In the Kitchen with DKDetective and InCali: All Things Food, Wine, and Spirits, Etc.

Oh, you have got to try panroasting a steak in the French way. It is to die for and it still works best with your preferred method of searing first!

Using a good heavy stainless saute pan or a cast iron skillet, get it super hot with some grapeseed oil inside. You want the oil to just start lightly smoking. Sear on each side for a couple minutes. Remove to a cooling rack temporarily. Drain the oil from pan and let it cool a little until is more medium heat. Add the steaks back to the pan with several cubes of cool butter, 6-8 cloves of garlic, and a similar number of thyme sprigs, tilt the pan so that the melted butter pools close to you and constantly baste it back on top of the steak with a spoon. If the steak has seared unevenly, aim for any less brown spots. After a couple minutes, flip and do the same with the other side. Pull from the pan when about 115 and rest, letting it coast up to 125-130 for medium rare. The steak will be infused with wonderful flavours of butter, garlic, and thyme. If going for a rustic presentation, the fried garlic and thyme make for a nice garnish.

Also, regardless of cooking method, salt the steaks at least a couple hours before cooking to allow the salt to penetrate the meat by osmosis. It is especially important with thick steaks. Otherwise you get a really salty crust and bland interior. The salt will have drawn some liquid to the surface, so pat dry before cooking to aid in browning for reasons previously discussed.

Great demo video by my man, TK:

 

If it is health or ethical concerns, just get some nice pasture raised grassfed steaks. Grassfed beef has the same Omega 3 ratios as wild salmon, produces far less greenhouse gases, and is much more ethically and humanely treated.

 

It's been while since I've watched the show. Which guy are you talking about?

P.S. I haven't even gotten into about how I dry age my own short loins and rib primals at home for 45-50 days and then cut them into porterhouse and rib steaks and roasts myself using my Wusthof bone saw and vintage carbon steel Sabatier butcher knife.

 

Hrmmm, know it all history nerd ... Checks out.

I guess I do resemble that remark.

 

So that is how is it going to be in here?

For anyone who comes in here and goes WTF, the "short loin" is the section of the cow (using North American terminology. British and French cuts are a whole nother ballpark) where t-bones, porterhouses, striploins (I'm watching you), and tenderloins come from:

Charcuterie and cured meats are the same thing. The former is just the French term and people have adopted it because it sounds cooler. I have not ventured into making own yet. My wife's grandfather, who is a lovely elderly Italian gentleman, does. He has whole prosciuttos and homemade sausages hanging in his cellar.

 

Well you asked...

Spoiler: Large Size Photos

I give you Entrecote a la Bordelaise, Cepes a la Gasconne, and Gratin Auvergnat paired with a mature Red Bordeaux.

 

Yes, as long as it is dry aged. Wet aging doesn't do the same thing. With respect to dry aging:
21-28 days is your classic beefy flavours;
30-35 days is still classic beefy, but starting to get some sweet mild, secondary notes like buttered popcorn;
45-60 days you start to funkier notes, almost like blue cheese;
Beyond 60 days, it becomes more and more like fine charcuterie, lots of earthy notes and some even say truffles.

 

With a lot of the small business relief funds targeted for independent restaurants actually going to chains and franchises, my culinary idol, the great Thomas Keller, Chef-Owner of The French Laundry and Culinary Consultant for Pixar's Ratatouille, is going all-out to get real relief for actual independent restaurants, even getting Morgan Freeman to voice his lobbying ads:

 

Beautiful pasta, what kind of sauce are you going to make with it?

 

Given the shape of noodles, the traditionalist in me says that you need something lighter than Bolognese as it is best with broad noodles like Tagliatelle or Pappardelle.

Maybe an Alfredo or other form of cream sauce? Seafood Alfredo is great at this time of year.