Studio 5 Contributor Susan Neal has tips and tricks to pull of the perfect Steakhouse Steak with Mexican Corn on the Cob and Red Hot Onion Rings!
After an informal poll, I’ve decided that men eat quite differently than women. I’m generalizing of course, and having fun with it!
But go ahead and try. Ask the next man you talk to what his ultimate Man Meal is. Here’s what I got. Meat. Lots and lots of meat. And fried things. No salads or cooked vegetables, but corn on the cob doesn’t count.
So, why not give your man exactly what he dreams about while he’s eating your lovely, healthy chicken spinach salad. Steak. And in honor of our earliest man (the Neanderthal), we’re cooking a club steak. Just pick it up and eat!
3 Secrets to Perfect Steak House Steak
Secret #1 Room Temperature meat
Steak can be somewhat of a mystery; so many cuts, price points, cooking suggestions. However, no matter what steak you are preparing, always take it out of the fridge one hour prior to cooking it and leave it on the counter. Yikes! I know it’s counter-intuitive, but rest assured, your steak will be fine and so will you. Meat should be approx. 70 degrees.
Allowing the steak to ‘warm up’ will mean faster cook time, more even cooking and juicier meat.
Secret #2 Cook at very high heat
Most Americans bar-b-que their steaks, but those succulent, tasty steaks you get in a great Steak House do not have a line-up of bar-b-ques in the back alley. They have high temperature broilers, expensive broilers that we do not have in our humble kitchens.
But we do have two things that mimic that kind of heat. A cast iron pan (I like the ones with ridges, so it gets those cross hatch marks on it) and the highest heat in your oven (generally between 500 F and 550 F).
Half an hour before you are ready to cook, place your cast iron pan in the oven to heat up. Cast iron is very important here as it can handle the heat and hold it for a long time.
Pat steaks with a paper towel to dry off a bit. Season with generous amounts of sea or kosher salt. This is an essential step and will bring juices to the surface of the meat, making for an excellent sear. Add any additional seasoning if you’d like (I use a steak seasoning).
Remove pan from oven to a highest temp element on your stove. Be careful, pan is very hot. Brush a little peanut oil on pan. Place steaks in pan.
Cook 1 ½ minutes per inch thickness per side without moving steak at all in the pan. If you want that cross hatch, shift steak 45 degrees half way through that 1 ½ minutes.
After your sear is complete, put the pan with steaks back in the oven for 3 – 5 minutes (3 min. for a 1″ steak, 5 min. for a 2″ steak.) Steak will seem underdone, but it will continue to cook during it’s rest period. This is for a med-rare steak. Increase the time by a minute for a medium steak, but it won’t be as juicy.
Secret #3 Let it rest and relax
It’s so tempting to dig right in, but if you do, you’ll let all those precious juices run right out into your plate. I know you’ve seen or done this. Let the meat rest on the counter, lightly covered with foil for at least 5 minutes.
Club Steak
Today we’re cooking a club steak (which is a bone-in or rib steak that has had its bone frenched or cleaned off.) It’s also called a cowboy steak. It’s juicy and rich in flavor. It’s the best tasting steak I’ve ever had. It should have a rich marbling of fat through the meat, which will melt as it cooks and delivers a succulent prime rib flavor.
Is your mouth watering yet?
You can find a bone-in rib steak just about anywhere, but when you’re looking for an exceptional cut of meat, I recommend going to a specialized butcher shop. I purchased mine at Snider Brothers in Salt Lake City. They cut my 2″ requested Club Steak and they also frenched the bone for me (much better than I could).
Here’s a comparison between a steak I got at Costco and my custom cut steak. Club Steaks (or bone-in rib steaks) are large steaks, often weighing 2 lbs. So, you can decide how much you love your husband this Father’s day or how big your food budget is that week.
Mexican Street Food Corn-on-the-cob
When I first heard about this Mexican treat, and read the ingredient list I wasn’t thrilled. I’m usually pretty good at imagining what something will taste like. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how good this was.
I’m a real butter and salt corn-on-the-cob kind of gal, but this is different and decadent!
Start by boiling your corn until close to tender. Remove and place on a medium grill until some of the kernels start to char. This gives the corn a nice smoky flavor.
Prepare the Chili Lime-butter. Mix the following:
• ¼ cup Mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)
• ¼ cup melted butter
• Juice from 2 limes
• 1 Tbsp Chili powder
• ¼ tsp. Cayenne pepper (more if you like it hot!)
Mix 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese & 2 Tbsp Chili powder for the dry mix.
Brush Chili lime-butter liberally all over each grilled corn. Sprinkle dry mix over corn and then sprinkle with kosher salt. Some people like to roll their corn in the dry mix, but I thought it was a bit heavy. I prefer a light touch, but experiment to see what you like.
It’s buttery, tangy, sweet and spicy. Enjoy!
Tip: I loved this dressing so much I now use it as a base for several other dressings. Add Ketchup for a kicked up version of Fry Sauce. It was also good on the steak.
Red Hot Fried Onion Rings
{They’re reddish and they’re hottish. They’re GOOD.}
• 4 cups canola oil or peanut oil
• 2 huge sweet onions
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 Tbsp Hot Sauce
• 1 cup flour
• ¼ chili powder
• 2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
• 2 Tbsp Cumin
• ½ tsp. Cayenne (or more if you like it hot)
• 2 Tsp. Kosher salt or 1 tsp. regular salt
Heat oil to 350 F. Mix buttermilk and hot sauce in a large bowl. Slice onions in 1/2″ slices. Submerge in buttermilk mixture and let marinate for 1 hour on the counter. This will take some of the bitterness out of the onion.
Mix the rest of ingredients in a large bowl. Pour buttermilk into a separate bowl. Dip one ring at a time, first in buttermilk, then in the flour mixture, then again in the buttermilk then one last time in flour mixture. Fry until golden brown. Dipping twice helps to keep the coating on the onions.
Serve with my kicked up version of Fry Sauce (above).
Tip: If you like more of a battered onion ring, just mix the buttermilk with the dry ingredients (after the onions have marinated). I tried this and it worked perfectly too.
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