I think this picture sums up Emi's feelings on meat.Steak is one of the most simple things to make and at the same time one of the most complicated meals to perfect. Ultimately after years and years of eating steak all over the country, we've come to the conclusion that no restaurant can make it better than you can. By making it yourself, you guarantee it's seasoned right, cooked to your liking, and affordable.
We wanted to share a few photos of some of our more extravagant steak dinners along with a review of our favorite place to eat steak in Seattle and to finish off the post we wanted to share some pictures from our Sunday dinner.
Emi won an award trip to Vegas through work, so we had our most expensive meal ever at PRIME steakhouse which was located in Caesar's Palace. Luckily it was covered by the company, but to give you an idea of how expensive it was the cheapest part of the meal was our $25 glasses of wine!
After eating this porterhouse steak at PRIME I started to realize that steakhouses are overrated. The steak was OK, but not amazing, definitely big and expensive. If you do go to a nice steakhouse make sure to get a ribeye steak, they usually are the most flavorful.
After celebrating our one year anniversary in Portland we had plans for a special meal at The Metropolitan Grill. Their porterhouse steak used to be an all-time favorite.
38 oz of gluttony, but again I ended up being disappointed. The meat was tough, gristly, and not all that well seasoned. C'mon Met, what type of 2nd hand meat are you serving me?!
Look it's bigger than her head!
Even though Emi and I are no longer fans of the fancy steakhouse, the one place that we can still recommend is Jak's. Their ribeye steak is tender, smoky, flavorful deliciousness and it's affordable. Emi also loves their steak salad, that doesn't short you on the meat. The Jak's we go to is located next to Varlamos in the UDistrict and they have another location in West Seattle.
Keys to a good steak:
Keys to a good steak:
- Marbled meat, the fat is the flavor and the more there is the more tender it will be
- Never overcook your steak, rare to medium rare at the most guaranteeing it will be tender. Why pay $50 for a chewy piece of steak.
- Season your meat and let it sit out at room temperature before cooking it. Also don't skimp on the rock salt (we prefer Hawaiian sea salt), crushed black pepper, and garlic. Emi is the master seasoner and I'm the master griller.
- When cooking the meat, cook on high heat to sear in the flavors and juices, don't let the BBQ, grill pan or oven heat up while cooking the meat, make sure it's already hot.
- When the meat is done let it sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting into it so the meat can absorb the juices, otherwise when you cut into it everything will spill out
Last Sunday, Emi and I had no idea what to make for dinner so we went to Central Market to look around and this is what we came up with; ribeye steak.
We cooked this steak on high heat on our All-Clad grill pan. It ended up working really well and even cooked in the layer of seasonings.
Emi made homemade croutons to go with the salad
Even though the presentation may not be as nice as a fancy steakhouse, the food is ten times more flavorful, cooked to your liking, and much more affordable. To go with our steak we boiled white asparagus seasoned with salt and pepper, sauteed sweet onions with chantrelles and garlic, and Emi made mashed sweet potatoes.
We cooked this steak on high heat on our All-Clad grill pan. It ended up working really well and even cooked in the layer of seasonings.
Emi made homemade croutons to go with the salad
Even though the presentation may not be as nice as a fancy steakhouse, the food is ten times more flavorful, cooked to your liking, and much more affordable. To go with our steak we boiled white asparagus seasoned with salt and pepper, sauteed sweet onions with chantrelles and garlic, and Emi made mashed sweet potatoes.
Even though we make a pretty good steak, Emi's Dad's is the best. For those of you reading, hopefully you can come enjoy one of Steve's steaks someday because they are amazing.
- Kyle
- Kyle
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Hi. I would agree with a few things from your post. (1) Always go with the Ribeye, definately much more flavorful. (2) Skip the fancy steakhouse and cook at home (3) I have been a fan of Jak's for years, however the last steak i had in Seattle was at Daniel's Broiler in Leschi. It was cooked by our friend Chef Todd and it was superb!!!
ReplyDeleteMy sure bet way of ensuring your steak is cooked to perfection is the finger test. Touch the meat with a finger and compare with the hand test. Index finger and thumb touching, and with your other hand touch the base of your thumb on the palm and that gives you your rare, middle finger to thumb is med rare, ring finger to thumb is medium and pinky to thumb is medium well.
Cheers
Good lord, what is it with my hubby and the "touching" of meat test? jeezz! Steak here is so pricy and once again, reading your blog, I now crave steak! DARN!
ReplyDeleteDid Emi finish the steak that was larger than her head? Can you email me your sweet potato mash recipe? xoxo - Carms
Thanks Jamie for the awesome steak suggestions--yes, Daniel's Broiler does make a great steak, and it is more affordable than some of the other steak joints in town!
ReplyDeleteCarms, here is the sweet potato recipe:
Ingredients
3 large sweet potatoes, about 3 pounds
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned, warmed
Ingredients
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and roast until easily pierced with a fork, about 1 hour.
Peel the sweet potatoes while still hot. Combine the potatoes, butter, salt, orange juice, maple syrup, and chicken broth in a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher until the potatoes are smooth. Serve immediately. (This can be prepared a day ahead and reheated).
It is yummy! Not as "sweet" as you would think, though.
-Emi
Jamie, I also use the hand/finger test when cooking my steak. I also prefer to take the steak off when it's a little rare because it will cook even after you pull it off the heat and you can always put it back on.
ReplyDelete