This is one of our favorite meals. It never gets old. It’s quick, easy to make and we clean our plates every time. It’s nice to make a peppercorn or Bearnaise sauce to accompany the steaks, but because the meat is so good on it’s own, its not a necessity. Add a bottle of wine and you have a nice dinner for two.

The key to making perfectly cooked steaks is a hot pan and a hot oven. Searing the meat on the stove first and transferring to a hot oven to finish cooking helps keep the juices intact and the meat retains its flavor and does not dry out. With this method, you should have perfectly cooked meat every time.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Place a high heat, oven safe pan into the oven to heat up while you prepare the potatoes.

Slice 1.5 pounds of red new potatoes into 1/8 inch slices.

Toss the potatoes in a bowl with two tablespoons olive oil, 5-6 peeled garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste.

In a 9×13 baking pan or on a  cookie sheet, layer the potatoes to cover the bottom. Try not to over crowd them so they have room to crisp.

Place in the oven, keeping an eye on their doneness while preparing the steaks. They should cook in about 10 minutes. Remove the potatoes once they are browned and fork tender.

The steaks from our butcher come with a layer of fat held on with a string. We remove this before cooking.

Season the steaks with salt and pepper.

Remove the pan from the oven carefully. Place over a high flame on the range top.  Add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the pan. Do not use olive oil as it will burn at a high heat. Add the steaks to the heated pan, searing the outsides for about 1 minute on the first side. Flip the steaks when you have a nice brown crust.

Leave on the second side for about 30 seconds before transferring the pan back to the oven.

Test for doneness by taking the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer inserted  into the center of the meat at a 45 degree angle to the flat surface. Depending upon the thickness of your meat, there will be residual heat and the internal temperature will rise during resting and cause the meat to continue cooking. This means the meat should be removed from the heat at an internal temperature of about 5 degrees lower than your desired final internal temperature, allowing the residual heat to finish the cooking.

For rare, a red cool to warm center with a very spongy feel , the temperature will be 125 degrees F. For medium rare, a red warm center and bit springy, it will be 130 degrees F. A medium steak, or a hot pink center with a little spring and will have a temperature of 140 degrees F. Medium well done has an internal temperature of 150 degrees F and only has a slight pink color and feels frim. A well done steak has no color and feels very firm with little to no give. It’s temperature is 160 degrees F.

You can also use the hand method of touching the steak to feel it’s firmness.

For rare, it should feel like the fat in between your thumb and first finger when your hand is relaxed. Stretch your thumb out a  little more for medium rare.

For well done, it should feel like the fat of your thumb on the palm of your hand.

Once your desired temperature is reached, remove the pan from the oven and place on top of the stove half on a burner so the pan is on an angle to rest the steaks for about 10 minutes.  Placing the pan at an angle will keep the steaks from sitting in their juices and loosing their crispy crust.  It is important to let the steaks rest as this lets the juices meld back into the meat and keeps it juicy.

Serve with the potatoes and a vegetable of your choice and you will have a lovely dinner.