Seared & Baked Steak

Valentine's Day was last week and since I had to run to Costco for some things, I decided to pick up some of their NY Strip Steaks for dinner. If you don't know, Costco has an amazing meat section. Their steaks are so fresh and reasonably priced. We got 4 steaks for about $34.00. The one good thing about their NY Strips are that they are so thick (approximately 2 inches) that you can cut them in half and double your meal. We have actually done that before when grilling with friends.

So, my intention to have steaks for Valentine's Day Dinner. As the day went on we just decided to save the meat for the weekend so that we could have more time to prepare. We needed the time to prepare because we were going to cook it differently. Usually when we get steaks we just throw them on the grill. This time we decided to sear both sides and then stick steak in the oven.  I had no formal recipe. Just a friend gave me some suggestions and I googled the rest.... Season the steak as you typically would. 

 INGREDIENTS:
-  Steak of your choice. We had NY Strip which was declicious.
-  Salt & Pepper to taste. The video stated to use 3-4 generous pinches of salt. I was so scared because that seemed like a lot of salt so I just did 2-3 pinches.
-  Italian Seasoning (It's what we like)
-  Montreal Steak Seasoning (just because it was available). 

DIRECTIONS:
-  Leave the steak out at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour (we did an hour)
-  Pat dry with a paper towel on both sides (watch video for the details on why to do this step).
-  Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season steak to taste. While seasoning the steak get your non stick pan out. (The video we watched suggested an iron skillet but we don't have one). Heat pan on medium high heat while you are preparing the steak. 

- Place steak in pan. You will know when the pan is hot enough if your steak SIZZLES when you drop it in!!! Our steaks were very thick so we seared ours for 4-5 minutes on each side. If your steaks are thinner you may be able to get away with 2-3 minutes on each side.   
-  After you sear steak on both sides, set the steaks aside and let them "rest" for 10 minutes (again, watch the video for more details on this).
-  Place steaks on broiling pan. Cook them for 6-8 minutes, then flip over, and cook for another 6-8 minutes. Of course if your steaks are thick like ours then you will need the 8+ minutes.  Keep an eye on them because my husband wanted medium and it only took an additional minute and a half to get mine to medium well. We cut into the steak to see what was happening because we don't have a thermometer. 

 
 My husband and I cooked this meal together. We waited until after our son was in bed so that we could truly enjoy the experience, and the meal. He said that this was a "perfect" steak and it tasted like a restaurant! Can't wait to try this one again!!

Served with Cheesy Ranch Potatoes and a vegetable!!

This video really helped me out and gave me an understanding of what to expect. 

http://www.fifteenspatulas.com/how-to-properly-sear-a-steak/