Steakhouse at home

Sometimes when I eat out at restaurants I think to myself, "I could make this better at half the price..." That's how I feel about the steak at Black Angus, Outback, etc. These restaurants serve steak that is highly overrated- the meat quality is suspect, and the steak is doused in butter to mask this. Of course this is not the case for premium steakhouses such as Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak (amazing, but with a hefty pricetag.)

Occasionally I do crave a good steak. When I do, I like to have meat that stands on its own, with very simple seasonings. Recently, my family and I had a nice cut of ribeye with simple salt and pepper- yet it was amazing! Add a few great sides (we had garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed snow peas and carrots) and you have a meal that will blow Outback out of the water.

Look at the marbling on these!

Place settings

A nice cab complements the meal

Steak

Ingredients:

• good quality ribeye or other
• salt
• pepper
• canola oil or other high-smoking point oil (not olive oil)

Instructions:

1. Cut the steaks into individual portions. Coat the steaks lightly with canola oil. Salt and pepper liberally on both sides. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat a cast iron pan on high. When the pan is hot, place one steak in the pan and do not move for 1 minute. Turn the steak and cook for another minute. Using a spatula, brown the sides slightly. Place in a baking pan lined with foil. Repeat for each steak.
3. Bake the steaks for 5 minutes for medium rare, 10 for medium.

**Note: You want to make sure you have a good stove exhaust or at least an open window. Cooking on high heat will inevitably result in some smoke.