Great steaks

[Menolly]

Cail's right. The trick is butter and, to a lesser degree, salt. I read Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and he says that many people ask him why home cooked food doesn't taste as good and rich as restaurant fare. His response; "Restaurants use butter and salt in large quantities and on everything!"

*nodding*

Which is why I like Montreal Steak Seasoning. It has to be predominantly salt. I need to try spreading the butter and then coating the MSS on my steaks.

. . . still feel like I'm missing something.

Start with the meat. I cannot stress this enough. No amount of marinade, seasonings, or butter can make a steak graded at "Select," a good steak. Do not buy Select meat. And do not buy meat from Walmart! Go to Kroger, or a specialty meat shop (Chritchfields), and buy at least a cut graded "Choice." "Prime" is even better. Again, I cannot stress this enough. The meat is the whole point.

Also, which cut you buy is nearly as important as its grade. Cail is right about ribeyes. They have the best flavor, in my opinion. You want one with even, plentiful marbling. Fat is essential to the flavor, texture, and "juiciness" of a steak. But you don't want big globs of fat. You want marbling. In fact, meat is graded in the slaughterhouse by an electronic "eye" which analyzes the degree of marbling. (Kobe steak--the best in the world--looks like a freakin' bar code!)

:::smacking self in head:::

I always forget this is not obvious to everyone. Malik is absolutely correct here. Especially about Wal-Mart meat. Horrid saline-injected stuff.

I do find Choice cuts to be acceptable. Even when I make a festive meal (like Chr-stmas dinner for FIL) I buy Choice standing rib roasts as I can very seldom find Prime grade meat, much less afford it.

Hyperception and I prefer NY Strip over Ribeye, but a good Ribeye is a beautiful thing...

[The Laughing Man]

got a flyer in the mail the other day.....

Trump Steaks

cha-ching!

[dlbpharmd]

I grilled hand cut filets, bought at a local butcher, and (as Menolly was saying) coated the filets with butter prior to rubbing on MSS.

Menolly, do you have a recipe for any of the merlot based steak sauces that some restaurants use?

[Phantasm]

Best steaks I've had were at the Cattle Baron in Somerset West, South Africa. Bloody gorgeous.

Do lots of different cuts, and sauces.

[Menolly]

Menolly, do you have a recipe for any of the merlot based steak sauces that some restaurants use?

I think the wine reduction I have a recipe for calls for cabernet, not merlot. I can search for a merlot reduction if you wish...

I've gotten where I prefer a bernaise over any wine reduction on steak, if I must have any sauce though. I generally think the balsamic steak marinade I posted earlier, which is what I generally use, doesn't need a sauce with it.

LMK if you want me to search for a recipe, dlb.

:::although, why do I suspect BGB may just happen to have one up his sleeve:::

[Cail]

I have a Big Green Egg www.biggreenegg.com/ -- a ceramic smoker which can be used to properly sear a steak. What i do is get it up to about 700 degrees, the sear the steaks for 1 min 30 secs on one side, then the same on the other. them I damp the hear and griill them for about 2 mins a side

Ohhhh, you just saved me a ton of arguing at my divorce hearing...The ex gets to keep my gas Weber, I'm getting one of these suckers! If you can get yours up to 700 degrees, that solves the searing issue that Malik mentioned. What do you drop your heat to when you damp it, and what does the inside of the steak look like?

Malik says the truth; buy a $3/pound piece of meat, and that's exactly what it's going to taste like. Ditto with the cooking, I don't see how (or why) anyone can eat a well-done steak. Seasoning is a personal choice. Sometimes I go nuts with various rubs and wacky marinades, other times I cook 'em naked (the steaks, not me), and sometimes with just a bath in Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and garlic.

[Zarathustra]

I grilled hand cut filets, bought at a local butcher, and (as Menolly was saying) coated the filets with butter prior to rubbing on MSS.

Menolly, do you have a recipe for any of the merlot based steak sauces that some restaurants use?

The way you cut meat has nothing to do with its grade, as far as I know. It grade is entirely dependent upon the fat content, fat distribution, and the age of the cow. And fillets are a waste of money, in my opinion. Again, that's an issue of personal taste. But I agree with Cail that a ribeye is the best bang for your buck.

I'm sure that there are many good marinades out there. And they probably produce a satisfying flavor. But remember--that flavor isn't the flavor of meat. I like to taste my steak, not the marinade. I like as little as possible to intervene between me and the beef. Sure, pepper/salt/garlic aren't originally in the meat, either. But I find these classic flavors, used for millennia, have been around a long time for a good reason: they bring out the meat's flavors, rather than disguise it. YMMV.

[Cameraman Jenn]

Honestly, I just like a little salt and pepper on a ribeye. I also like em quite rare.

[Zarathustra]

Honestly, I just like a little salt and pepper on a ribeye. I also like em quite rare.

Exactly! I've been decreasing the amount of garlic powder I use over the years. I prefer 4-3-0.5 parts pepper, salt, garlic. And yes, quite rare.

[Menolly]

:::raises hand:::

"Quite rare" is never rare enough!! That's why Pittsburgh is the way to go for me. Sear the outside, practically raw so it is still blue inside, and I'm a happy camper. This is why I need to try the butter and MSS method. I suspect the dripping butter will help the flames flare up and sear my steaks quicker so it stays even more rare on the inside.

:::no wonder why I love dragons:::

[Cail]

I used to be a medium/well guy, 'till I screwed up one night and undercooked my steak. The grill was already shut off so I just ate the bloody thing.

Now I'm hooked.

[Avatar]

I read Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential"...

Great book.

--A

[bloodguard bob]

Mrinade shmarinade, if it's a good cut of meat put it in a bowl, put some veg oil on it then lots of salt and white pepper.You don't have to worry about too much cuz it'll fall off on the grill. The last restaurant I worked the folks always asked what the marinade was and I had to tell them there was none. Now if it's more flavor you want then make a sauce or gravy. Strictly speaking a meal is an appetiser, meat, veg, starch, and sauce.

And yeah, KC great book. If anybody wants to really get down to the nitty-gritty on how meat and everything else is cooked, I mean the real science and history of it, then check out ON FOOD AND COOKING:The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, by Harold McGee. It may blow you away the way it did me.

[Brinn]

Very Cool BGB! I'll pick that one up today!

[Cameraman Jenn]

There are two steaks, inch thick ribeye steaks waiting in the fridge for BGB and I to savour tonight.

[bloodguard bob]

Very Cool BGB! I'll pick that one up today!

Neat. It used to required reading at the San Francisco Culinary Academy before they were bought by some crummy conglomerate. It is quite a read and I have to say it's my favorite book, although I've loaned it out to two people who never got past the second chapter, chefs both of 'em.
And yeah, ribeye tonight! Woah!

[lucimay]

ummmm. bloody red beef. nuthin better. sauces are fun on occasion but i love my steak (like Cail said) NEKKID!!

and tho i have traveled a bit and had steaks just about everywhere i've been (including Paris) still my favorite place to have a good steak dinner is Columbia's Steak House in my home town, Lex, Ky. <sigh>

[Menolly]

I've been told even with top graded beef, nothing beats a steak from the midwest. Would this steakhouse use midwestern beef, Luci?

[Cail]

I'll agree with the Midwest thing. Best steaks I've ever had were in St. Louis.

The meat was ungodly tender.

[Menolly]

Which is the supposed reason behind the ung-dly prices of Omaha steaks. I've never tried them, so I have no idea if they're worth the prices charged.