I heart steak

I hate to admit it, but I have a secret crush in my life. I love steak. Beef beef beef. Yum!

Ralph's has NY strip steaks on sale this week, so I bought two. For dinner tonight I steamed a whole mess of farmer's beans (~10min) and then cooked one of the steaks. If you have time to plan ahead, you should really take your steak out of the fridge before you cook it, up to 30 minutes before hand, to let it warm up to room temp (or as close as possible). I heated up my grill pan and turned on the fan in the hood above the stove top. Then I rubbed my grill pan with an oil soaked paper town to lube it up.

I seasoned one side of the steak simply with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I could be picky and say use kosher salt and cracked pepper, but only if you are picky. I placed the steak, seasoned side down, onto the grill pan at an angle. While the first side was cooking I seasoned the other side with the same seasonings. I cooked each side for about 5 minutes till it was medium rare. Then I let the steak rest for a couple of minutes and ate.

Steak doneness:
I tell the doneness of my steaks by poking the with my finger. Yes, poking. Its really just a skill you learn over time. But I still fall back on what I learned the first time. If you make a loose and almost closed fist and press into the flesh between your thumb and your palm, that is roughly what medium to medium rare should feel like. If you open your fist a little, it will feel a little softer. If you close your fist, but not tightly, that is probably medium. If you slightly clinch your fist, then its probably medium-done. But really you need to do it the first time and find if you are correct.