Saturday, January 21, 2012

seared frozen steaks: The Science of Cooking

01-21-2011 Sat. cold, snow dust.



WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | Italian bread | cheese | grapefruit | scrambled saffron eggs AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea
DINNER --- okra tempura with dashi dipping sauce | seared frozen rib eye steaks with wine mushroom sauce | baby potatoes with caramelized onion with porcini juice | wine




cast-iron pan searing the frozen steak

seared, ready to go in the oven


one hour later, out of low-temperature oven (200)


tender and flavorful, with mushroom sauce




okra tempura


  • followed the Seared Frozen Rib Steaks recipe from NYT this week, which made from the giant book "Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking". It was a rather successful first try, the steak turned out to be juicy, tender, and flavorful.



Adapted from “Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking,” by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young and Maxime Bilet, with my notes from the experiment

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes, plus freezing time

2 bone-in rib steaks (about 1 1/2- inch thick and 1 1/2 pounds each) ( used New York rib eye steak, 1 inch thick, no bone )

Safflower oil (used canola oil )

Coarse sea salt and black pepper.

1. Place the steaks on a baking sheet and freeze them for 1 hour.( solid frozen)

2. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Season the steaks all over generously with salt and pepper.

3. Heat a cast iron skillet until very hot, at least 10 minutes; add a thin layer of safflower oil. Sear the steaks, one at a time, on one side, until they form a golden crust. Transfer, seared side up, to a rimmed baking sheet. Alternatively, arrange steak on a rimmed baking sheet. Holding a propane torch six inches from the meat, run a flame back and forth across the surface of the meat, giving it an even crust. Make sure to sear the fatty edges and the bones. (You need to sear only one side and the edges.) (heavy cast iron skillet essential, pre-heated over medium heat for 15 minutes, very thin oil layer, meat seared nicely with some smoke, 10 minutes )

4. Cook steaks until they reach a core temperature of 122 degrees for rare, about 30 minutes to 1 hour. (Or leave it in the oven until it’s done to taste.) Let stand 10 minutes before thinly slicing. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and serve immediately. ( cooked for an hour, most evenly medium rare, bottom slightly well done. the oven temperature could have been a bit lower to 180 )