how to: steak

There are perks to being friends with an honest-to-goodness trained-to-the-hilt chef-in-waiting. More so when said friend is working in a bistro and has a firm handle on the most important meal of all - steak. Chef Lex (as he is fondly known) & I have been friends since before he was any good at cooking. And so, when I got the message saying "Dinner. 7pm. Just come." I was in, no questions asked. Part for the promise of catchups, and part for the promise of meals-unknown.

My dining companions on the night included the ever-hilarious Alarice Thio (currently touring Asia, so get out to see her if you can) and her ex-flattie. And whilst Lex fired up his convection stovetop (in the figurative sense, of course), we dug into so pre-dinner mussels.

mussels in white wine

And, while we chowed down on the mussels, scooping them out of their shells with our fingers and trying not to drip all over the place, Chef Lex got to work on the steak. He's kindly filled me in on how it's done and oh-my-goodness. Best. Steak. Ever.

how to: steak

Ingredients:

The best steak you can buy
Salt & Pepper

Method:

start with steak

1. Start with the best steak you can buy. Sliced somewhere between 2cm and 4cm thick for best results. Chef Lex notes that any steak less than 2cm thick shouldn't be cooked using this technique.

line em up, pat em dry!

2. Line your babies up on a couple of layers of absorbent kitchen towel and then cover with another couple of layers. Pat the steaks dry of any excess moisture. This is particularly important where the steaks have been frozen then defrosted.

seasoning the steak

3. Salt & Pepper the top of the steak to your liking then stick them, seasoned side down, in a very hot pan. As that side sears, salt & pepper the other side and flip. Now quickly sear the sides and set your steak to rest on a foil-covered oven tray while you sear the rest of them.

{Note: this tends to get a little messy what with all the beef fat spitting everywhere and causing a ruckus. So Chef Lex covers the remaining plates of his stovetop & also his splashback with foil for ease of cleaning)

post-searing, pre-ovening

4. Once all your steaks are seared, pop them in a 220C oven for 4 minutes. At 4 min, check to see how well your steaks are done by pressing down on them. They'll continue to cook once you've removed them, so err on the side of slightly under, rather than slightly over. If the meat still feels soft & mushy, it'll need another couple of minutes.

5. Pull them out and rest for at least 10 minutes. Rest up to 15 minutes if your steaks are closer to the 4cm thick side of things.

iron, baby!

6. So these steaks? Served with a pat of anchovy butter (oh! swoon! die!), a healthy ladle of mash (ditto above) and some greens tossed in balsamic & olive oil to balance the lot out. Tell me you aren't feeling like steak by now and I'll dub you head vegetarian.