Garlic Rosemary Buttered Steak

buttersteakgarlicrosemary Indulge in this juicy, garlic rosemary buttered steak, and serve it with my favourite peri peri cream sauce and herby scalloped potatoes for the ultimate weekend meal. I'm also including what cut of beef is best, how big it should be and generally how to cook steaks because we don't want those chewy shoe soles at our dinner table.

3 sirloin or rib-eye steaks (~ 1¼" thick)
sea salt, generous amount
black pepper, freshly ground, generous amount
2 Tbsp. corn oil or Canola, peanut, vegetable)
1-2 Tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 sprigs fresh rosemary or thyme

Dry the steaks with a paper towel and let them sit in room temperature for 20 minutes before crackling a generous amount of both salt and pepper on all sides. Rub the seasonings into the meat.

Add corn oil or other high temperature oil to a cast iron skillet on high heat. Let this be really hot before the next step.

Cook the steaks for about 6-8 minutes for medium-rare. Flip them every minute to get an even cook. The last 3 minutes, add in the butter, garlic and rosemary. If really thick steaks, you should also flip to the sides.

Using a spoon, baste (pour the butter over) the beef with the butter oil and rub the garlic on top of the steaks. Let them rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Best served with Piri Piri Cream Sauce and scalloped potatoes.

Makes 3 servings.

Cook's Notes:

Let the steak come to room temperature for around 20 minutes to avoid overcooking the outside.
Dry the steak with a paper towel to get the perfect crust (known as the Maillard reaction). Do not rinse it in water as you spread bacteria around your kitchen.
Be seriously heavy on the seasoning and rub it in. It is better to over-season than under.
Do not use a non-stick pan - choose the cast iron skillet or the grill. We need high heat to get that beautiful crust. The Maillard reaction happens at around 350°F (180°C).
Flip every minute to get an even cook. And always on high heat. (If you want a well-done steak you should cook it for 2-4 minutes on each side on high heat, before turning the heat down to cook another 4-6 minutes.)
When adding butter, garlic and herbs, do it towards the end of the cook time (or halfway through). Baste the beef with the butter-oil and rub the top of the steaks with the garlic and herbs for more flavour. Use some delicious compound butters for a nice twist.
Let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the fibers in the meat, the meat will also lock in the juice making it juicier.

Preferred Cuts of Meat:

Filet mignon (tenderloin filet or tenderloin steak, indrefilet): an expensive cut perfect for special occasions. Its melt-in-your-mouth texture is exceptional, and is especially delicious with bacon wrapped around it.
Striploin (New York strip steak, strip steak, ytrefilet) is usually the cut of beef I go for. It is cheaper than a filet mignon, it tastes beefier. It is not as melt-in-your-mouth, but usually always tender and delicious. Find one with great marbling and it will be even more flavourful.
The rib eye (entrecôte in Norwegian and French): this cut is extremely flavourful due to the fat, also known as marbling, but not as tender as a filet mignon. Entrecôte is traditionally from the rib area (hence the rib eye in English), however you can make entrecôte from the sirloin too, if it's cut properly.

Cooking Oil:

The best fat/oil to use when cooking steaks - smoke points. The one thing to remember when cooking steaks, is that you want to use high heat. And that is why you need to choose an oil that has a high smoke point, which means that the oil is burning and it can give a bitter taste or sometimes even harmful chemicals released.
Safe bets are Canola oil, peanut oil, corn oil and vegetable oil. All of these have smoke points of more than 400°F (200°C), which is perfect for cooking steaks.
All that said, butter tastes amazing. Butter has a smoke point of 350°F (180°C) so it's generally not a good fat to cook with on high heat. There is a roundabout way of this though and that is combining butter with a high smoke oil. You need to start off with the oil, and then add butter towards the end of the cook time.

Cooking Times:

Steak cooking time will depend on the thickness of your meat, maybe even the cut of meat, your stove top, grill or anything, so it's not easy to know exactly when you should take it off the pan, but there are some general guidelines.
You can for example use the poke test to see how cooked it is. Pressing the fingers mentioned below together and then using your other index finger to press the fattiest part of your palm, right below your thumb, to check the consistency.
- Index finger + thumb: rare
- Middle finger + thumb: medium-rare
- Ring finger + thumb: medium-well
- Little finger + thumb: well done
The very best way to check if it is done, is by a meat thermometer, you can't be completely sure without it. If it isn't that important for you how cooked it is, you can also just use the ballpark minutes I mention below.
- Rare: 120-130°F (49-54°C) - 4-6 minutes
- Medium-rare: 130-135°F (54-57°C) - 6-8 minutes
- Medium: 140-145°F (60-63°C) - 8-10 minutes
- Medium-well: 150-155°F (66-68°C) - 10-12 minutes
- Well: 160-165°F (71-74°C) - 12+ minutes