Cooking the Perfect Steak

I always used to have trouble cooking steak. Then I got a cast iron skillet. What a difference it makes.

Ingredients:

One inch thich steak

McCormick Steakhouse Seasoning grinder(Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper is a good substitute if you do not have this)

Vegetable oil

To prepare:

Pre-heat the cast iron skillet in the oven at the highest temperature your oven will go to. Mine is 500 degrees. After pre-heated take the cast iron skillet and put it on the stove with the heat on high. Take your steak and brush it with the vegetable oil. Then coat the outside with the steakhouse seasoning. Do this to both sides.

Place the steak(s) in the cast iron skillet so they do not touch and let them sit there undisturbed for 2 minutes. For the next 2 minutes, put them in the oven cast iron skillet and all. This ability to go from the stove to the oven is one of the cast iron skillet's great qualities.

Take them out of the oven and put it back on the stove on high heat. Turn steaks over. Cook for 2 minutes on high heat. The steaks may be close to done now depending on how you like them. You will probably need to put this back in the oven for another 1-4 minutes depending on how thick the meat is and how you like it done.

I use a meat thermometer to test doneness. I highly recommend this method as it takes out all the guesswork.

A couple useful links are below one for a great steak sauce and another for temperature guide to cooking meat.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/MeatTemperatureChart.htm

http://www.cooksrecipes.com/beef/sirloin-steak-with-balsamic-sauce-recipe.html

Peppery Garlic Truffle Fries

These fries are the best I have ever tasted! Another great thing about this recipe is that you fry these in olive oil, so they are healthier.

Ingredients:

Olive oil(enough to cover the fries)
Shoestring fries(the frozen variety, the thinner, the better)
Pepper
Seasoning salt
Garlic powder
Grated parmesan cheese
Truffle oil(optional, but recommended)

To prepare:

In a large saute pan, heat a large amount of olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. The oil should be hot enough now to start cooking the fries. Pour the fries into the olive oil. Be careful! The hot oil tends to splatter. Make sure the olive oil covers all the fries. If it does not put more in or you will have to stir it up more often.

Put generous amounts of the seasoning salt, pepper, and garlic powder on top of the fries as they begin to fry in the oil. Let these fry for about 5-10 minutes. At this point, turn the heat down to medium-low. Use a spatula to mix up the fries to ensure even cooking.

Put generous amounts of seasoning salt, pepper, and garlic powder on the top of the fries again. Let these fry for another 5-10 minutes. At this point you will need to test to see if they are done. The longer you cook these, the crunchier they get so be careful not to overcook!

When the fries are about done, pour a generous amount of parmesan cheese on top of the fries while they are still cooking in the oil. Let this cook for about 2 minutes. Then drain the oil away from the fries. I just use a spatula to remove the fries and place them on a plate with a paper towel.

Pour more parmesan cheese onto the fries and roll them around so the parmesan gets spread throughout the fries. Pour a very small amount of white truffle oil onto the fries. Be careful, a little bit of this stuff goes a long way. You can also use black truffle oil, but I prefer the white. These fries are still awesome without the truffle oil. I just figured out the truffle oil trick a couple of months ago, but I have been making this recipe for years.

Enjoy this great side dish!