Cast Iron Seared Steaks

This recipe is LONG over due, as the two sets of pictures I have are from November and December of 2011. School was just too hectic then to get much blogging done. Hopefully the coming year will be a little calmer, since it will be my second year teaching the same classes at the same school. We'll see, but in the mean time, I'm catching up on some things I've wanted to post for a while.

This is another recipe of ours that comes courtesy of Alton Brown. In case you don't watch the food network, he is pretty awesome.

The original recipe calls for rib eye steak, but we have used filet, strip, and T-bone all with great results.  I think the most important part is the thickness of the steak. You definitely want it to be 1 1/2"-2" thick.

Get your steak(s) out of the refrigerator and let them come up to room temperature. Also turn on the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and place a dry cast iron skillet in the oven to heat.

Once the steaks have come up to temperature, coat each with a layer of oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. 

Turn a burner onto high and let it heat for a few minutes.

Remove the skillet from the oven, place it on the burner, and sear the steaks for 30 seconds per side. Use tongs to flip them.

Place the skillet in the oven and cook 2-4 minutes per side, depending on how well done you like your steak. About 2 minutes per side will give you a medium-rare steak, and 3-4 minutes will give you a medium steak.

When done, remove the steaks from the skillet and place them on a plate. Cover them with tented foil and let them rest for a few minutes.

Serve them up with desired side dishes. I recommend salad or other green vegetable and some sort of potato dish.

This method of cooking steak is easy and delicious. I have also adapted it for chicken and pork chops with equally good results. Chicken especially needs to be well oiled, and requires about 4-6 minutes per side to ensure doneness. I sometimes switch our regular cast iron skillet for one with a grill pan bottom.