with olive oil, I'll put i on my barbecue grill at 300c (about 600f) for about 2 mins each side.

It's very easy. If I get stuck with a stove on the fry pan, I'll quickly make a gravy with the juices, a bit of beef stock and red, red wine.

[Veloce]

(03-10-2015 10:38 PM)MMX2010 Wrote:  

Veloce: Thanks so much for this thread. I used your methods to cook a rib steak, and I liked it very much - but I have a question.

Should I be cooking on HIGH heat or MED-HIGH heat?

I used high heat and felt that, with practice, I could get a medium rare steak instead of the medium well I got. Or I could reduce the heat and give myself some leeway with regard to flipping and cooking time. Which do you recommend?

Really, it should be as high as possible without too much smoke coming out of the pan. Some smoke is fine, it's what you want. Good indicator the pan is hot enough. But if there's tons of smoke it means you're getting close to the flash point and igniting the pan is definitely not what you want, you'll get some nasty, acrid flavors.

If your steak came out overcooked it means it either spent too much time in the pan, or the steak is too thin. It's going to be hard to get that really nice deep color on a steak and medium rare inside if it's a thin steak. At least 1" thick is ideal.

[Veloce]

(03-11-2015 10:02 AM)CodyB Wrote:  

It looks interesting, but a rib eye that rare would test super fleshy? I'm strictly a medium rare guy, but with a super thick steak I'll oft op for medium.

I still remember this steak I cooked years ago. American beef is different than what is commonly available in Europe. Typically has more marbling. This steak was melt in your mouth. I do know what you mean by "fleshy" but this steak wasn't it.

[MMX2010]

(03-11-2015 10:17 AM)Veloce Wrote:  

If your steak came out overcooked it means it either spent too much time in the pan, or the steak is too thin. It's going to be hard to get that really nice deep color on a steak and medium rare inside if it's a thin steak. At least 1" thick is ideal.

The steak was definitely too thin, probably a half-inch or less. Thanks very much for your answer.

It tasted excellent, but I imagined your stern disapproval while eating it because it wasn't even close to medium rare.

[Veloce]

Ha, I don't care man. I can't tell you how many times I've had people cook for me and say shit like, "Well it might not be up to your chef standards but..." I'll eat anything. You learn after doing this for a while that food is nourishment, first and foremost. I'll eat almost anything. The number one crime in my book is wasting food. Something's a little overcooked? Fuck it. Down the hatch it goes. If you can absolutely nail something; a perfectly cooked steak, a perfectly risen souffle, perfectly cooked rice, properly cooked vegetables, then bravo. Cooking is not always easy. There's nothing better than making something REALLY good, but it doesn't always turn out that way.

I fuck shit up all the time, it's how you learn. It's through your mistakes that you can recognize when things aren't cooking properly and taking the necessary steps to fix things, change the trajectory, and make something good. I struggled to grill some chicken last night (granted my outdoor light socket is blown and I was cooking in the dark) and I was getting fucking pissed. It still turned out perfectly but grilling chicken should not have required that much effort.

[Duke Castile]

I just cooked a rib eye this way but I didn't have any butter. I used a sweet pepper jam on the steak and it was damn good.

Next time I'll make sure to have butter.

[Veloce]

(03-12-2015 02:27 AM)Fisto Wrote:  

I just cooked a rib eye this way but I didn't have any butter. I used a sweet pepper jam on the steak and it was damn good.

Next time I'll make sure to have butter.

I'll head over