Steak

I don't eat a lot of meat. Mostly because I don't eat out a lot, and I don't want to have to take the time to watch what I'm doing because of contamination issues.

But, sometimes, you just want a steak.

This is the steak I wanted to make: Pan Seared Rib Eye

Alton's easy recipe and trusty perfectionism led my wide-eyed, steak making virgin soul to the butcher counter at Whole Foods, where I was promptly disillusioned. There was no way I was paying $24.00 for a steak to serve two college students, I don't care how amazing it is.

I eventually came home with $7.00 worth of Top Round. Top round, top round, how do I know that name, I thought...

Oh, yes, that's the (in my dad's words) "cheap, tough, and dry" cut of meat he uses to make beef roast.

Fuck.

Solution: Marinate!

Marinated Top Round Steak

1 1/2 pound top round steak

Lots of balsamic vinegar

Olive Oil

Garlic, chopped

Salt

Buttah

Lots of freshly ground Black Pepper

A cast iron skillet

At least 3-4 hours before take out a big GLASS bowl and throw that lean piece of beef in there. Cover it completely with balsamic. Yeah, I'm not kidding. Buy the cheap ass not-really-Balsamic Balsamic for this ... not that you can really find real Balsamic in your local grocer's aisle anyway. The vinegar part will break down the connective tissue and the sweet part (even if it's not authentic) will make the steak taste good. Add chopped garlic, a glug of oil, and lots of salt . Let this marinate in the fridge until dinner time.

THEN! IMPORTANT: an hour before you cook, take the steak out of the fridge and marinade and let it rest on a plate to come to room temp.

So, you're ready to cook. Preheat the oven to 400. Now put so much pepper on that steak you think it may suffocate. Now, put more on. You really can't put too much on. I didn't need to salt this steak because I knew I overkilled the marinade. You may have a different situation.

Heat up your cast iron skillet until it's really hot. Add a bit of oil. Put that sucker pepper side down and then pepper the other side. Don't move it! Three minutes or so later, flip it.

Three minutes have passed again, and your steak is super caramelized and wonderful, but I bet the inside isnt perfectly cooked, so put all of it, including your skillet, in the oven. Unfortunately, you are just going to have to figure out when it's done.

Better to stay on the rare side with this cut. It IS a tough, lean steak. Overcook it and it's bound to not taste too good. Thinly sliced is best, and a tab of butter doesn't hurt either.

I'm glad to say my first steak turned out wonderfully.

It was eaten along-side Lemon-Oregano roasted potatoes and sauteed chard. It looked a lot like that photo above before cooking.

-R

Costolette Panino/Peanut Butter Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

In Time Out New York's Cheap Eats edition, the "I'm officially obsessed..." went to Bar Tano in Brooklyn and their Costolette Panino, a sexy combination of beef short ribs, mozarella, and onions.

Of course, instead of going there, I made it myself.

I slow cooked beef round all day in broth and spices until it was super moist and completely shredded and piled it on a sandwich with homemade lemon/herb aoli, sauteed red onion, cheese, good mustard, and tomato. Then slathered butter all over it and pressed it in my cast iron skillet! YES!

ALSO made were chocolate peanut butter cookies with a surprise peanut butter center. Sea salt on top. DOUBLE YES.

-R

Cheap Meats

The cheapest cuts of beef and pork are usually the ones that are easiest to cook, albeit take the longest. Stew them!

You probably wouldn't want to eat a small bowl of stewed beef as a snack, but then again, you aren't me.

Topped with a touch of sour cream.

All you have to do is bring some stock to a boil with the tough, cheap chunks of meat included. Then, reduce to a simmer. An hour or two later you'll come back and the meat will still look like jerky and you'll say to yourself "man, will this ever work?". Come back two hours after that. Oh yes, the most succulent melty meat you've ever had.

-R