You have 24 hours.
Call The Depot and ask for reservations. No? Call Acre. Still no? Breathe a sigh of relief. At least you won’t have to drop $70.
Remember what your mom said about your dad when they were dating?
“He was a mess, but he could make a mean steak.”
That’s going to be you on Tuesday. You’re going to cook for your significant other on Valentine’s Day.
You’ve aced the Digiorno’s and you’ve mastered the Bubba Burgers. No one can lay a finger on your ability to place a Willie’s Wings order in 20 seconds flat. But this is the real world now, and you have a pound of raw ribeye staring at you and you cannot let that cow die in vain.
The first step in your Valentine’s Day dinner adventure is to salt your steak for at least 40 minutes and ideally overnight. The salt will break down the muscle structure in the outer tissue increasing the steak’s ability to reabsorb juices during cooking.
Next, you’re going to get your pan (preferably cast iron) rippin’ hot and pour oil in it. The best method to determine if there’s enough heat is to drop a small amount of water in the pan. Look for the water to stay in drop form and skirt along the surface. Don’t bother with the butter until the steak has been cooking for about six minutes. Butter’s low smoke point (the temperature at which it will break down and begin smoking) will cause it to burn. Along with the butter, add some herbs such as thyme or rosemary and aromatics like shallots or garlic.
A word of warning—there’s going to be smoke. A lot of smoke. Do not be afraid; this means you are doing everything right. If there’s too much you can turn down the heat a little. It might also help to cover your smoke alarm with tin foil or plastic wrap while cooking, as long as you uncover it once you’re finished. An incessant beeping can be a mood killer but not as much as burning the entire apartment complex down.
The absolute best way to check if your steak is done is to use a digital thermometer; a perfect medium-rare is 130°F. However, if you must, you can cut the steak open to check and gauge its doneness. Just know that it will look much rarer than it actually is which allows for easy over cooking.
It will be tempting to eat it immediately, but wait. Resting for 10 minutes allows for the steak’s muscle structure to relax causing the juices to be reabsorbed by the muscle fibers. This is the perfect time to get your candles set,queue up Kind of Blue, and pour two glasses of the finest box of wine money can buy.
At this point the sides don’t matter. Choose anything you want. Your significant other will be so impressed by your steak that you could serve up Bob Evans potatoes and he/she won’t even notice.
From now on, you won’t think of cupid as a sniping cherub, but now as a gorgeous cut of pan seared meat.
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