The New York strip steak is a steak that comes from a part of the animal similar to the loin without bone. The Anglo-Saxon slaughtering criteria are different from the Italian ones, so it is difficult to be precise in this sense. However, you can ask your trusted butcher for advice to recommend a similar cut. It is a delicious dish, easy to cook; Regardless of the tools you have at your disposal, the basic concept is to form a crust on the outside of the steak and then cook the inside completely. Depending on the cooking method you use, you will get a perfectly cooked juicy steak in 20 minutes or half an hour. Read on to learn more!
Ingrediants
Simple Pan-Fried Steak
- 2 boneless beef steaks, 2.5 cm thick (preferably from the loin area)
- 30 ml of olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Marinated and Grilled Steak
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 15 ml of Worcestershire sauce
- 15 ml of balsamic vinegar
- 10 ml of Dijon mustard
- 15 ml of soy sauce
- 45 ml of olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Vacuum cooking
- 50 g of champignons or champignons
- 10 ml of olive or seed oil
- 2 shallots, diced
- 1 clove of minced garlic
- 30 ml of butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Simple Pan-Fried Steak
Step 1. Heat a pan on the stove
The secret to a perfect steak cooked in a pan is to have a really hot pan and a cooking time not exceeding the minimum necessary. The best New York strip steaks have a crisp, well-sealed exterior that can only be achieved with a hot pan. For this reason, the first thing you need to do is put the pan on the stove and turn the burner on to maximum. While you wait for the pan to heat up, you can remove the meat from the package and start seasoning it.
Checking the temperature of the pan is quite easy, moisten your fingers and splash it with a few drops of water. If the drops sizzle and evaporate immediately or "move" on the bottom of the pan, then the temperature is correct
Step 2. Season and grease the steaks
While the pan heats up, place the meat on a clean cutting board or tray. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, the exact amount depends only on your taste. As a guideline, consider using at least 1g of pepper and 7g of salt for two steaks. As for the salt, it is always better to make a mistake by default, you can add more at the end of cooking.
- At this point, you can use any other dry flavors you want. On the market you can find meat preparations or you can create your own "mix of spices" (rosemary, thyme and minced garlic are widely used).
- After seasoning the steaks, grease them with olive oil. This step is very important to obtain the classic crust because the oil, in practice, "fries" the surface of the meat.
Step 3. Put the steaks in the pan
Use a pair of kitchen tongs and spread the meat into the pan. To avoid burning yourself with hot splashes, lean the meat in the direction away from you instead of towards you. The steaks will instantly start sizzling and crackling, this is a great sign! After a few seconds, move them from their original position about 2 cm to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Finally, simply let them cook.
Some cookbooks recommend bringing the meat to room temperature before cooking it because in this way the cooking will be uniform. While leaving steaks on the kitchen counter for 20-30 minutes isn't harmful, there's plenty of evidence that this advice is nothing more than an urban legend
Step 4. After about 3-4 minutes, flip the steaks
The trick to obtaining excellent meat is to cook it only for the minimum time necessary; too long times make the steak tough. Leave the meat in the pan only until a dark brown crust forms on the bottom and the edges have black, scorched streaks. Depending on the heat transmitted by the pot, 3-4 minutes will be enough, although in some cases it will take more or less time, so monitor the cooking carefully.
- If you love well-cooked meat, wait a little longer, about 5 minutes. Conversely, if you prefer rare steak, turn it a little earlier, after two to two and a half minutes.
- There is an old and heated debate on the number of times you should turn the meat. Common sense dictates that the steak should only be turned once to create the best external crust. However, many modern meat freaks disagree and recommend more "reversals".
Step 5. Wait for the meat to be cooked and bring it to the table
Once the steak has been turned, there is not much else you need to do, except to check the cooking (unless you believe that turning the meat several times improves its taste). Wait until a dark crust has formed on the bottom of the meat, similar to the one on the top, then check that it has reached the desired degree of doneness. If it still seems a little raw, consider finishing the preparation in the oven or leaving it in the pan for a few more minutes. Below you will find some criteria for determining how well the meat is cooked:
- The texture is firm at the edges and softer at the center.
- There are no traces of red flesh in the center (pink or tan areas are fine).
- The internal temperature is between 46 ° C 65 ° C.
Method 2 of 4: Marinated and Grilled Steak
Step 1. Prepare the marinade
Like many other cuts of meat, New York strip steak can be enhanced in flavor by dipping it in a marinade before cooking. This article describes a simple and delicious marinade (the ingredients of which have been listed above), but there are hundreds of other equally effective combinations. There are no hard and fast rules for the preparation of this liquid, but there are simple guidelines that should be respected. If you're new to cooking, start with this marinade:
- A fatty ingredient. Usually olive, sesame, rapeseed or seed oil is used.
- An acidic ingredient. Among the best are citrus juice (lemon, lime or orange), wine, vinegar (balsamic, red, apple and so on) or another acid liquid of your choice.
- Aromas. At this point you can be very creative; anything from Worcestershire sauce to Dijon mustard, from peanut butter to parsley, from garlic to soy sauce, can be used as an aromatic element. Just make sure it goes well with the other ingredients.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Step 2. Soak the meat in the marinade before cooking
When the marinade solution is ready, transfer the steaks to a sealable plastic bag or airtight container and cover them evenly with the marinade. Place the container in the refrigerator and let the meat rest for at least two hours so that it absorbs all the aroma of the solution. Some cooks even wait overnight or several days to ensure maximum flavor.
Step 3. Heat the grill
Just like pan cooking, grilling also requires a hot surface for the meat to seal and form a tasty crust. For this reason, turn on the grill or barbecue well in advance. Leave the lid closed to speed up the process.
- If you are using a gas barbecue, the heating phase is quite simple. Turn on one or more burners to "maximum" and close the lid for about 5 minutes.
- For charcoal barbecues, you will need to set the charcoal on fire, wait for the flames to go out and gray ash to form over the embers. All this takes about half an hour, so be prepared in time. When the embers are ready to cook, spread them evenly over the base of the barbecue and prepare the grill.
Step 4. Add the steaks
With a kitchen brush, grease the grill bars with olive or seed oil and then spread the meat over them. Help yourself with a pair of kitchen tongs. Cook the steaks for the same amount of time as the pan method and turn them after 3-5 minutes, as soon as the crust has formed on the bottom.
Once you become familiar with the gas barbecue, you can expect consistent results every time you cook steaks. The same cannot be said for charcoal barbecues, where cooking times can vary according to the amount of embers available and the temperature they have reached. Therefore, you have to be especially careful with this grill pattern, turn the steak as soon as you are satisfied with the color that has reached the base
Step 5. Remove the meat from the heat when it is cooked
After flipping it once, let the steak cook for another 2-4 minutes or until it reaches your preferred level. Check that the same "cooking" signals described in the previous section are present (firm consistency at the edges and soft in the center, no blood inside the meat and so on). When you are satisfied, take the steak off the grill and bring it to the table!
If you wish, you can sprinkle the meat with the leftover marinade during cooking to help form the "crust". However, do not do this once the meat is cooked as the marinade has remained in contact with the raw meat and could transfer dangerous bacteria
Method 3 of 4: Sous vide cooking
Step 1. Heat a Dutch oven
This method of cooking New York strip steak may seem a bit strange to amateur chefs but, if done well, it allows you to have tender, delicious and medium rare steaks every time you cook them. To start, fill a Dutch oven 2/3 of its capacity with water and heat it over medium heat.
The internal temperature of the pan must reach 54 ° C before starting to cook the meat. If the pan doesn't have a built-in thermometer, then you can use one for the caramel, pinning it to the edge of the pan
Step 2. Brown the meat in the pan
When you cook steaks in a "humid" environment you are not able to provide them with the classic crust (as is the case in a pan or on the grill). To remedy this, quickly brown the meat in a pan before placing it in the Dutch oven.
Prepare and season the steaks exactly as described in the first section of this article. However, you will only need to cook the meat for one minute on each side. Your goal is to brown the outside and not to achieve complete cooking
Step 3. Slowly cook the steaks in a plastic bag
Once you have browned the outside, transfer them to a resistant plastic bag and seal it (you can also use two bags one inside the other to prevent water infiltration). Eliminates the air with the help of a vacuum machine or by immersing the bag in water with the open part upwards, it seals the bag when the pressure of the water has released most of the air.
- Now put the bag with the meat in the Dutch oven and close the lid. If necessary, raise the flame slightly and bring the internal temperature to 55 ° C. Cook for two to two and a half hours without letting the temperature rise.
- While the steaks are cooking, check the process from time to time. Move the bag and turn it upside down every hour to make sure it cooks evenly.
Step 4. If desired, make a sauce
While you wait for the steaks to be ready, you will have plenty of free time to prepare other dishes you love. For example, you could cook a simple sauce or toppings to put on top of the steaks. Heat 30 ml of butter in a saucepan and then add the mushrooms, chopped shallots and garlic. Cook these ingredients together until they are fragrant and fragrant.
- If you want, you can add these ingredients "by eye", in fact it is difficult to go wrong with the quantities. However, if you prefer to follow precise doses, please refer to the “Ingredients” section of this article.
- If you want an extra note of flavor, add a drop of white wine!
Step 5. Brown the steaks one more time and bring them to the table
After a couple of hours in the Dutch oven, the meat is tender and juicy as well as well done. If you wish, at this point, you can put the steaks back into the hot and greased pan for about one or two minutes on each side and improve the crunchy exterior. Now the steaks are ready to taste!
If you have prepared some sauce or a side dish, pour a few spoonfuls right over the meat, directly into the serving dish
Method 4 of 4: Serve the Steak
Step 1. Before cutting, let the meat rest
Once removed from the heat, you will feel its splendid aroma and will want to eat it right away. Resist the temptation! Cover the steak with a sheet of aluminum foil for at least 5-10 minutes before cutting it. You will be glad you did because the muscle fibers will be juicier and tastier.
The reason why this "rest" time is so important lies in the microscopic composition of the meat. This is organized in densely compacted muscle fibers which, during cooking, expel their moisture. The resting time allows the fibers to cool down a bit, relax and reabsorb the juices
Step 2. Consider accompanying the meat with a sauce
New York strip steak is very versatile and goes well with a variety of side dishes and toppings. If you want a quick fix, try using a sauce. There are ready-made, instant ones, but those made from scratch at home are much better (if you're not in a hurry). Here are some suggestions:
- Flavored butter (with garlic, parsley, thyme and so on).
- Barbecue sauce.
- Pepper sauce.
- Pesto.
- Red wine reduction.
Step 3. Potatoes are a classic side dish
Is there another dish more satisfying and filling than a steak with potatoes? Most side dishes based on this vegetable are excellent for preparing a complete dish. Here are some ideas on how to cook potatoes:
- Fried.
- Baked.
- Gratin.
- Roast.
- Mashed potato.
- Boil.
Step 4. Try serving other dishes with the steak
Although potatoes always guarantee a perfect pairing, they are not the only side dish that goes perfectly with steak. There is a wide variety of foods that are excellent. Here are some suggestions, but remember that there are really no limits to your creativity, other than the ingredients you have available:
- Fried / caramelized onions.
- Pan-fried spinach / chard / black cabbage.
- Macaroni with cheese.
- Fried or grilled tomatoes.
- Salad.
- Roasted vegetables.
- Onion rings.
- Bruschetta.
