Medium Rare Steak and the Art of the Routine
When I make mistakes I use a lot of salt - 'cause salt makes m'steaks taste great... Barenaked Ladies, “Raisins”
I’ve been in Pueblo now for about two and half months. Like many transplants, I’m still trying to figure out what is my new routine. In Florida, I had a well-established pattern that included in no particular order: work, the gym, and delusions of self-grandeur.
Of course now that I’m in Colorado, everything is different. Somehow, I’m even more tired. I think this comes from a sense of no parachute. There is no one here to call on when things get bad. And invariably, they will. No neighbors, no friend group. Nothing. I remember once a story George Clooney used to tell about his father told him he’d pay for him to finish his degree, this way he’d have something to fall back on if the acting thing did work out. The younger man’s response? If he had something to fall back on, he would fall back.
The lesson here is clear: believe and move forward.
Of course, had I really believed, maybe I would’ve stayed in Florida, taken the FAU job and buried myself in HATM. But I think I needed a little expulsion to the mountains. An Odyssey, if you will.1
I’m actually working more here and the dog takes up most of my free time. I could complain, but I adopted him and that means his wellbeing is my obligation. And that means two hours at the dog park in the afternoon. Little dude loves to run.
But that means my schedule is all out of whack. And finding some semblance of Florida that I can have here in Colorado is crucial to me. One of the things I used to really enjoy doing there on the Treasure Coast was making a nice steak. But with the rise in the cost of meat (along with everything else), I largely stopped. But sensing this, I went to Costco this weekend and went HAM on meat.2
I have a hard time buying meat at the store. A good steak weighs about a pound meaning that if I make a meal, I’m spending at least $10 just on meat. And then I realize that the junk we get through a drive through window costs even more. Perception is a weird thing. Anyway, for your ease, I’ve posted my steak instructions below and yes, I realize this now reads like one of those goddawful recipes online where you read a freaking story before getting to the recipe. Alas.
The Steak
I’m a strip steak guy. I don’t really care for ribeye—it’s just too fatty. Filet is boring. But strip? Strip is where it’s at. Here’s how I do mine.
You need a cast iron skillet, avocado oil, kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and a lot of butter.3 Also a piece of cow. I prefer mine to be about an inch and a half thick and about a pound. This size I find to be ideal for controlling the quality of the cook. This recipe is a medium rare. You can modify for your tastes.4
I favor the reverse-sear method. Take your steak out of the fridge and let it sit for at least half an hour. You wanna bring it up to room temperature so that the muscle fibers don’t contract too quickly. At least thats what’s I’ve read and it works for me. Alton Brown has shown that you can actually use a frozen piece of meat and I’ve tried it and it’s alright but I prefer it this way.
Coat your steak in avocado oil. DO NOT USE OLIVE OIL. Olive oil will burn in the skillet. Then liberally apply salt and cracked brown pepper to the steak. Don’t worry about overseasoning—your steak can handle it. It should look something like this:
Get your oven preheated at 500 degrees. In the meantime, get that cast iron skillet going on hot. You want smoke coming from the pan.5 I actually place the steak with the fat side down for about 30 seconds to render the fat into the pan so that the steak cooks in its own fat. This looks and tastes cool.
Afterwards, lay your steak down on one side for exactly two minutes and fifteen seconds. Don’t touch the steak at all. You will produce a LOT of smoke so prepare for that. At two minutes and fifteen seconds, flip your steak. It will look like this:
At the conclusion of another two minutes and fifteen seconds, flip your steak and then add a couple pats of butter to the top and then stick the skillet into the oven for two minutes. Then pull it out, flip it, add more butter, and stick it back in the oven for another two minutes. (If you want a true medium rare, go for two and a half minutes on each side. Go three minutes for medium-well.)
At the end of the second two minutes in the oven, pull the steak from the oven and place it on a cutting board to rest. Add, yes, more butter to the top of the steak. And then let it sit for AT LEAST 10 minutes.6 It will look like this:
At that time, feel free to slice away. I actually like to use a variant of this knife that my stepdad got me last year. BBQ guys use it for brisket but I think it’s ideal for slicing steak. I paired mine with baby potatoes and asparagus that I sauteed in the steak juices. My cardiologist approves. Here’s the end product:
So that’s steak for ya. At least the way I do it. And I wrote a history of Florida from the perspective of cattle. So there’s your tie-in to this whole thing. If you try it, let me know how it goes. I think to think that it was a little taste of home out here. I hope you get to share your meal with someone you love. And if not, know that the #HATM community is there for ya.
If you didn’t get a chance last week, my friends Lauren MacIvor Thompson, Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, and Leah Lagrone dropped in for an absolutely terrific episode where we discussed Dirty Dancing along with the Reagan era, abortion rights, AIDS, and more through the lends of 80s feminism. As well as that soundtrack. Links below.
HATM this week
Its also Halloween soon and that means joining in for our annual Spooktacular. So join us on Amazon Prime this Sunday, October 29 at 8pm eastern for GET OUT.
Alrighty, well that’s enough tonight. Hope you’re well and thanks always for reading and supporting this thing we are building. More shenanigans soon.
J
It better not take ten years to go home. But maybe I should start thinking of Colorado as home. I dunno. It doesn’t feel like home. I’m not opposed to spending at least some time on an island with a goddess, though, so if any of you know Rachel McAdams, tell her I said hi.
I really have no idea what that means. It sounded better in my head but I’m tired and you’re getting the rough draft tonight. Congratulations.
I will only prepare steak via a cast iron skillet. You get the best crust and you have much more control over the meat.
If you like rare, great. Well-done? Terrific. It’s your food. Have at it.
You’ll probably want to disconnect your smoke alarms. Ask me how I know.
I swear to god if you touch this steak early after coming this far, I’m gonna send Pepsi to your house.