Seared Rib-Eye Steak

I RAN 10 MILES! Unbelievable! Therefore, I thought it was a perfect time to cook my Rib-Eye that I had in the freezer for about 3 months. I thought I thoroughly deserved some good ol' red meat. What else to cook it with?

Courtesy of Alton Brown

Ingredients

• 1 boneless rib eye steak, 1.5-inch thick
  
• Canola oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

Directions

Place 10 to 12-inch cast iron skillet in oven and heat oven to 500 degrees. Bring steak(s) to room temperature.

When oven reaches temperature, remove pan and place on range over high heat. Coat steak lightly with oil and season both sides with a generous pinch of salt. Grind on black pepper to taste.

Immediately place steak in the middle of hot, dry pan. Cook 30 seconds without moving. Turn with tongs and cook another 30 seconds, then put the pan straight into the oven for 2 minutes. Flip steak and cook for another 2 minutes. (This time is for medium rare steaks. If you prefer medium, add a minute to both of the oven turns.)

Remove steak from pan, cover loosely with foil, and rest for 2 minutes. Serve whole or slice thin and fan onto plate.

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I cooked this steak for the first time last year when Aaron and I were living at the Residence Inn for reason I will not discuss on this blog. But when I first cooked it, it was DELICIOUS. It was honestly the best steak I've ever cooked for myself. It was juicy, medium-rare, appropriately seasoned, and incredibly simple! I just cooked the shrimp on the side with my own combination of spices (inspired of Emeril's Essence). And I didn't want to eat rice with this dish so I decided to make some potato fries with a potato I had left in my fridge. Although this meal was set up for ultimate success, I failed at two things: I overcooked the steak and I didn't have a metal strainer for the fries. What ended up happening was that I saw that the steak was done according to my timer, but since the timer was on my microwave I had the mentality thinking that since the timer was done the steak wasn't cooking anymore. Of course I was just stupid and I left the steak in the oven to realize 2 minutes later that it was still cooking. It wasn't medium rare like I had hope, more like medium-well bordering well-done. As for the fries, I didn't left the fries too long in the pot and I didn't have a metal strainer. All in all though, I think this could have been a delicious meal if I had just been paying more attention. It's simple and delicious, but this time around, the cook just failed.