11 January, 2009

Steak My Claim

At one point, I was a decent cook. I wasn't anything spectacular, but I could cook up a pretty good meal. That was back in Tulsa. I learned quickly that when I only have myself to cook for, I don't. I need someone to cook for. And while I've had the occasional friend stop by or short-lived-significant-other to entertain, it just hasn't become a regular habit again. (kinda tough to talk people into driving 30 minutes out to the burbs just because I want an excuse to cook duck)

But the guilt over eating crappy food has finally broken me. The money I've spent on restaurants, fast food and out-of-the-box meals from the grocery store just can't be ignored anymore--especially when it's really too easy to cook a simple meal.

So, in addition to trying to revive old recipes that were staples in Tulsa (which I've come to realize are generally not all that good), I've been immersing myself in the entire catalog of Good Eats.

Alton Brown is a damn genius. Food + geekness + basic gadgets + simple recipes = happiness. One of the episodes reminded me of one of the most basic methods to cook steak--the cast iron skillet.

I stopped by the grocery store and found a pretty good NY Strip and cooked it up the other night. I didn't plan to go all Mister Frost, but once I saw it on the plate, I just *had* to take a picture.



Holy hell. That was the best steak I can remember having. So good. So easy. Salt, pepper, oil and 10 minutes. (and to think that this meal cost me about the same as a bacon cheeseburger and fries from Whataburger--not even a contest) That's going into permanent rotation.

2 comments:

Candice said...

I think we are all realizing we eat out too much. We tried the steak last night, not bad. I think our steaks must have been thinner then yours because they were too done and a little dry.

greenGuru said...

Too done and dry? Sorry to hear that. I actually had to increase my cooking time because the first time it was a bit under-done for me. The last time, it was cooked to a good medium. I think they were about an inch thick--just about what I would normally think of for a NY Strip.

However, I don't have (but will soon get) an oven thermometer. There's a chance that my oven is way off and therefore giving us different outcomes with the same recipe.