Pioneer Woman Swiss Steak Recipe - Delish Sides (2024)

FAQs

How to make steak tastier? ›

Add some chopped herbs such as thyme, rosemary or sage to your salt to make a flavored salt for your steak. For restaurant-quality steaks, baste them in butter and herbs during the final few moments of cooking. This will impart the delicious buttery flavor you know and love from your favorite steakhouse.

Add the steak to a very hot pan – preferably cast iron. Cook for 4 minutes, turning EVRY MINUTE. During the last minute of cooking, add butter to the pan, plus a few lightly crushed, peeled garlic cloves and a couple of sprigs of thyme or rosemary. Baste the the steak with the butter during the last minute of cooking.

Choose a good cut of meat: Look for a steak that has good marbling, which is the fat that runs through the meat. This will help keep the steak moist and flavorful. Season the steak: Rub the steak with salt and pepper, or any other seasonings you prefer, before cooking. You can also marinate the steak for added flavor.

There are many spices available for seasoning a steak, with salt and pepper topping the list. However, other spices, like thyme, rosemary, garlic powder, and minced onion, are also good options to enhance your steak's flavor. Or, use a one-and-done approach with Chicago Steak Seasoning.

A restaurant's wood-fired grills can reach upwards of 700° F, and fancy steakhouses use infrared grills that can get over 1,000° F. The best way to replicate those conditions is to use a charcoal grill, but a smoking-hot cast-iron skillet works in a pinch, too.

Start at Room Temperature

A cold cut of meat hitting a very hot pan—even if it's the best cut of steak—makes it tough and chewy, but bringing it to room temp allows the muscle fibers to relax, helps the steak cook more evenly, and prevents a loss of moisture.

Rest the meat

That's why resting meat for 5-10 minutes is the secret for preparing a juicy and tender steak. This resting time allows the muscles to relax and release their juices evenly into the meat. To keep the steak warm while resting, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.

Prepare a bed of *coarse sea salt or kosher salt the size of your steak. Place the meat on the bed and completely cover it with kosher or coarse sea salt. You can rub it in or just let it sit for approximately **15 minutes (or up to 45 minutes for thicker cuts).

Is it better to pan fry steak in butter or oil? ›

WHICH IS BEST FOR COOKING STEAK: BUTTER OR OIL? Unlike butter, many oils have higher smoke points, making them the better option for cooking steak. Furthermore, there are some oils e.g. olive oil or grape seed oil that are healthier alternatives to butter. However, don't expect oil to taste better than butter.

Oiling the steak directly also guarantees coverage of the entire piece of meat, including all the nooks and crannies that might be missed when oiling just the pan. By using only enough oil to coat the steak, you'll get beautifully rendered fat on a perfectly caramelized piece of meat.

But the reality is that flipping a steak repeatedly during cooking—as often as every 30 seconds or so—will produce a crust that is just as good (provided you start with meat with a good, dry surface, as you always should), give you a more evenly cooked interior, and cook in about 30% less time to boot!

Throw the steak on the cast iron, and let the steak sizzle for about 1 minute, then flip. Keep flipping every minute. Once the internal temperature hits 105ºF, add some butter, rosemary, thyme, and garlic cloves to the skillet, and let it all come together. Scoop some butter over the meat now and then.

You'll probably need about 3 turns to sear the sides and about 10 minutes total. Remove the pan from the heat and arrange all the filets flat in the pan. Top each with a tablespoon of butter, then place the pan in the oven. Cook the filets for 8 to 12 minutes to 120 degrees for rare and 125 degrees for medium-rare.

Add the steak and then some garlic, butter, rosemary, and thyme. Sear evenly on each side. Depending on your preference, for a 2-cm thick steak, to cook to: blue, 1 min per side; rare, 1½ mins per side; medium-rare, 2 mins per side; medium, about 2¼ mins per side; well-done, about 4-5 mins per side.

By adding salt to your steak, you will help pull out moisture from the meat, enriching the flavor of your steak while tenderizing it in the process. Salt will act as a natural brine and can be added up to 24 hours before cooking, instilling deep, rich flavors and tenderness to any cut of beef.