Rosemary Garlic Butter Steak
The best and easiest recipe to cook a perfect steak! See notes for all my tricks.
Servings 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 sirloin strip steaks about 7 ounces each (1 to 1.5-inches thick, room temperature)
- 2 to 3 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
- a splash of white or red wine
Instructions
- Mince 2 to 3 garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves.
- Add 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste) and mince it a little longer. You can also do this with a mortar and pestle.
- Rub the paste evenly over both sides of 4 sirloin strip steaks. It's not a thick layer, just enough to flavor the meat.
- Heat a skillet over medium/high heat and melt 3 tablespoons butter. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to prevent it from burning too much.
- Add steaks, season them with ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste, and cook 1 or 2 minutes on each side.
- Turn it over, cook it 2 or 3 more minutes and add a splash of white or red wine. It will steam furiously. Cook the steak 2 or 3 additional minutes for medium rare. Remove the skillet with the meat from the heat, and let it rest for 3 to 5 minutes. This redistributes the juices and is an important step.
- Meanwhile, cook the wine mixture until reduced and a sort of sauce is formed. It will not be much, just enough to glaze.
- Slice the steaks and serve them with the juices and sauce.
Notes
Temperature: always have the meat at room temperature. That way it’ll be more tender. If it’s frozen, defrost it overnight in the fridge. The less change in temperature while defrosting, the better.
Salting: add salt right before it goes into the skillet. If you want to infuse some garlic and rosemary, rub them on the steaks, leave them at room tº for twenty minutes, and salt them at the last moment.
Thickness: a steak should be two or three fingers (1.5 to 2 inches) thick if you want it medium rare with a good crust.
Preheating: Make sure the skillet or steak iron griddle is preheated.
Searing: the steak must be first seared - cooking it quickly over very high heat to seal in the juices - on both sides over high heat, but finished over medium/low (unless you like it very rare inside, almost raw). Otherwise, it will become flushed, as we say here, which means the outside is too dark before the inside gets a chance to cook properly.
Resting: Always let it rest for 5 minutes after you remove it from the heat source. The juices go to the outer part of the meat piece while cooking, and resting redistributes them.
Doneness: Never pierce or cut a steak to check for doneness. To test them, lightly press them down with a fork or kitchen tongs. The more it gives, or the flabbier it feels, the rarer it's still is. When it's very cooked, the meat will hardly yield when you press it. I know many use a thermometer, and it's fine as long as the needle is thin.
