When I first told my husband, Ted, of my idea to cook all of the recipes from Good Eats, he was instantly supportive. As a fan of the show himself, he recalled that the first episode of the show involved cooking a steak. I am embarrassed to admit that I had never before cooked a steak. Yes, you read that correctly. Though I cook often, I had never prepared a steak in my 30+ years. Ted was excited at the prospect of having a home-cooked steak. The question was, would I be able to cook it properly enough to do it justice?
The recipe for Alton’s Pan-Seared Rib-Eye may be found here. After watching the episode, I picked out two rib-eyes to cook for Ted and me. I seasoned the steaks and allowed them to come to room temperature.
Rib-Eye, seasoned and brought to room temperature.
Per Alton’s instructions, I heated our two cast iron skillets until they were screaming hot, first in the oven and then further on the stove, and then placed the steaks in them. The vent above the stove was cranking, and the windows were open, but to no avail. The kitchen filled with smoke and the smoke alarm screamed her shrillest shriek, sending one of our Coonhounds running to the basement in fear. I followed Alton’s cooking recommendations to a tee, completing their cooking in mere minutes, and then allowing the steaks to rest, elevated and tented, for a few minutes.
Screaming hot skillets.
As we cut into our steaks for the first time, I was nervous about what we would find. Would the steaks be underdone, overdone, or just right? Well, slap my ass and call me Goldilocks! We were rewarded with perfect medium-rare steaks that were tender and juicy with a nice peppery crust. My pet peeve with steaks are when they “bleed” (my dad calls those “juices”) all over the plate. The liquid (whatever you choose to call it) remained where it belonged… in the meat. I deem the first recipe from Good Eats a success. If you follow Alton’s recipe and you want to cook a steak indoors, you will not be disappointed.
Medium-rare Rib-Eye.
Allison Cooks Alton's Good Eats 