Searing Heat in the Kitchen

We had been married for about a year and just moved into our first home.  My husband was excited to share our new abode with a close friend and invited him over to eat.  I had by that time learned some of the basics of cooking, so I wasn't to worried.  Big mistake! :)  My husband asked his friend what he liked to eat.  His friend was for anyone else very considerate and said,  "Oh nothing fancy, meat and potatoes is more than fine.  Meat, my nemesis.  But I took a deep breath and made a suggestion of a roast in the crock pot.  My sweetheart thought for a moment and looking me in the eye said,  "Actually, I promised him that we would have sautéed steak and mashed potatoes."  WHYYYYY!  "I don't know, it just sounded good, because I haven't had it for a long time."  Imagine me fuming and thinking to myself; "yes, I know.  You haven't had that since we have been married if you don't count the time I tried and it turned out like a tire or the two times we had steak at a restaurant.  But hey, new house, new challenges, I could do this.  For those of you who hate to wait for the end of the story; it all turned out great and I discovered a whole new area of confidence and cooking. 

Here are the tips I used to cook a great steak - (and pork too)

Oven Roasting: You will see the chefs on TV do this and it is how they do it in restaurants:

• Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees F
• Turn the burner or element on high heat, and warm up a oven safe skillet until it’s piping hot.
• Put a small amount of oil that will spread across the pan.  Usually this is about 2 teaspoons.  Do not use Olive oil for this.  Let it heat up, about 30 to 45 seconds.
• Using tongs, not a fork because you don't want to put holes in the meat that let the juices out.  Then put the steak in the pan and sear it for about 90 seconds on each side. This locks in the juices.
• Finally, place the pan in the oven to finish cooking. Roast the meat for 6 to 9 minutes, based on how you want it cooked and how thick it is.  The thicker and the more well done you want it, the longer you keep it in the oven.
• Don't overcook your meat.  Trust me, 9 minutes is enough for almost any steak
• Beware the urge to turn your meat over lots of times.  Just the once when you flipped it to sear it is enough, really.  :)
• If you want to know how the meat is, don't smash it. That will only push the juices out of it.  Guess what, the harder the meat is, the drier it is; so press a little and it should press down like the flesh on the top of your fist between your thumb and finger feel when you press down.
• Take the meat out of the oven and off of the pan right away, your steak will keep cooking for a few minutes just based on the heat the steak has.  Also, letting it set a few minutes lets the juices settle into the steak. Yum!