Ribeye steak, pan-seared
Ribeye is without a question one of my favorite cuts of steak. It has a much higher fat content than other steaks, which means more juiciness and more flavor. Personally, I'm not actually that big a fan of steak - I enjoy it, but probably not nearly as much as the price tag would dictate. This cooking method is not really specific to ribeye and works just as well for any other cut of steak.
Active Time: 15 min
Total Time: 15 min
Ingredients
> Ribeye steak
> Salt, pepper
> Oil, butter
> Thyme, rosemary, garlic
Instructions
1. Thoroughly dry the ribeye with a paper towel. Drizzle and spread a little bit of oil on all sides. Generously season the ribeye with salt and pepper. Make sure to season the sides as well.
2. Heat a cast-iron skillet over the highest heat setting your stovetop can muster. You should start to see a little bit of smoke coming from the skillet. Once this happens, place the ribeye into the pan. Sear the first side for a couple of minutes, until very well-browned.
3. Flip the ribeye, and sear the other side for a couple of minutes until very well-browned.
4. It's time to baste! Bring the heat down a bit and add a couple tablespoons of butter. Then add a couple of cloves of garlic, 4-6 sprigs of thyme, and a few sprigs of rosemary. Baste for about a minute.
5. Remove the ribeye onto a plate, cover with foil, and let rest for at least 5-10 minutes.
6. Once the steak is rested, serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> Almost all of our steps are garnered towards achieving an amazing sear on the outside of the steak. That caramelized sear is what gives the steak a lot of its flavor, as well as a nice contrast in texture. Drying the ribeye before using is a great way to achieve better caramelization.
> In order to achieve the perfect sear, a very hot pan is absolutely essential. A cast-iron skillet is good for this task because it retains heat very well. This does mean that your pan will smoke a lot. If your cooking environment has poor ventilation, this recipe will likely set off your fire alarm.
> Make sure to use a neutral oil with a very high smoke point. You should not under any circumstances be using olive oil.
> Ribeye has a relatively high fat content, and a lot of it will render during the cooking process. As such, I prefer to oil the steak instead of the pan, as it will avoid excessive amounts of oil in the pan later on.
> A lot of people would disagree with this, but you may wish to lift up the steak once or twice on each side for a second or two. This ensures that the all parts of the bottom are in contact with oil, and the resulting crust that forms is uniform.
> I know it's tempting, but it's really important to let the steak rest before digging in. If you cut in immediately after cooking, the juices will run out and the end result will be somewhat dry. Resting allows the steak to re-absorb those juices.
> As for thickness, you should try to use steaks with a thickness of 1 inch at the bare minimum. Something close to 1.5 inches or slightly less is probably ideal. If your steak is relatively thick, you may need to cook it for a few minutes in an oven before basting to ensure it's cooked all the way through.
> Again, a lot of people would disagree with me on this, but I prefer my steaks cooked a little bit closer to medium than medium-rare. At the moment, I don't really have a good strategy for determining the doneness of the steak; I kind of just hand-wave this. An accurate instant thermometer would be a great tool for determining when to take it off the pan. Medium-rare is 135 F, so you'd take it off around 128-130 F.