TWO-HEAT KANSAS CITY STRIP STEAKS
Photo from Jason Leung on unsplash
RECIPE: Two-heat Kansas City Strip Steaks
Makes 2.
Ingredients
2 Kansas City strip steaks, each about 1 and 1/2-inch thick (also known as New York strip steaks but with the bone remaining on one side)
Crystal-cut finishing salt (Maldon, for example, or Diamond “kosher”)
Directions
If the meat's coming from the refrigerator, unwrap it and allow it to get up to room temperature, anywhere from 30-45 minutes. Salt the steaks liberally on both sides (which means just to the point where you're beginning to feel uncomfortable about the amount). Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Coat a cast iron (preferred) or heavy-bottomed oven-safe skillet with a cooking fat that can tolerate torrid heat (avocado, safflower, soybean or ghee all do nicely). Put the skillet atop a stovetop burner on high and get it very hot.
Plop the steaks into the pan so that they don't touch each other and sear them for 2 minutes on each side (or for 90 seconds a side if the steaks are less than 1 and 1/2 inch thick). Use tongs, not a fork. Then straightaway, place the skillet into the oven.
After 3 minutes, test the steaks at their centers and at an angle with an instant-read thermometer. The final cooking time will depend on the thickness of the steaks, their starting temperature, and the sturdiness of the skillet. It may take 5 minutes rather than 3-4.
Pull the steaks from the oven when the internal temperature registers 5 degrees below the following desired temperatures for doneness: rare, 120; medium-rare, 130; medium, 140; and (although you really oughtn't go here or further up) 150 for medium-well; and 160 for well-done. Immediately on removing the steaks from the oven, tong them from the skillet and place them on a cutting board.
Now, let the steaks rest. Follow the advice of chef Anthony Bourdain: “It should rest on the board, meaning sit there at room temperature for 5 to 7 minutes, at which point, stay away from it. The steak continues to cook in these crucial moments and it must be left alone to ensure perfect distribution of the juices inside. All the difference in the world between a good steak and a totally messed-up steak is going on in that period of time that you're just doing nothing. Don't wrap it in foil, don't cover it, don't poke it, don't prod it, don't even look at it. Just let it sit there. Leave it alone, and you will be rewarded.”
More steak recipes: Bone-In Cowboy (or Tomahawk) Steak, Pan-Seared Flap Steak with Sauce Gribiche, Flat-Iron Steak.