Give It A Rest

MacGyver Style Cooling Rack

One of the most common bits of advice that you can cull from the avalanche of cooking shows is to let a steak rest. You can take all the rubs, marinades, special grilling methods, thermometers and so on...toss them out the window. If you don't let your meat rest, you are going to end up with all the juices that you worked so hard to flavor and develop on the cutting board. Invest in a wire cookie rack, take a few skewers and make your own (see photo), lay it on top of your grandmother's scolobasta or just sit it on a plate for a while. The steak will reabsorb the juices, delivering the dining experience you intended when you spent your money on a quality piece of meat. Especially in dry aged steaks, where the meat is dehydrated from the aging process, it is critical to retain as much of the remaining moisture in the steak.

Salt And Pepper Steaks

A thought about steaks...At the root of 3BROS BBQ is Three Brothers Butcher, the original foundation of the store and the reason we smoke such high quality meat. Whenever I talk about the butcher end of our little shop and our dry aged beef the question I get asked most frequently is "How do I cook a steak like that?" This question is usually followed by the one that makes butchers around the world cringe "What's the best steak sauce?" I'll answer the less complicated of the two first...no steak sauce is the best steak sauce. Then I will proceed to describe how to cook a steak properly, the byproduct of which is a sauce of extraordinary magnitude.

Here is how I cook a dry aged porterhouse, or ribeye when I treat myself from Three Brothers. First off, its got to be at least an inch and a half thick, preferably two. Begin heating a 10-12 inch cast iron skillet on medium high heat. Pre heat your oven to 400 degrees. Pat dry the steak using paper towels. Rub kosher salt and butcher grain black pepper on both sides (enough so you can see the spice, but don't make it a powdered donut).

Pour a little olive oil in the pan and swirl around to coat the bottom. Place the ribeye or porterhouse on the pan, searing it on one side for 3 minutes. Turn over and sear another minute. Take pan and put in 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, depending on the oven and the desired doneness. Take pan out, remove steak form the pan and set on a cooling rack to rest.

At this point you have a dry aged steak seasoned with only salt and pepper, and its better than anything you can imagine.

For the sauce, take the pan, pour off excess oil, return to heat. Add one tablespoon olive oil into pan, add a half cup chopped onions, one clove chopped garlic, and perhaps some mushrooms. Saute until onions are translucent. De glaze pan with your choice of red wine or a dark liquor (I've used whiskey, rum, scotch, tequila etc) scraping up all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add a bit of stock (if you have it) or even a half cup of water (if you don't have stock) and reduce by 1/2. Swirl in a pat of butter to thicken. Pour over the steak.