Deck's Rules of Steak

THIS IS A REPOST FROM DECKONFOOD.COM.  http://deckonfood.com/?p=458

This isn't a post about John Howie's restaurant Steak (though I'm sure I will be writing one at some point).  No, this is about that food of the Gods, steak.  Without a doubt steak is my favorite food.  I could eat a well-cooked (not to be confused with well-done) steak any day of the week.  There is nothing that makes me more upset when it comes to food than someone that cooks a steak poorly.  I've already written a couple posts that involve steak (Craftsteak review and my grill pan), but nothing that is just dedicated to the delectable dish itself.  So I decided that on this beautiful Seattle summer evening, I would come home, throw a couple steaks on the grill, open a beer, and then kick back and write a post about my favorite food.

My taste for steak has evolved much like my taste for other foods.  But a lot of the evolution came with budget more than anything else.  When I was in college, I didn't have a lot of money, so I would only buy steak for myself when it was on sale.  Usually that was a couple day old chuck steak or every now and then a sirloin.  I would take it home and put it on the Foreman grill that night, not even saving it.  When I moved to Seattle, I continued to purchase sirloin steak, shopping at places like Safeway.  When I had a few extra dollars, I would go to Whole Foods and get the sirloin from there.  It was usually thicker cut, which was exciting.  Finally, when I got my most recent job, and had some more money, I stepped up my steak level.  Now, it's all about the thick cut ribeyes from Whole Foods, and special occasions call for the dry-aged ribeyes.

But it wasn't just about buying my steaks, it was also about ordering when I went out.  One of the first place I remember going was the Texas Roadhouse, and ordering the cowboy cut sirloin (maximizing my meat to dollar ratio).  It was always a good reliable steak.  Then I got to try the filet at Ruth's Chris which was a completely different experience; a broiled filet with melted butter.  I had never had a filet and it made me feel sophisticated at the time (interesting side note: the filet was the cheapest thing on the menu).  My restaurant steak experiences peaked when I had the Waygu chef's dinner at Craftsteak in Vegas.  Perfectly prepared, extremely flavorful steak that made everything else seem like hamburger.

All of my steak experiences have led me to develop some strong opinions and my own set of "rules" when it comes to steak.  I've never really written them down before, but I figure this is as good a forum as any.  So, here are my personal Rules of Steak.

Rule #1: No steak should be cooked beyond medium

Actually, I don't think that any steak should be cooked beyond medium-rare, but I know that some people can't quite do that.  However, anything past medium is just not worth it.  It loses all juices and flavors and everything that makes steak wonderful

Rule #2: When it comes to steak, fat is a friend, not a foe

What I mean by this is lean cuts of steak don't have the same flavor as the more marbled cut.  When I was first learning about steak, Filet Mignon was the steak that I definitely wanted to try.  Now, give me a ribeye or a New York strip, something with some fat.  And don't cut the fat off prior to cooking.  If you want to remove fat from your steak, wait until it has already given it's flavor to the meat.

Rule #3: Let the flavor of the meat shine!

Don't put extra stuff of the steak.  Definitely flavor with salt and pepper and other seasonings (I like Montreal Steak seasoning from McCormick).  Maybe some peppers or mushrooms.  But that's it.  No sauces necessary.  If it requires A1, then it's messed up.  When I had the steak at Craftsteak, it had Salt, Pepper and Rosemary.  Other than that it was a beautiful, delicious cut of meat that didn't need anything else.

That's it, just three simple rules.  But that's the way it is with steak.  Just get a good cut of meat (hugely important), season it well, and cook it well.  Right now the best cut of meat I purchase is from the butcher case at Whole Foods.  If there is something better, I hope to find it.  And I'm sure there will be more and more posts about steak as I try it at different places!

Restaurant Review: Deck on CraftSteak

I definitely don't want to make a habit out of posting past dated restaurant reviews.  And actually, this should be my last one as I head out on the road to Boston next week, and can dive into the restaurant reviews.  But it would be sacrilegious to have a food blog and not talk about my dining experience at CraftSteak.

CraftSteak, one of the Craft family of restaurants created by 5-Time James Beard award winner Tom Colicchio, is located in MGM Grand in Las Vegas.  Besides being an award winning chef, Tom Colicchio is the head judge on Top Chef, one of my favorite food shows on television.  So, after watching him rate, review, and breakdown contestants, I wanted to see if he could really deliver the goods.  So, since I was in Vegas, I grabbed my friend Nick (aka DJ Nicky Tsunami*), and headed over for dinner.

After a day at the pool where we hadn't exactly consumed a lot of food, we sat down at our dinner ready to eat.  Fortunately I had thought ahead to make a reservation as it is quite the popular place, though the bar does offer the full menu.  The first thing that came out was a pan of dinner rolls.  Eager for some sort of sustenance I dove in.  The rolls were absolutely delicious.  Light and fluffy rolls with buttered tops, but it was the hint of salt on top that actually put them over the edge.  We each put away two rolls before we even opened the menu to look at the food.

With our hunger briefly satiated, we took a look at the menu.  It featured a wide variety of steaks and sides and appetizers, all of which had the potential for deliciousness, that Nick was trying to wrap his head around.  So, rather than try and figure out what was best, I suggested that we do the Wagyu chef's menu, figuring that it would be better to let the chef put his best foot forward.  The chef's menu consisted of three courses; appetizer, entree and dessert, and all of the courses consisted of multiple dishes, and to say that we were excited to see what would come out is an understatement.

Within a few minutes the appetizers arrived at the table, and instantly we knew that we were in for something special.  We both went immediately for the steak tartare served with a nice crostini.  I heaped a generous portion on the crositini, took a bite, and felt like I could die happy.  The texture was so smooth and creamy, the flavor of the beef was so rich, and then the crunch of crostini was just perfect.  It was so incredible that it is making my mouth water right now, just thinking about it.  I could have made an entire meal out of that alone.  But that was only one of the appetizers.  Also on the table in front of us were some delicious and perfectly cooked breaded prawns.  As an appetizer on their own, they would have been excellent, but they paled in comparison to the tartare.

Now sufficiently happy, full of tartare and more rolls (seriously, they were just addictive), it was time for the star of the show.  You can't possibly have a restaurant called CraftSteak without serving steak.  I should also say here that I don't go to a lot of steak houses because I feel like for the price, I can make something that is equally good.  But this was Tom Colicchio's restaurant, so I gave in.  And am I glad that I did.  We did not only have placed in front of a beautifully prepared, medium rare, prime cut of filet mignon, but also an even more beautifully prepared, medium rare prime cut of Ribeye, hands down my favorite cut of meat.  Our server could barely get his hands back in time before the forks went flying into the steak.  One of my biggest criticisms with a lot of places that do steak is that they don't let the meat shine.  There is too much seasoning and flavoring and sauces on top of the steak or it's not rested properly or it's overcooked or any number of other things that ruin a steak.  CraftSteak knew how to make the meat shine.  With a light spice blend that seemed to feature no more than salt, pepper and rosemary the flavor of the meat was just the star.  The first bite was the filet which was so moist and juicy, just terrific.  Then there was the Ribeye.  The Ribeye was a thing of beauty, an unbelievable cut of meat that put a smile on my face and made me close my eyes sit back and enjoy.

After devouring the steak and a good, though unspectacular accompaniment of side dishes (potatoes and asparagus), we were treated to a variety of dessert options.  For me, the sorbets were excellent, especially the pear sorbet, one of my favorite flavors of anything. 

CraftSteak absolutely lived up to its billing.  The service was fantastic, the type of service that is efficient, but non-invasive, where we were able to have a conversation, look down, and our plates and silverware had been swapped out for the next course.  For me, the only non-amazing parts of the dinner were the plating (very simplistic, but expected for a more "family-style" service approach),  the side dishes which were for the most part unmemorable, and the desserts which were pretty simple (unlike Fleur de Lys, where I actually had to take a picture prior to eating).   

But the steak, oh the steak.  It was far and away the star, and made all the other things not really matter that much.   CraftSteak is an absolute must visit on your next trip to Vegas.  As Nick described it, "That was the food of the Gods".


*Side note:  Nick has been helping me promote my blog, and I need to help him promote his music.  Check out his mixes at http://www.letsmix.com/nicky_tsunami.  When it comes to food, I'm your guy, but when it comes to music, it's all Nicky Kats.