grilled out yest with some friends and had a good meal for the 4 of us: 2 lbs of shrimp, 3 lbs of filet mignon from whole foods

tried the presalting method for the first time
my friends grill is kind of ghetto, but did a good job despite lacking the heat for a crazy sear


prepped the shrimp with a cajun/blackening rub. brushed some extra oil from my friends spicy peppers/prosciutto thing he had


salted the steak with coarse sea salt and let it sit for a bit


rinsed and dried them and decided bacon was a good idea


delicious shrimp appetizer



steak that steak



washed out old-timey iphone camera so the color is lacking in the pic, but you get the idea


side note this chocolate cheesecake was legit amazing

the fact the guy rung up our beef as flank steak making it 9$ a pound was a nice touch great success

Get a wagyu steak. Primo!

just add fries and this is my idea of heaven!

Made this recipe last night:

http://www.esquire.com/features/guy-...recipe-ll-1107

Turned out amazing although I love a hanger steak. Process for pan searing the meat on high in a cast iron pan followed by basting in butter works great.

Looks good, but for bacon wrapped fillets I prefer to render the fat from the bacon before grilling for a crispier bacon.

lol @ all the discussion about how to cook scrambled eggs... it's really not rocket science.

Step 1: Put eggs in pan, stirring constantly

Step 2: Don't overcook them

Gordon Ramsay - "Every time we get a new cook in the kitchen, we always ask them to make scrambled egg, and if they can make the perfect scrambled egg, you know they know how to cook properly."

Yes I've often hear of chefs being tested on making an omelet or something very simple.

Finally learned how to grill a perfect steak.


Season steak as desired. For me its a little coarse salt and pepper. Allow to come to room temperature over about 30-45 minutes on a plate.

Stack charcoal on one half of grill and light. You are creating a direct heat zone and an indirect heat zone. Direct zone should be as hot as possible.

Throw steak directly over hot coals and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Move steak to indirect zone and finish by cooking until temperature on inside is as desired. For me its about another 3 minutes on each side to get a good medium on a thick steak.

Allow to rest for 5 minutes before eating or cutting. You should be able to tell the doneness with a thermometer or the firmness test by feel.

zero

I made steak frites with porterhouse and bearnaise sauce last night.

Two-inch-thick porterhouse:



Cooking:



Resting:



Sauced:



For anyone who doesn't know what bearnaise is, it's like hollandaise (eggs benedict), but based on a white wine vinegar reduction of crushed peppercorn, shallot and dried tarragon, then at the end you add fresh finely chopped tarragon and chervil.

Eagerly awaiting the "nice job ruining a perfectly good steak with sauce" crowd.

That does look absolutely delicious... But yeah I would prefer not to have the entirety of the surface area of steak covered in sauce. Some with, some without you know?

The steaks on this page look awesome. 2 posts up what kind of fries are those? They dont seem like standard grocery store fries that usually suck.

otnemem - dude, that looks awesome.

If you have time, would you mind posting the recipe with pretty detailed instructions? I would like to 100% replicate your meal.

Also are you still doing the aspiring chef thing?

-Al

I'm not pursuing cooking for a living anymore. I'm a copywriter by trade, so let's say I've been applying my love for food to my career.

As for the instructions, here goes. Let me know if you have any questions.

Fries
1) Peel russet potatoes and cut into whatever thickness you like. I think mine are around 1/3 inch. That way they get crispy but still stay a little fluffy inside.

2) Put the cut potatoes in cold water. Drain the water, then refill with cold water. Do this three times total, then refill with cold water one more time to store fries.

3) Meanwhile heat a bunch of veg or peanut oil in a high-sided saute pan or stockpot. I use a candy thermometer and heat it to 325.

4) In batches, dry raw potatoes on paper towels, then fry until they're soft and just starting to take on color. Remove and drain on paper towels. (Make sure to bring oil back to 325 between batches.)

5) You can now leave your blanched potatoes for as long as you need - store in the refrigerator it's going to be a while. While your steak is resting (later) refry at 375 until browned and crispy. Drain again on paper towels and toss with kosher salt.

Bearnaise sauce
Make the reduction
Put 20 ml of white wine vinegar and 40 ml of water in a small saucepan with about two tablespoons minced shallot, 1/2 teaspoon crushed peppercorns (crushed with side of knife) and 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon. Boil until reduced by 80%. Strain. (It should only be about a tablespoon and a half of liquid.)

I make the actual bearnaise just before searing the steak. The sauce will hold for a little while, but not too long. If it gets too hot it will break and be useless. I pan-roast the steak - three or four minutes on each side in a hot cast iron pan, two minutes on the fat strip, then into 400-degree oven for five or six minutes (all depends on the size of the steak).

Making the bearnaise
Making bearnaise is sort of complicated, and not exactly easy. Once you know how to do it, it's pretty easy, but it can be hard to get right the first time.

1) Put one egg yolk, shallot reduction and 10 ml water in a metal bowl. Whisk to combine.

2) Set up a double boiler. You need a saucepan that's slightly smaller than your bowl. Fill it with about an inch of water and bring to a light simmer.

3) Place your bowl with combined ingredients over the softly simmering water. Begin to whisk, being very wary of overheating (you don't want to scramble). Constantly pull the bowl from the heat and whisk off-heat, then return to heat, to maintain temperature.

4) Create a sabayon. Whisk the mixture until it forms soft peaks. There is a proper temperature for a sabayon, but I can't find it right now. The mixture should thicken considerably, but still appear light.

5) Once you reach the right consistency, turn off the heat to the double boiler. Begin to slowly add 100 ml clarified butter, drop by drop, to the sabayon, whisking to create an emulsion (if you don't know how to make clarified butter, a quick google search should yield the information you need).

6) Continue to whisk clarified butter into sabayon, still slowly but not drop by drop - in a steady stream. You will still need to remove the bowl from the saucepan from time to time to regulate temperature.

7) After all butter is added, set saucepan to simmer again and whisk your sauce until it's thick like hollandaise. Add 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped chervil and 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped tarragon. Season with salt to taste.

After I make the sauce, I make the steak. As the steak is resting, I do the second fry for the fries and heat the bearnaise slowly over the double boiler.

Spaceman - I'm having trouble with this one. Not sure if that's an insult or not.

Axioma - it's all about smothering your fries in the bearnaise.

It looks like Paul Newman ate 50 eggs and then threw up on top of your steak. So it's somewhere between an insult and a compliment (Paul Newman!).

I like egg vomit, so...

looking for a good grill....any suggestions fellas?

propane obv

Thank you for explaining - I had no idea what you meant! And you're a generally awesome poster so I had to know!

otnemem - dude, thanks so much. Those are great instructions, I will follow them to a tee and let you know how it turned out. Looks delicious.

-Al

Weber Genesis. I don't own one but am considering it. You can't go wrong judging by the Amazon reviews.

Just a trip report. Read the entire thread, watched some Youtube videos (the Gordon Ramsey one twice), and cooked the steak according to a collaboration of the methods listed.

Went to West Side Market (popular local farmer market) in Cleveland with my girlfriend and got a $10 New York Strip steak. It was 1.10lbs and would feed me and her, we also got some green beans and fruit. I don't have a cast iron skillet and only have olive oil. So both were bummers, I know cast iron is better and I know an oil with a higher smoke point is better.

Background:
Never have cooked a steak in my life minus on the George Foreman. 24 now, realize that a medium steak from Applebees is better than anything I've grown up with in my life. Outback. OMG medium-rare? Yes. Delicious. Yes I was a shelted youth. Took a while to realize that medium-rare is good. Grew up eating well-done steak from my parents. Father dipped steak in ketchup. Mmm. Probably for the best figuring it was cheap steak and overcooked.

Assets:
1.10 lb New York Strip
Sea salt
Black pepper
Cilantro
EVOO
Butter
Hard-anodized Emerilware frying pan pre-heated to medium-high heat
Oven pre-heated to 350 degrees
Green beans
Pineapple
Cantalopue
Ste. St. Michelle Riesling
Wal-mart GreatValu Creme Brulee Cheesecake

Setting:
Pan and oven pre-heated. Steak at room-temperature for two hours. Seasoned with sea salt, pepper and cilantro. EVOO in pan. Steak thrown in pan. SIZZLE. Actually an obnoxious sizzle. Smokey. Would have have liked another oil here with a higher smoke point. 90 seconds. Turn. Nice char. Put some butter on chared up-side. Impressed with my non-stick Emerilware. 90 seconds. Put butter on new charside. Transfered to preheated 350 degree oven. One minute. Turn. One minute. Take out. Roll in aluminum foil and wait for 5 minutes. Cut into 7 large pieces to share.

So impressed with my medium-medium-rare steak. Nice and pink. Halfway decent crust.

Serve with green beans, fruit and Riesling. Also Walmart creme brulee was delcious.

Impressed with my decently cooked steak and total ~$20 cost of ingredients. Finished bottle of wine. Now a couple more drinks deep. Going to attempt relations soon with girlfriend.

This might be a stupid question, but you didn't put the nonstick pan in the oven, did you? That would be very bad for the pan.

Also, I know you said you didn't have cast iron, but nonstick is a pretty bad surface as far as getting a good sear is concerned. You can get a cast iron pan for dirt cheap. It's definitely worth it.

One thing I hate about Most American beef is Corn Fed. Get Grain fed for the best steak