![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Pan Fried Steaks
3/7/11 06:27 pmLast night everyone felt good enough finally to enjoy the steaks I wet-aged a couple weeks ago.
I bought 3 nice sirloin steaks on sale for $3.50 a lb, each one was about a pound. Looked up aging them, and the only realistic way to age a steak at home is to cut off as much fat as you can, bung it into a ziploc bag, and throw it into the refrigerator for a week or so. You put it on the bottom shelf, in the very back -- it's coldest there, and the temp doesn't vary as much.
You squeeze out as much air as you can, and check the bag every day or so, turning it over and squeezing out any air. When you're ready to cook them, you take them out of the bag, rinse them off, pat them dry, and cook.
Of course we all got sick the weekend I was going to cook them, so we just stuck them in the freezer.
Well, yesterday was Steak Day. Thawed them out, and looked up how to pan fry a steak. It's incredibly easy, and boy were they tasty.
PAN FRYING STEAKS -- makes 3 steaks
Put 1 T olive oil in your pan, and spread it around the bottom and up the sides with a paper towel. Heat it over medium heat until a piece of fat sizzles immediately when you put it in.
Season your steaks with fresh ground pepper and a pinch of garlic powder, then put them in the hot pan. They'll sizzle and make all sorts of noise, but let them sit there without messing with them for 6 minutes for medium rare, 7 minutes for medium well. Use this chart and a meat thermometer to determine the doneness.
DONENESS TEMPERATURES
Rare remove 125 eat 130
Medium rare 130 135
Medium 140 145
Medium well 150 155
Turn them and cook the other side for the same amount of time -- add time if necessary until you reach your desired level of doneness. Remove from the pan to a plate, cover with aluminum foil, and let rest while you prepare
BEURRE ROUGE
1 shallot minced fine
1/2 cup red wine
1 T balsamic vinegar
5 T cold butter or margarine
Stir the shallot into the hot pan with the juices from the steak; saute over medium heat for a minute or so, just until the shallot picks up some brown color.
Deglaze the pan with the red wine and vinegar; cook until the liquid is reduced by half.
Add the butter one tablespoon at a time, stirring until it is completely incorporated before you add the next. If you rush it, you'll make the sauce break, which isn't pleasant.
Once all the butter has been incorporated, spoon a couple spoonfuls on each steak, and then serve. The sauce will be very thick and dark.
I swear, this was the best steak cooked at home I've ever put in my mouth. Tender, flavorful, juicy, and the beurre rouge made the flavor just blossom. Don't skip the beurre rouge, please do make it. You won't believe the difference it makes. I put A-1 Sauce on top of the whole thing, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
I'll still insist on Longhorn for Big Ol' Piece O' Meat Day (otherwise known as February 14), but now I know how to make a perfectly tasty steak at home, too.
I bought 3 nice sirloin steaks on sale for $3.50 a lb, each one was about a pound. Looked up aging them, and the only realistic way to age a steak at home is to cut off as much fat as you can, bung it into a ziploc bag, and throw it into the refrigerator for a week or so. You put it on the bottom shelf, in the very back -- it's coldest there, and the temp doesn't vary as much.
You squeeze out as much air as you can, and check the bag every day or so, turning it over and squeezing out any air. When you're ready to cook them, you take them out of the bag, rinse them off, pat them dry, and cook.
Of course we all got sick the weekend I was going to cook them, so we just stuck them in the freezer.
Well, yesterday was Steak Day. Thawed them out, and looked up how to pan fry a steak. It's incredibly easy, and boy were they tasty.
PAN FRYING STEAKS -- makes 3 steaks
Put 1 T olive oil in your pan, and spread it around the bottom and up the sides with a paper towel. Heat it over medium heat until a piece of fat sizzles immediately when you put it in.
Season your steaks with fresh ground pepper and a pinch of garlic powder, then put them in the hot pan. They'll sizzle and make all sorts of noise, but let them sit there without messing with them for 6 minutes for medium rare, 7 minutes for medium well. Use this chart and a meat thermometer to determine the doneness.
DONENESS TEMPERATURES
Rare remove 125 eat 130
Medium rare 130 135
Medium 140 145
Medium well 150 155
Turn them and cook the other side for the same amount of time -- add time if necessary until you reach your desired level of doneness. Remove from the pan to a plate, cover with aluminum foil, and let rest while you prepare
BEURRE ROUGE
1 shallot minced fine
1/2 cup red wine
1 T balsamic vinegar
5 T cold butter or margarine
Stir the shallot into the hot pan with the juices from the steak; saute over medium heat for a minute or so, just until the shallot picks up some brown color.
Deglaze the pan with the red wine and vinegar; cook until the liquid is reduced by half.
Add the butter one tablespoon at a time, stirring until it is completely incorporated before you add the next. If you rush it, you'll make the sauce break, which isn't pleasant.
Once all the butter has been incorporated, spoon a couple spoonfuls on each steak, and then serve. The sauce will be very thick and dark.
I swear, this was the best steak cooked at home I've ever put in my mouth. Tender, flavorful, juicy, and the beurre rouge made the flavor just blossom. Don't skip the beurre rouge, please do make it. You won't believe the difference it makes. I put A-1 Sauce on top of the whole thing, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
I'll still insist on Longhorn for Big Ol' Piece O' Meat Day (otherwise known as February 14), but now I know how to make a perfectly tasty steak at home, too.
