A perfectly cooked pan-seared steak is always welcome. Perfectly seared on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside, and the rich meaty flavor is the dream for meat lovers.
Bring the steaks to room temperature about 1 hour before cooking. Pat dry with a paper towel.
Season generously with salt and pepper on all sides
Add olive oil to a large cast iron skillet and heat over high until it smokes. Add the steaks to the skillet, and do not touch them until you see the edges turning brown. 3 to 4 minutes
Wait do NOT TOUCH it :) it needs to sear
With cooking tongs, gently touch the steaks; if they move freely, then turn them over and cook the other side until you touch them with the cooking tongs, and they move freely in the skillet. 1 to 2 minutes
Once both sides are beautifully seared, stand up the steak on one side and then on the other with your tongs. You want to sear all sides beautifully.
Turn the heat down to medium and add the garlic, thyme, rosemary, and butter to the skillet.
Holding the handle of your skillet once the butter has melted, slightly tilt your skillet and start spooning the butter, basting, over your steaks. Continue basting your steaks for 2 to 4 minutes.
Remove the steaks and let them rest for a few minutes before slicing them.Sprinkle some Fleur de Sel over the steak before slicing or enjoying it, but of course, this is optional.
Always bring your steak to room temperature for at least one hour before cooking it. This will allow for better overall cooking.
Your skillet must be hot smoking in order to get that beautiful browned color you want, and achieve the perfect sear.
What ever you do, do NOT touch the steaks while they initially sear. The touching/moving around will stop the cooking and you will not achieve a golden sear.
Use cooking tong a must. Anything that will poke your meat is not recommended as it will allow the blood to run off and have the heat penetrate the holes and cook faster giving you a lobsided cooked steak.
Baste constantly to ensure that even cooking and flavor penetrates your meat.
Remove your steak slightly undercooked from your desire doneness. It will continue cooking once it is removed from the stovetop.
Once your steak is done, rest before serving or slicing it. Hard step to do, but while your meat is resting all the juices to settle. Not doing so all all your juices will out of your steak as soon as you cut into.
If you serve your steak sliced, do not make the slices too thin; otherwise, your steak will cool off quickly.
Slice steak against the grain and at an angle for an excellent presentation
Giangi's Kitchen provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as a registered dietician does not calculate them.