Cooking with Goodwin: Steak

I know I should be working on something else. I have it open in the background, aching to be noticed. No, not my book. I am afraid I am talking about hideous schoolwork, with its opinions and soul-crushing. But if I don't do this now, I'll never get around to it.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, where we can all spend time with our family at their house with their turkeys and fine china and place settings and, of course, grills.

Seeing as I live in an apartment and hate walking to our community grill (singular, but there's probably two), I am unable to really grill. Yet, I like steak. But without a grill, I am rendered steakless, like some sort of fish (note: fix analogy). This couldn't be further from the truth.

I will show you people how a simple student eats like a champion without having to deal with charcoal or propane or whatever. Keep reading to see how I, the amazing Goodwin, cook a ribeye with a cast-iron skillet. Fair warning, I have heard many ideas and rules on cooking steaks. I will break most of these rules.

Like the previous one, we need our ingredients.

Ingredients include steak and... steak. Oh, and the spices I guess.

That is a packaged HEB Boneless Ribeye. It cost about 5 bucks. Ridiculously cheap. I took it out of the fridge as soon as I turned on the oven. That's right, it is NOT room temperature! OH. MY. GOD.

Next, we get out our skillet (but don't turn on the burner yet).

Hello, skillet. You're the best thing on the planet. Yes you are! YES YOU ARE!

Why Cast-Iron? Because we're sticking this into the oven. We're going to broil (basically) the damn thing. Trust me, it will be fine.

BUUUUUUUURN!

Crank that damn thing to 500 (450 works, but my oven is cheap, so it fluctuates a lot.)

While you wait for it to heat, you're going to make a rub.

"WOAH! A rub?!! You should never put anything but salt and pepper on a great piece of steak, you heathen bastard! HOW COULD YOU?!"

Calm down. This is true. I would never put a rub on a great piece of meat. But this is a $5 random steak. This is NOT a great piece of meat. So shut up.

Anyway, I generally mix 3 tablespoons Lemon Pepper with 1 Tablespoon Seasoned Salt. I then add Garlic Powder and Onion Powder. Put about 1/2 Tablespoons of each. I mix all of this in a coffee mug, so I can shake it and let it mix well. It also lets me smell it, too, so I generally adjust it if necessary. Sometimes I add cayenne pepper, but I put that in everything. While the oven's still heating, I take a handful and rub it on each side until it's covered and then I let it just sit for a bit. The oven takes a while.

Spicy. And delicious.

 I almost forgot two ingredients. Olive Oil and Butter.

Oh my...

When your stove is at about 400, it's OK for you to turn on your burner to High. By the time the skillet is hot enough, The oven should be ready.

Throw in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and coat the pan well. The skillet will be hot enough when the oil moves quickly, leaving streaks like on the side of a wine glass when you don't buy cheap wine. It will also be hot enough when it begins to smoke. AS SOON AS THIS HAPPENS, throw in your butter (also 2 Tablespoons).

Sizzle sizzle..

It will melt quickly. Move it around a bunch so it coats the pan and mixes with the oil, too.

This will probably kill your goldfish or a small child. Only one is legal to cook in butter and olive oil though.

Ok, that's ready! Toss in the steak and watch it cook for 30 seconds (that's right. Only 30).

Sear, you bastard!

 After 30 seconds, flip it once. It should have a great sear on it.

Oddly enough, this picture is ALSO flipped. Huh.

Throw the entire thing in the oven for 4 1/2 minutes for medium rare, 5 1/2 for medium. If you like your steak rarer, less time. If you like your steak well-done, you have no taste and probably eat steak with ketchup. You bastard.

"OH MY GOD WE'RE BURNING ALIVE!!"

Why the oven? Because the skillet can only reliably cook one side at a time while the top is exposed. The oven's heat, however, will cook the steak from all sides at once, cooking the inside as well. This would be a great time to turn off the burner, by the way. I always forget.

SCIENCE.

I'm special on the inside AND outside!

Once your oven screams that there are burning children inside (or steak. I forget what I'm doing here), take the skillet out and throw the steak on a plate.

Ring around the rosie.....

Man, that looks good. But look at all of this extra butter left in the pan! What should we do... OOPS, I spilled it... all over the steak...

Good job, butterfingers!

Cover that plate in foil and set it somewhere out of the way. I use the microwave because my cat is a bastard who can't be trusted. Leave it sitting and covered for 10 minutes. This is the only rule I don't break.

Push a button! Burn down your apartment!

 What to do in that 10 minutes? I don't care. Make a side dish. I recommend potato flakes (cheap steak, cheap sides). They take about 5 minutes. By the time they're cool enough to eat, so is your steak!

 And that's it. Mine went a little long, though, but it was juicy and awesome with a tenderness that shouldn't come from cheap meat.

Cheap camera! And yes, the counter is always that messy.

Potato Flakes, steak, and Iced Tea. Great meal for a Sunday evening. I like to turn out the lights and eat it all while watching a movie, because I'm single, alone, and hate sharing.

Hope you enjoyed that thing you ate that wasn't steak.

No quick recipe this time. Just remember, when skillet and oil are hot, melt butter, throw in steak for 30 seconds, flip, put in oven immediately for 4-5 minutes, remove from heat, cover with foil, let sit for 10 minutes, eat.

That's all there is to it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a paper that I've put off for another hour...