Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Steak and mistake

Not having a grill, there are some foods that are just a challenge to cook. Like steak. So far I've got two methods.

1. Broil them. I get out my cast-iron frying pan and preheat it under the broiler, then drop in the steaks. I don't know if my broiler is underpowered or what, but if the cut is thick, it takes like fifteen minutes to get reasonably cooked, at which point it's kind of tough and still doesn't have that nice crisp caramelization on the outside.

2. Pan fry them in a little oil. This, in contrast, gets very caramelized on the outside and tends to be a leetle rare on the inside unless I joggle the precise level of heat. Also, the amount of oil spatter and smoke is really impressive. I forget it's going to fill the entire house with greasy smoke until it's too late and then usually the smoke alarm goes off.

For all that, it's totally worth cooking steak sometimes. It's also worth going out to eat it!

1 comment:

Joy said...

Gotta seer it in the pan before you stick it under the broiler. If you just do the pan, it makes a smokey mess. If you just do the broiler, it gets dry. If you seer (brown / caramelize) the outside, it holds the moisture in while you then broil or bake it to get it to the right "doneness". You can also wrap it in foil to hold more moisture in. :-)