Delmonico, medium rare

Kristen, look away! October's Meat Meal is a juicy Delmonico steak, and this time I was courageous enough to take a "before" photo. I used this method from Alton Brown (Who doesn't love him? I mean, he is just so adorable and informative.) to cook the steak using the oven and my Grandma Stombaugh's cast iron pan that I borrowed from my parents' attic.


I bought a lovely Delmonico from the meat counter, which I have now learned to approach without nearly passing out. First step: bring it to room temp.


Then you season it with kosher (must be kosher!) salt and pepper, and drizzle a little oil on it. I had to use vegetable oil because olive oil has a much lower smoke point and is not good for this type of cooking.


I heated the pan in a 500 degree oven and them put it on high heat on the cooktop until it was branding iron hot, then threw the steak in for 30 seconds on each side to get a nice crust. Perhaps I should have gone with peanut oil, because there was a little smoke in my kitchen at this point.


Then pop the pan into the 500 degree oven for two minutes on each side of the steak and voila! A perfect, medium rare Delmonico with a nice, crispy crust that goes well with the juicy meat. And a side of sauteed squash and zucchini. Yum city. It wasn't quite as good as Dad's but, well, of course it wasn't.

This may have been my easiest, quickest meat meal yet, which is good, because what I have planned for November is going to be long and labor intensive. And then I have something pretty special planned for December, if I can pull it off. Stay tuned.