Need steak advice
 

I'm looking for a really good steak.

Option A: Do it yourself
Step 1: The Meat
From what I hear, USDA prime, dry-aged NY strip is the way to go. Correct? How much should I be willing to pay for such a piece of meat? The Whole Foods near my house is charging 20/lb. Reasonable? If not, should I go for an inferior cut?

Step 2: The cooking
I live in an apartment, so I don't have access to a real grill. The best I can do is a gas oven. Is this a deal-breaker? If not, how do I go about the cooking? Please incorporate horseradish if at all possible. I prefer my meat as rare as possible, but I'd be willing to go all the way to medium if required.

Step 3: The sides
Somewhat off-topic, but does anyone have any good recipes for mashed potatoes. Possibly involving horseradish or garlic?

OR

Option B: Steakhouse
Anyone know any good, but reasonably priced steakhouses in the DC area. Any tips on ordering would be appreciated.

Re: Need steak advice
 

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Option B: Steakhouse
Anyone know any good, but reasonably priced steakhouses in the DC area. Any tips on ordering would be appreciated.

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Can't help you with the cooking advice, but for a great cut of meat at a (relatively) decent price, check out Ray's the Steaks in Arlington. Be warned, you can only make reservations from 2-4 on Tuesday through Friday. I think you can make reservations up to a month in advance and they're pretty much necessary for dinners on Friday and Saturday and probably a good idea for weekdays. You can have a dinner for two including wine for under $100.

Re: Need steak advice
 

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Option B: Steakhouse
Anyone know any good, but reasonably priced steakhouses in the DC area. Any tips on ordering would be appreciated.

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Can't help you with the cooking advice, but for a great cut of meat at a (relatively) decent price, check out Ray's the Steaks in Arlington. Be warned, you can only make reservations from 2-4 on Tuesday through Friday. I think you can make reservations up to a month in advance and they're pretty much necessary for dinners on Friday and Saturday and probably a good idea for weekdays. You can have a dinner for two including wine for under $100.

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Nice, I live in Arlington and have definitely heard of Ray's. And OP, I'd be more than happy to help taste testing said steak after its cooked [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Need steak advice
 

Define reasonably priced. Capitol Grill is awesome but a little pricey. Also Ruths Chris is great, a little cheaper but more generic.

Re: Need steak advice
 

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Define reasonably priced. Capitol Grill is awesome but a little pricey. Also Ruths Chris is great, a little cheaper but more generic.

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Cap' Grill IS awesome. Very underrated chain in the Steakhouse world.

Re: Need steak advice
 

Different cuts of meat have different applications and different qualities. A filet Mignon is a very tender piece of meat because it is a muscle rarely used by the beast. However, it lacks flavor. A chuck steak has plenty of flavor, but it is hard as hell to eat. Personally, I am fond of the ribeye. It is a tneder cut of meat, but his a little more flavor than an FM. If you are going to grill/saute - you will want to use a steak that comes from the animal's back - porterhouse, NY, RE, FM, Tbone, whatever. Checking for quality - you want a steak with plenty of fat marbling. Marbling is the fat that is IN the steak itself. Not the fat on the outside, but the intramuscular fat or little white dots peppered throughout. You don't want a steak where all you see is red in the part you're gonna eat.

Cooking. Please don't use the oven. No grill is fine, but through it in a saute pan on the stove top. The oven will cook it too slowly and will dry out your steak, also making a good low temp (rare, MR) harder to achieve. Also you lose the flavor that comes with a good sear.

So - Get your pan up to med-hi heat. Through in a splash of oil. Then put your steak in the hot pan. Try not to move the steak until you are ready to turn it. Oh yeah, season the steak well with salt and pepper. Depending on the thickness of the steak, rare can take from 2-5 min per side. Usually closer to 3-4. However, start learning how to tell by feel.

Temp by feel - examine your relaxed palm of your left hand. With your right hand feel the softness/resistance found just below the finger joint to your pointer finger. That is rare. Now feel just below the 1st joint. That is MR. The space between the next two joints is med. If you are going to cook it past that then God be with you.

Re: Need steak advice
 

Garlic Mashed - I'm going to have a little trouble scaling the recipe down so you'll have to adjust.

2Potatoes. Boil your potatoes. If you desire, peel, and then cut into equal size pieces. Size doesn't matter as long as they are all close to equal. Cook until pieces break apart easily when pierced by a fork.

Heat cream/butter/garlic. Best if you use heavy cream. Perhaps 1C cream + 1 stick of butter + maybe 8 cloves to a head of garlic. This should be heating at the same as your potatoes are cooking so that the garlic is cooked/softened.

Add liquid to strained potatoes and mash or whip with whatever tool works. If you desire creamier potatoes, simply add more butter + cream, but it is too late to add garlic easily. Remember to salt your mashers as you will not achieve greatness without plenty of salt. If you desire Horseradish Pot, simply mix in horseradish at this point. In a restaurant, we would mix in horseradish to order, but cook our potatoes way in advance.

Re: Need steak advice
 

CSC, I'm a grill guy myself, but what are your thoughts on this no-grill technique?

Re: Need steak advice
 

I have posted this technique before and some found it interesting. Heat your oven to really hot - 500. Get a cast iron or good saute pan hot. Use a bit of oil in the pan. Sear a seasoned steak for like 1 min per side then throw the pan in the oven. Start at 5 min and see if that is too your liking. Of course, as with any steak, get it out of the pan without puncturing the outside and let it sit a few minutes before cutting into it. Also, the pan will be f'in hot so don't grab it with your bare hand. Sounds obvious, but if you take it out of the oven w/a pot holder and put it on the stove, it will sit there innocently and you might be tempted to move it out of your way in a couple minutes forgetting the pot holder/towel. Don't do that. Ovens, stoves vary so you will have to fool around with it. I like this method for indoor steaks when I am not inclined to grill. Try it on some cheap steaks to see if you like it before going to the 20/lb prime steaks. Try a reasonably thick supermarket NY strip first. I wish I could get those around here.

Re: Need steak advice
 

Since you know your stuff, why not start on the pan and finish in the oven? Most non-grill/non-IR restaurants seem to do it that way, and it's relatively straightforward, and on anything over 1/2" it's much easier than trying to guestimate searing temp.