How To Cook Perfect Steak in the Oven

An easy method for cooking a steak in the oven.

One of our favorite summer meals is steak from the grill. But many of us simply do not have access to a grill, at least not on a daily basis. If you're craving that quintessential taste of summer cook-outs, the taste of a juicy steak with crisp, peppered crust, we have you covered. No, you don't need a grill; yes, you can make a perfect steak indoors.

Here is an absolutely foolproof, easy, and quick way to make a steak indoors, in the oven. Add a loaf of bread, a salad, and a bottle of wine, and you have an easy and delicious meal. No grill required.

This method takes 15 minutes, tops. Have the rest of your meal ready, the candles lit, and the wine poured before you start cooking. (Although you should probably heat the broiler at least 20 minutes before you need to cook.) It turns out a beautifully juicy, medium-rare steak, with crisped and crunchy edges, and so much flavor! This is probably our favorite way to cook a steak, honestly; it is even easier than grilling.

How To Cook Perfect Steak in the Oven

• This method is adapted slightly from Alton Brown's Pan-Seared Rib Eye recipe.

• Yield: One pound of steak is plenty to feed two people. In fact, I've served four people on just one pound of boneless rib eye. One pound of bone-in ribeye is enough for a feast for two, with a little left over for lunch the next day.

What You Need

Ingredients

One approximately 1-pound ribeye steak, 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick
Canola or vegetable oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Equipment

Cast iron skillet
Long tongs
Very thick or well-padded oven mitt

Instructions

1. The first, and most important, step in cooking a great steak is to buy a great steak. The best way to do this is to go to a local butcher, preferably one who either raises the animals himself or sources them from a local farm. The beef should be at least partially grass-fed and humanely butchered. Look for steaks that have been dry-aged to intensify the flavor, too. I buy my steak from a butcher at my local market; they raise the animals on a farm nearby and dry age the beef for at least a couple weeks. (I love Bluescreek Farm Meats, my local butcher! There is always a difference in taste when buying from good folks like them.)

2. Buy a rib eye steak. It should be at least 1-inch thick and have some fat marbling around the edges. Again, buy the best you can. No matter how expensive it is, it will still be cheaper than eating out on Valentine's Day! Expect to pay at least $10 to $15 for a pound of steak. If it is less than that, pass it up. I live in the Midwest, so prices aren't too bad here. If you're in the city, you should probably expect to pay at least $20 per pound. 1 pound of steak will easily feed two, and can be stretched to three or even four people.

3. Now that you have your rib eye steak, open the package and drain out any juices. Blot the steak dry with paper towels or a rag. Let the steak come to room temperature, if it isn't already.

4. Turn on your oven's broiler and place an oven rack 6 to 8 inches below the broiler element. Put a cast iron skillet on the rack to heat up with the oven.

6. Pour a little canola or vegetable oil (about 2 tablespoons) into a small bowl.

7. Put about 1 tablespoon of kosher salt into a ramekin and mix in a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper.

8. Brush the oil all over the steak, coating it generously on both sides and on the ends.

9. Now sprinkle the salt and pepper mix generously on both sides of the steak, patting it into the steak so it sticks.

10. Turn on a stove burner to high heat.

11. Very, very carefully remove the hot cast iron skillet from the oven, using your thickest and most reliable oven mitt or pad! Place it over the high heat and use long, sturdy kitchen tongs to place the steak on the hot pan. It should sizzle immediately.

12. Cook the steak for 30 seconds, then flip it over.

13. Cook the steak for an additional 30 seconds on the other side. Then, again carefully, put the skillet and steak back in the oven. Cook the steak for 2 minutes. (Don't forget to turn off the burner) Open the oven and carefully flip the steak, using the long tongs. Return to the oven and cook for an additional 2 minutes. At this point your steak will be medium-rare (as seen in the photos). If you prefer your steak closer to medium, add 2 minutes to the oven time.

14. Take the steak out of the oven. Turn off the oven. Remove the steak from the pan and put it on a large cutting board. Cover it with aluminum foil and let the steak rest for about 5 minutes.

15. Slice the steak against the grain and fan slices out on each plate. Serve immediately.

Additional Notes: 
• If you wish, you can also make a pan sauce with the drippings from the steak. To do this, put the skillet over medium heat while the steak is resting. Add about 1/2 cup of beef or chicken broth, and about 1/2 cup of red wine. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until it is reduced by at least half. Scrape up any small bits of meat still clinging to the skillet. Pour the reduced sauce over the sliced steak on each plate before serving.

How to Cook Ugali without Sticking on the Pot

Ugali is a staple food of many African countries including Kenya.

Ugali is cooked by mixing either maize, sorghum or millet flour with water and cooking until it forms homogeneous mass.

Ugali pepared from maize flour is white in colour while Ugali prepared from millet or sorghum is brown.

The main nutrient in Ugali is carbohydrate i.e. starch.

There is a big problem encountered during cooking of ugali. The flour used (either maize, sorghum or millet) sticks on the inside surfaces  of a cooking pot. This requires a lot of difficult work to clean the cooking pot.

In this article, I will outline steps to make ugali that doesnot stick on the cooking pot

Process of making Ugali which does not stick to the sauce pan

Ingredients
1/2 kg of maize flour
1/2 litre of water
olive oil
Teflon coated cooking pan

Cooking wooden stick

Steps
1.Put the water into the cooking pan and heat till it boils.
2. Add olive oil (approx 50 ml).  Normally Ugali is cooked without adding oil
2. Add maize flour while stirring to ensure that it is heated and mixed homogeneously.
3. Continue adding flour until it forms a cake.
5. You can control the hardness of the cake by the amount of flour you add into the boiling water.
6. The whole process of coking could take between 8-15 minutes.
7. After attaining the desirable hardness, transfer the ugali to a serving plate.
8. The cooking pot will be left smooth and clean without remnants of ugali sticking.

Ugali sticking on Cooking Pot

Serving options
Ugali can be served with vegetables like kales (sukuma wiki), cabbages, fish or meat.

Advantage of Ugali that does not stick on the pot 
Save enormous time which could otherwise be spent doing tedious work of cleaning cooking pot.

HOW TO PREPARE MEATLOAF

Updated with new photos, from the recipe archive. First posted in 2004.

Why do I love meatloaf? It reminds me of being a kid. Where does one get meatloaf other than at home or at a school cafeteria? When I lived in San Francisco I bought meatloaf already mixed and seasoned from my local butcher. Just mixed in an egg, put it in a loaf pan, and popped it in the oven for an hour. These days I wait for my father to whip up a batch. He makes the Best. Meatloaf. Ever. His trick? He uses a mix of ground beef and pork, but the pork he uses is Italian pork sausage (half sweet, half spicy) instead of plain ground pork. He found the original recipe in an old issue of Gourmet (April 1994) and has adjusted it to his taste (including the sausage substitution) over the years. It takes a little more prep time because of the sofritto base (minced carrots, onions, celery, and garlic), but it is so worth it!

• Prep time: 20 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4 to 6, with plenty for leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches.

Many meatloaf recipes call for ground veal or pork in addition to ground beef. You might want to experiment with a third each of beef, pork, and veal. If you don't have access to spicy ground pork or Italian sausage, add a pinch of fennel seeds and a half teaspoon of hot sauce to regular ground pork.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup of minced onion
• 1 celery rib, minced
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 carrot, minced
• 1/2 cup of minced green onion, including the onion greens
• 2 teaspoon salt (use 1 1/2 teaspoons if using Italian sausage)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2/3 cup ketchup, divided 1/3 and 1/3
• 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef (chuck)
• 3/4 pound of spicy ground pork sausage or Italian sausage (a mix of sweet and hot if you are using links)
• 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs, beaten slightly
• 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350° F, with a rack in the middle.

 

2 In a large, heavy skillet, melt the butter on medium heat until foamy. Add the minced onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and green onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Cover the skillet and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until the carrots are tender, stirring occasionally. Add the salt, freshly ground black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/3 a cup of the ketchup. Cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and let cool to the touch.

 

3 In a large bowl, use your clean hands to combine the ground beef, spicy ground pork sausage, eggs, breadcrumbs, the cooked vegetables from step 2, and parsley.

 

4 Press mixture into a loaf pan with 2-inch high sides, or form the mixture into a free standing loaf and place in a rimmed roasting pan. Cover the loaf with the remaining ketchup.

 

5 Bake the meatloaf in a 350°F oven for 1 hour, or until the internal temperature of the meatloaf reaches 155°F. Let rest for 10 minutes. Then gently remove by lifting with a spatula to a serving plate, and slice to serve.

Meatless Pilau with Potatoes

Rice dishes are popular and loved everywhere. They can be cooked with various ingredients like vegetables, beef, mutton or chicken. Also, there are many people who are vegetarians and do not consume any meat, be it red or white meat. 

Pilau is a rice dish which can be cooked either with meat or without. All it takes is a little creativity and you will have a delicious meal on your dining table. Therefore, this pilau recipe I am sharing does not contain any meat but is still as good as the more popular one.

Ingredients:

• Washed rice
• Pilau spices, either whole or ground
• Crushed fresh garlic
• Crushed fresh ginger
• Potatoes, cubed
• Salt
• Cooking oil

A satchet of whole pilau is composed of dried cumin seeds, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamon and other spices. A small amount is taken then using a small mortar all the spices are crushed together with the fresh garlic and ginger.

Preparation:

1. Put oil in a sauce pan and place on heat to warm it.
2. Add the mixture of crushed spices, garlic and ginger to the oil. Cook for about two minutes.
3. Add the potatoes and cook for a further five minutes then pour in enough water to cook the rice.
4. Add salt then bring to a boil. Add the rice and cook till the rice is done and all the water has been absorbed. 
5. Serve.

Pilau may be served with any type of vegetable salad. The salad helps in making the meal balanced by providing other nutrients like Vitamins. It may also be served with any type of soup or stew, all of which depends on one's desire.