Stupendous Steak

Sometimes your body gives you a signal that it needs red meat. This isn't a recipe, rather a collection of tips that I have found useful.

1) You get what you pay for. Do not buy beef on sale and freeze it. Do not buy a lesser cut because it's bigger. Cheap meat has it's time and place. I am a big fan of saving money and can generally be seen perusing the $3.00 off section. But, when we're having steak...no no no. Pot roast - yes. Ribs - yes. Steak - NO! If you REALLY have to save money do it elsewhere. Buy a smaller steak or cheaper wine.

My choice - Canada AAA strip loin. You just can't beat the New York.

2)Naked baby! Well almost naked. Here is where Rye will disagree with me. He loves to marinate his steaks usually with a flavoured oil and vinegar concoction. In my opinion he's nuts. If you want oil and vinegar with your steak have a salad. The whole point is to savour the fantastic flavour of beef and a marinade alters that. I am also opposed to those expensive rubs and for God's sake - please don't use BBQ sauce. Keep it simple.

My choice - Hy's seasoning salt

3) Fries with that? Yup, I know it's gauche but fries are my choice over mashed, garlic toast or baked potato. I like really super crisp shoe strings done in the oven. I also like a fresh, plain salad on the side - nothing that takes away from the beef.

4) topped with - sauteed mushrooms of course. The easiest version is to get butter really hot in a frying pan and dump the chopped fresh mushrooms in, salt and pepper. Delicious. However, if you want to get fancy they are fantastic with sherry added to that and simmered down.

5) Method Man. The BBQ is the best choice but in the middle of winter it's just not gonna happen. I tried my Foreman Grill once and found I just couldn't monitor things properly. Under the broiler - no way, besides the fries are in there!

My choice - the frying pan. I get it super hot and add the steak (the pan will be oily and hot already from the mushrooms). This can get smoky so you might want to open a window or have a fan going. I like to sear a hard crust on the outside of both sides and keep an eye on the edge to see it's doneness. I like a steak rare so I watch for about 2-3mm of brown to creep up the edges of in inch thick steak. Flip and do the same. Remember...take the steak off early...it can always go back on if it's underdone. Let it sit on the counter for at least 5 minutes where it will continue to cook and absorb it's juice. This isn't soup...the point isn't to serve it hot. The point is to serve a juicy steak and cutting into it right off the grill is suicide.

With a bottle of red wine and some expensive chocolate for dessert - this can make any man fall in love ;)

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