Broiled Steaks
Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced (I used 1⁄2 teaspoon dried since I can’t find fresh thyme these days.)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper
2 cups salt (I used kosher.)
4 strip steaks, rib-eye steaks, or tenderloin steaks, 1 to 2 inches thick, trimmed well
Instructions
1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375*F. Mix butter, thyme, mustard, 1⁄4 teaspoon salt, and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper in bowl and refrigerate.
2. Spread 2 cups salt over bottom of 3-inch deep disposable aluminum pan. Pat steaks dry with paper towels, season with salt and pepper, and transfer to wire rack. Set rack over aluminum pan and transfer to lower-middle oven rack. Cook 6 to 10 minutes, then remove pan from oven. (1 inch - 6 minutes, 1 1⁄2 inches - 8 minutes, 2 inches - 10 minutes.) Flip steaks, pat dry with paper towels, and let rest 10 minutes.
3. Heat broiler. Transfer pan to upper-middle oven rack and broil steaks, flipping every 2-4 minutes, until meat registers 125-130*F (for medium-rare), 6 to 16 minutes. (1 inch - turn steaks every 2 minutes, 1 1⁄2 inches - turn steaks every 3 minutes, 2 inches - turn steaks ever 4 minutes.) Transfer steaks to platter, top with reserved butter mixture, and tent with foil. Let rest 5 minutes. Serve.
Comments
This recipe is from the 2007 Cook’s Country Annual and falls into the category of “I’ll follow it exactly because those ATK people know what they’re talking about even if it seems weird.” The logic of the disposable pan is that it gets the steaks closer to the broiler which is better. I believe that the salt is there to catch drippings and keep the moisture down.
I used 2 inch thick tenderloin steaks (filet mignon) since that’s what was on sale at the butcher this week and they were delicious. I do think that 2 cups of salt was overkill and wasteful, so I’ll probably try it with just 1 cup next time. And I will be using this method in the future since it was very easy. My steaks only took 8 minutes total for the broiling, so make sure to check yours between every turn, just to make sure you’re not overcooking them.
The compound butter was great and it would be extremely easy to modify for different flavors. I look forward to trying this with other cuts in the future.
Shown here with Gratineed Gnocchi with Spinach and Ricotta.
Cook’s Country 2007