Cooking Lesson #450: Ribeye Steak - With Thick Steak-Cut Potatoes

…from the California Kitchen

How you doin’? What’s your favorite cut of steak—Sirloin, Filet, New York or Ribeye? For the last 35 years our test kitchen has been churning and turning out a wide variety of foods. We don’t usually have a hard time getting people to sample our efforts. The two most popular categories are steak and chocolate (not together, of course, except for one recipe for prime rib that is peppered with cacao nibs). Ribeye steaks are a particular favorite of mine because of the marbling of the fat. Ribeye Steaks can be prepared in a variety of ways.
 
Here’s a simple one.  Close your eyes and imagine a big, juicy Ribeye Steak and potatoes—the perfect combination of familiar, comforting and still a bit fancy. We cooked this steak recipe in a hot cast-iron skillet, starting with the potatoes. The process is quite simple—get the oil hot and start the potato wedges, salting them generously. Let the potatoes cook for ten minutes before you flip them. This creates golden-brown potatoes with a light, crispy crust on the outside and a perfectly creamy interior.
 
For the steak, we like a couple of USDA Prime Ribeye steaks. As they’re cooking, we melt some butter in the pan, throw in some garlic and baste the steaks with the buttery goodness. Basting gives the steak a fantastic sear, especially in a cast iron skillet. With the combination of the cast iron skillet and the butter the steaks develop deep, golden brown crust and crispy edges.
 
Of course, during the cooking process, the steak’s juices mingle with the garlic butter. Add a little lemon and some parsley, and you’ve got a wonderful buttery pan sauce. Potatoes love fat, too! So, of course they taste amazing drenched in the bright, buttery sauce. The Ribeye Steaks, infused with the aromatic butter, slice up tender, miraculously juicy and super flavorful every time.
 
This is a perfect dinner for two. It’s easy and fast enough for an ordinary weeknight and special enough for a romantic celebration. Add a shaved baby kale and artichoke salad, a bottle of robust red wine and grilled fruit for dessert.
 
Prep time:  15 minutes
Cook time:  20 minutes
Yield: 2 to 4 servings
 
Ingredients 
For the potatoes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound medium Yukon Gold or red potatoes, cut into ¾” wedges—think steak fries
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
 
For the steak and garlic butter
2 12-oz 1”-thick ribeye or New York strip steaks
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 teaspoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed
Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
 
Directions
To make the potatoes

1. Heat the oil in a 12” cast-iron skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the potatoes cut-sides down, sprinkle with salt, and cook undisturbed until the potatoes are golden brown and release easily from the pan, about 10 minutes.
2. Using tongs, flip each wedge to the second cut-side and cook until browned and tender, 10 to 15 minutes more. Transfer the potatoes to a serving platter. Wipe out the skillet… you’ll use it to cook the steaks.

To make the steaks

1. Pat the steaks dry with paper towels.
2. Season all over with salt and set aside.
3. Add the olive oil to the skillet and return the skillet to high heat until the pan starts to smoke, just a bit.
4. Carefully place the steaks in the hot pan and sear until enough of a crust has developed that the steaks no longer stick to the bottom of the pan, about 2 minutes. Flip and sear the second side for 2 minutes.
5. Carefully add the butter to the pan.
6. Tilt the pan so the butter pools on one side… and add the garlic to the melted butter. Using a large spoon, baste the steaks with the garlic butter. Flip the steaks and continue to baste and cook. Begin checking the internal temperature of the steaks at 6 minutes into total cook time. Note: Medium-rare is between 125° and 130°.
7. Remove the pan from the heat, transfer the steaks to a clean cutting board — reserving the juices in the pan — and let the steaks rest for about 5 minutes.
8. Stir the parsley and lemon juice into the pan juices. Let the sauce cool for a few minutes, then taste and correct the seasoning with more salt, pepper and lemon juice as needed.
9. Cut the steaks across the grain into half-inch thick slices and place them on top of the potatoes.
10. Drizzle the steaks and potatoes with the pan juices and serve immediately.

ChefSecret:  Allow both the potatoes and steaks to sear to a crust before trying to move them around the skillet. This will allow a crisp crust to develop on both.

Quip of the Day: “When you’re talking, you’re only repeating what you already know. But when you’re listening, you may learn something new.”
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