What a meal.
Speaking as someone who’s spent years searching for the best technique to cook steak at home, I must say I think I’ve found it. It goes without saying that you have to start with decent meat. USDA Prime if you have money to burn, Choice if you don’t. And of course the “well-marbled” cuts are most flavorful, which means you want some fat in there folks. Rib eye is great for this. It just so happens that Costco has Choice cuts of rib eye for a good price; that’s what I was cooking up tonight.
Eschew the sauces and overbearing seasonings. You want to taste that cow flesh, not a marinade that would be just as good on cheap steak. If you’re going to spend the money on a good cut of beef, don’t hide the flavor with sauces and whatnot. Salt and pepper, that’s it. If you’re all about the marinade, fine: buy cheap steak.
Obviously going with a grill is a good option, but there again you’re faced with hiding some of the meat’s natural flavor with the smokiness of the grill. I went with the iron skillet on a gas stove, high heat. I have no idea how you’d get through this without a massive amount of smoke in your house. Deal with it. I had about three rooms filled with smoke. Smoke detector disabled, obviously.
I had a giant, fat cut of steak. Nearly two inches thick. So I cooked my steak about 15 minutes, 7+ minutes on each side. This produces an INCREDIBLE charred, crispy crust that seals in the juices, while leaving the center a warm rare. Red. So juicy and so good. This was the best steak I have ever cooked, period.
Because a good steak is such a rare treat for me, I went an unusual route with the pairing: two beers at the same time. In one glass I had Terrapin’s Monk’s Revenge, in another glass I had North Coast’s Old No. 38 stout. I wanted to experience two completely opposite beers with this masterpiece.
Monk’s Revenge is a first class example of a Belgian IPA. A glorious new style that combines all the best of spicy/phenolic Belgian yeast character with the best hops on the planet: American hops. Terrapin does a fantastic job of balancing the Belgian character with the IPA character. Top notch. And Old No. 38 is the best Irish dry stout you can buy in the U.S.. Guinness is such a bore up against North Coast’s work of art.
Although it will surely explode your brain, I have to tell you they were both earth-shatteringly good pairings. Two opposite beers, yet both went perfectly with this awesome steak. No weird off-flavors as I feared when combining the food with them. Each made the meal even more enjoyable.
I love it when a plan comes together.
Tags: Monk's Revenge, North Coast Brewing, Old No. 38 Sout, Steak, Terrapin Beer
April 7th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
So first off, I was excited for tips on how to cook a good steak indoors. I’m an apartment dweller and grill-less (although I’m in a garage apartment and my aunt, whose house I live behind, has offered use of the grill whenever I like). But I’m fascinated by the pairings. I tried Monk’s Revenge last time I was in Atlanta, and it is g-o-o-d. In fact, I’ve only sampled two Terrapin special projects, but I really enjoyed them both.
April 7th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I’ve experimented with steak at great length and suffered many disappointments. Part of that was trying to get the steak done enough to please my wife. She’s a “medium plus” kinda gal, and that’s just a really difficult done-ness to hit. By the time you have, you’ve more than likely turned a good portion of the steak to shoe leather.
But hitting a black, charred crust with a red center is actually really easy. And it’s soooooooo good. The high heat is key, and you have to be careful about what sort of pan you use. We have some Circulon and Calphalon cookware, which tells you in the documentation not to go past medium or so for fear of ruining the nonstick coating. So you need stainless steel or iron to crank it all the way up. I used some canola oil to keep it from sticking.
Maybe a good steak is flexible, or maybe i got lucky tonight. But this was one for the history books.