A good steak doesn’t need much, just a cast iron skillet, a good rub and some high heat. The best steakhouses use Prime meat and a super high temp infra-red broiler. Cost keeps me from buying prime meat the majority of the time and cost definitely keeps me from buying an infra-red broiler! You can still cook a great steak at home though. Buy a good cut of Prime or Choice steak about an inch to an inch and a half thick. Stay away from Select meat. Make your own rub, heat up the oven and get your iron skillet smokin’ hot and you will be about 12 minutes away from steak nirvana. I am really spoiled cooking steaks this way. I rarely cook them on the grill anymore. After listening to Bobby Flay extolling the virtues of ancho powder numerous times I decided to try his recipe and I’m hooked! Well I tried my version of the recipe. Anyway, making the ancho powder was really easy and adds a great spicy flavor to the meat.
Fire up your cast iron skillet for a few minutes until smokin’ hot then add a splash of canola oil , the steaks and cook for about a minute on both sides. The rub should be cooked to a nice crust but not burned.
Place the skillet into a preheated 425F oven for 6 to 8 minutes until the desired doneness is reached as determined by the finger test. Enjoy!
What you will need for the steak rub.
• 2 TBS course ground peppercorns
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp ancho powder
Sprinkle the rub over the meat and press the rub into the meat with your fingers.
I’ll post soon on how to use your cast iron skillet to dry ancho chili’s to make ancho powder. Stay tuned.
