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Pan-Roasted Steaks with Garlic and Thyme Butter

Source of Recipe

From "See You on Sunday" by Sam Sifton


Recipe Introduction

"A classic restaurant preparation adapted to the home-bistro cooking for a gathering of friends after work or play. Serve with smashed potatoes or roasted root vegetables, with a salad. The better the steak, the more expensive your meal will be, so go heavy on the side dishes and reduce the portion size of the meat accordingly. A sixteen-ounce steak, pan-roasted in butter, will easily serve four if the vegetables are delicious, and doubly so if you offer loads of bread, butter, and cheese to finish the meal."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 to 4 beef steaks, such as strip, rib-eye, flat-iron, chuck-eye, hanger, or skirt, roughly 1 pound each
â—¦ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter per steak, cubed
â—¦ 1 clove garlic per steak, peeled
â—¦ 1 thyme sprig per steak



Recipe

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels. If you have the time, allow them to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or so. Pat dry once more.

Heat the oven to 375° F. Place a large, oven-safe skillet on the stove top over medium-high heat. Two steaks should fit comfortably in it; if you're cooking more than two steaks, use two pans. Scatter a teaspoon or so of salt into the skillet and allow to heat for 2 to 3 minutes more. Place the steaks in the pan and cook for 1 minute, then turn them over and do the same on the other side, moving them around a little so that they become well salted. Grind pepper over the steaks and sprinkle a little more salt on them, if necessary.

Turn the steaks over again and place the skillet in the oven to roast for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove the pan and place on the stove top over low heat. Check for doneness, either with an instant-read thermometer, which should read about 120° F at this point, or by touch: The meat should be softly firm but not slack. Turn off the heat under the pan. Add to the pan 2 tablespoons butter for each steak you are cooking, along with the garlic and thyme sprig per steak. When the butter has melted and started to foam, tip the pan away from you so that the liquid pools at that side of the pan and, using a long-handled spoon, quickly and repeatedly baste the meat with the melted butter until the butter turns nutty and brown. Remove the skillet from the heat and the steaks from the skillet. Allow the steaks to rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before slicing.

Place the meat on a warmed platter and drizzle with the butter left in the pan.