The simple NY strip

I’ve always been cautious to have strip steaks at home, they’re one of the few cuts I’m convinced are better at a steakhouse. For one, they are distinctly better when dry-aged – the meat’s way more tender and the flavor’s far more concentrated. While you can sometimes find dry-aged NY strips at a butcher shop, they are incredibly expensive and just not feasible to buy. And two, a NY strip is a cut that’s just better on a grill. A lot of cuts are better braised or sautéed, but not the strip. The crust benefits from the sear of a burning hot grill and the flavor and meatiness of the cut goes hand in hand with a charcoal or wood-fired grill. When do you ever hear about a couple of guys sautéing a NY strip? It doesn’t happen. Needless to say, living in an apartment in DC means I don’t have a grill and have to use other options.

But I was at the Harris Teeter in Crystal City last week (the best market in the area) and found beautiful NY strips on sale for $6.99 a pound, way too good of a deal to resist. I figured it was worth a shot since the cuts we’re huge, they were beautifully marbled, and they were as fresh looking as I can ask for. I picked one of the larger cuts and at 20-ounces it was enormous.

Usually I love marinating or cooking meats in sauces, but for the strip I believe in a different approach, less is more. NY strips are impressive cuts with serious marbilization and a lot of flavor. This steak speaks for itself, there’s no point in dressing it up as or with something else.

In preparation, I heated my oven to 450 and put my trusty cast-iron skillet (pictured below) in to heat up. The main reason I use a cast-iron skillet is for the incredible heat it retains. I think the single most important aspect of cooking steaks is to have a surface that’s hot enough so the meat is seared and effectively cooked, without having to leave it on for too long. This ensures that the meat has a nice crust on the outside without being overcooked inside, and I think searing it preserves the flavor better. As an added bonus, this particular skillet has grooves that give the meat a grilled look – perfect for steaks, not great for sauces. After a few minutes in the oven, I took the skillet out and put it on a burner on high, all ready to go.

The cast iron skillet

For seasoning, I used kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper and a little olive oil. The key here was to use a generous amount of kosher salt (a full coating on either side), which helped bring out the flavor of the meat. Once on the skillet, the steak immediately began smoking, which was necessary for the crust. That’s where the beauty of the skillet came in, allowing the steak to immediately and get the color and crust it needed, without having to spend too long cooking.

The steak spent roughly three minutes on either side (without being touched) and then I sent it straight to the oven for another two minutes. I think the oven really seals in the flavor of the steak so it finishes well. I removed the meat and let it sit for 5 minutes so the juices spread out and then cut in half and served. I prefer steaks practically mooing still so a 20-ouncer was still about rare-plus after 8 minutes. If you prefer meat slightly better done, leave it in the oven for another 2 minutes and you’ll get a pinker version.

The meat was served on a "steak board," a traditional Argentinian parillas (steakhouse) serving dish. It might be the most wonderfully spartan addition to food yet. 

The steak resting on the steak board before slicing

Serving aside, the strip was absolutely delicious. The outside was nicely charred (thanks to the cast-iron skillet), while the inside had a frankly awesome reddish pink color. Look at it in the picture below. It was warm, flavorful, and juicy. The salt concentrated the flavors and even gave the illusion at times that it was dry-aged. Unlike so many home cooked steaks, it wasn’t overdone or dried out.

Beautiful char outside, juicy redness inside

The biggest difference between a steakhouse cut and this was that the fat here was slightly harder to cut around since it hadn’t been dry-aging for the last month or two. Aside from that, it was easy to make and surprisingly good, I’m certainly more eager to make strips in the future.

Harris Teeter Crystal City:

Potomac Yard
3600 S Glebe Rd
Arlington, VA 22202