Many people shy away from preparing grocery store steaks at home because the meat often ends up over done, dried out and without much flavor. It doesn't have to be that way. There is a way to prepare this cut right in your own kitchen with very satisfying results.
The most common mistakes are trying to cook the meat right out of the refrigerator, over seasoning them and moving it around constantly. It's best if you have a cast iron skillet for cooking on a stove top, but an oven safe non-stick or stainless steel skillet will work just fine.
Don't throw the meat on a skillet or right out of the fridge. A cold steak may not cook evenly. Salt and pepper the meat and let it sit about twenty minutes. The salt will draw moisture out of the meat and enable more even cooking. Here's how I like to prepare my ribeye steak:
Ingredients
1-2 medium steaks, about one half to three quarter inch thick
1 tbsp olive oil
1-2 pat of unsalted butter
sprig of fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season steaks with salt and pepper to taste and let sit for twenty minutes. In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat add the oil until it just approaches smoking point and place steaks in the skillet so that they are not touching. Sear one side for four minutes without moving the steaks. After four minutes the steaks will release easily from the pan.
Flip steaks and put a pat of butter on each steak, as well as a whole sprig of rosemary. Place the steak in the oven to finish, about 6-10 minutes, depending on how rare you prefer your steak. I prefer medium well done, so 8 minutes works for me. About halfway through, take a spoon and baste the rosemary infused melted butter in the pan over the meat.
At the end, remove the steaks from the oven and place on a cutting surface. Let rest at least 6 minutes before cutting the meat. I like to place ribeye strips over steamed or sauteed vegetables, or even brown rice, using the pan drippings to pour over the dish. The above photo I used a store bought vegetable medley that I steamed briefly and sauteed in a little butter in a side skillet, with a little salt and pepper seasoning.
