Fire up the grill 鈥� or the skillet. It's time to pull off the perfect steak dinner. A Food Network star and host shares his best tips.
Steak: It’s what’s for dinnerIt鈥檚 a shame that grilling season is synonymous with summer, because really, now is the time to fire up the charcoal 鈥斅爓hen the air is crisp and humidity is nothing but a distant memory.And nothing says 鈥渇all grilling鈥� like a perfectly cooked piece of steak 鈥斅燼nd a glass of wine to go alongside.The Food Network鈥檚 Geoffrey Zakarian shares his best tips for pulling off a flawless steak dinner.聽聽
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Picking the protein聽
The process of making a steak begins long before the meat hits the heat. The first order of business is selecting a cut. Two of聽Zakarian’s favorites are hanger steak and sirloin. No matter what you choose, he says not to be intimidated by the price: Steak dinners are聽special, so expect to pay more for a quality cut of beef.聽“You鈥檙e going to splurge a little; it鈥檚 not every day you have a great sirloin,” he said.聽However, before he even gets to the聽butcher counter,聽Zakarian聽likes to swing by the wine aisle.聽鈥淏ecause, you know, if you mess the steak up, at least you still have a great bottle of wine,” he said. 聽
(Getty Images/William Thomas Cain)
Getty Images/William Thomas Cain
Gathering the gadgets聽
You don’t need many tools to cook the perfect steak, but there are a few essentials. First, you’ll need a sharp knife to cut the meat when it’s done.
Make sure you have plenty of seasonings on hand (kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper), as well as a digital thermometer.
鈥淣ot only will it help you cook steak perfectly, it will help you cook all your proteins properly, because every protein has a magic number. And if you do that, you鈥檒l be so much more confident, and you won鈥檛 ruin all that money that you spend on your proteins,” he said.聽
If you’re not grilling,聽Zakarian recommends using a cast iron skillet, which is his preferred method for cooking a steak. 聽
(Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
Season the sirloin聽
At least an hour before you plan on eating, take the meat out of the聽refrigerator, cover it with plastic wrap and let it come to room temperature.鈥淭his is important because you鈥檒l find that you get a really 鈥斅爕ou know that beautiful medium-rare steak that you see on TV and ads where it鈥檚 medium-rare the whole way through, well that鈥檚 how that happens. You cook a cold steak, and that will never happen,”聽Zakarian said.聽
Then, it’s time to season the steak.
Sure, you can get fancy with seasonings and marinades, but聽Zakarian’s fail-proof recipe for steak calls for just two ingredients: kosher salt and fresh-ground pepper聽鈥� and there’s no need to hold back.聽
“Remember, it鈥檚 a very thick piece of meat and you鈥檝e got to get inside the meat, so you need a good salt crust on the outside of that meat,” he said.
(Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
The ‘magic’ number
The heat should be medium, and the digital thermometer should be handy, because once that steak hits 125 degrees,聽Zakarian says it’s done.聽“The minute it hits 125 degrees, that steak is cooked perfect medium-rare, whether it鈥檚 a skirt steak, a flank steak, a hanger steak, a sirloin steak, a rib-eye steak, a filet mignon, a top round聽鈥斅�whatever it is, 125 is your number,” he said.聽
(Getty Images/iStockphoto/oprju)
Getty Images/iStockphoto/oprju
Rest is best
At that point, take the steak off the heat and move it to a cutting board聽鈥� and don’t touch it for 10 minutes.
“It鈥檚 going to rest up to about 130 [degrees], and what鈥檚 going to happen is that all of the juice is going to come back in the meat聽鈥� and when you cut it, it will be a perfect medium-rare, just like on a movie set,”聽Zakarian said.聽
“It’s just magic. And none of the juices will bleed out, I promise you. So that鈥檚 the way you cook a steak. If you鈥檙e going to spend money on a steak, that鈥檚 what you do.鈥� 聽
(Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
Serving Steak聽Zakarian has recipes for glazes and sides on , but he says the perfect pairing is just a glass of red wine.聽鈥淚 think that it would be a crime not to have red wine with steak,” he said. When asked about white wine, the Food Network host said, 鈥淚 would suggest maybe some white wine while you鈥檙e contemplating having red wine.”
(Thinkstock)
WASHINGTON 鈥� It鈥檚 a shame that grilling season is synonymous with summer, because really, now is the time to fire up the charcoal 鈥斅爓hen the air is crisp and humidity is nothing but a distant memory.
And nothing says 鈥渇all grilling鈥� like a perfectly cooked piece of steak 鈥斅燼nd a glass of wine to go alongside.
The Food Network鈥檚 Geoffrey Zakarian shares his best tips for pulling off a flawless steak dinner.聽
