Who Needs Peter Luger? How To Cook A Steak At Home.

Learn how to cook the perfect steak at home with this how to lesson today.

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Let’s talk about steak.  Today we discuss love and steak.  Sometimes the two go hand in hand. 

I mean real steak. Not something you picked up at the grocery store, but a real, thick, well marbled, juicy, hunk ‘o meat that you buy at your local butcher.  

I’m talking grass-fed, organic, hormone, and antibiotic-free meat.  Steak that’s been aged.  Steak with a bone in the center.  Steak that costs more than $5 a pound.  Steak that you treat with respect. 

I’m not saying don’t patronize the steakhouses.  You absolutely should.  Probably the best wedding gift we received (besides, umm. . the wedding itself, thanks both parents for that!) was a gift certificate to Peter Luger.  That meal is when I finally realized I had been denying myself of good steak.  Forget all those filet mignons I kept ordering and thinking that was a good cut.  

No. From now on it was porterhouse or ribeye for me.  We were in steak heaven, and I might have gotten the meat sweats by the end of that meal.  

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Sometimes though, we can’t always afford to go to an amazing steakhouse for dinner. I’m about to show you – no recipe needed – how to make steakhouse steak at home. 

Step 1:  Go to your local butcher.  Buy a bone-in ribeye or a porterhouse.  At least 1.5 inches thick.  That’ll happily feed 2 hungry people.  I don’t want to hear you complaining about paying for the bone.  The bone gives you flavor.  That bone by the way. You save that and make really good beef stock with it. 

Step 2: One hour prior to cooking your steak, remove it from the refrigerator.  Let your steak come to room temperature.  Next, blot with paper towels to remove any excess moisture and then 15 minutes prior to cooking – salt.  Salt a lot, use more salt than you think you actually need, on both sides. Also, make sure you use coarse kosher salt. Nothing else.   Let your steak sit. 

Porterhouse prep

Step 3: Heat a cast iron skillet until it starts to smoke, also pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  I decided to trim a little of the extra fat and rendered it in my skillet, you can do this or you can place your steak directly on the skillet.  Sear for 2-3 minutes.  Flip, sear for an additional 2-3 minutes.  Place a pat of butter on top of the steak and move to the oven.  Cook anywhere from 6-10 minutes depending on the thickness of your cut.  I had a 2 inch steak that weighed over 2 pounds.  In the end I needed 16 minutes in the oven to get a perfect medium rare.  USE A THERMOMETER.  There is no shame.  You are spending good money on the steak, don’t under or over cook it. 

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Step 4: Remove from oven, tent with foil and sit for 5 minutes.  Slice and serve with melted butter and fat from pan.  

The person you are making this for will love you forever.   Serve with some German fried potatoes and some sort of vegetable.  I roasted up a little cauliflower.  Want a real steakhouse experience? Go with creamed spinach, steamed broccoli with garlic, or sliced beefsteak tomatoes and sweet onions. 

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Oh and the love part I talked about at the beginning? A belated anniversary post.  I couldn’t write this yesterday, because we were enjoying this fine meal then.   Four amazing (steak eating!) years together, to my best friend, my love, here’s to many many more!

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8 thoughts on “Who Needs Peter Luger? How To Cook A Steak At Home.

  1. Carol Lovett

    I have a silly question but maybe you can answer it. Is putting butter on your steak an American thing? I have never been served butter on my steak at a steak house or even had it suggested as a condiment on my steak. Carol from Canada

    Reply
  2. Ann E Wenner

    Well done! I only came across this by searching for “sliced like Peter Luger style”. Very happy I did! I think my husband will thank me too. I will happily try this soon for him and I. Off to the butcher later this week! Thank you again!

    Reply
  3. Matt

    So happy to hear from another steak freak!
    Bring some people too Lugers and they almost fall dow when they see the price but they are converted after they taste it.
    One thing about your recipe that confuses me. The waiters at Peter Lugers say that they broil the steak at 900 degrees. I know that this is not possible in a conventional oven however 350 degrees seems low to me. Wouldnt it be better to cook the steak a little longer in the cast iron skillet and then really char the outside?
    Or I could be wrong…

    Reply
  4. Reid Smith

    I agree except for the grass-fed comment. Grass fed does not work for me — too lean, a metallic taste, and overpriced. I am disappointed that recently much of Whole Foods beef is grass fed. I wonder how many top steakhouses serve only grass fed — my bet is not too many if any at all.

    Reply

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