Earlier this week I wandered through the meat section at my local Food Lion around mid-day. This is the time where I often find some excellent deals on meats that are close to their sell-by date, as the meat guy goes through right about noon and marks them down.
I picked up one cut of steak that I’d never seen before: Denver Steak. The package said it was a good grill cut, and it was discounted down to about $7 for three small-medium sized steaks, so why not?
Only problem was, the time change. I no longer had any leeway to get out to my grill with any significant daylight after work. These things had a shelf-life of about three more days, and I don’t know about you, I really hate freezing a good cut of steak!
My Pan-Seared Denver Steak Technique
Beware: either have an awesome range hood fan in place, or prepare to open some doors and windows. However, the end result is worth the smoke!
I started researching how to prepare Denver Steaks, and came across this YouTube video from user ‘RhinoCake.’ While I watched the entire video twice, and dreamed of having Waygu style Denver Steams and an ideal grill setup, this was not to be the case. I’m not sure about your Food Lion, but mine sure doesn’t carry Waygu anything. And like I said, I wasn’t going to have any daylight to work with for my grill anyway.
Nevertheless, I took his aging technique and made it work. Two days before cooking these things, I carefully dried them off with a paper towel, sprinkled about a half a teaspoon of kosher salt on both sides of each steak, then wrapped them tightly in plastic wrap and then again in foil. Then, I let them sit in the fridge for two days.
About an hour before cooking, I unwrapped them, blotted them again with a paper towel, then let sit on a wire rack for about an hour. This allows any additional moisture to escape from their surface, and gets them to room temperature. Finally, rub just a bit of salt and pepper into each side of the steaks.
The next step was easy, except for the smoke: heat up some olive oil in a cast iron pan over medium high heat, then when the oil starts to smoke just slightly, place the steaks in the pan with a sprig of rosemary on top of each one. Let them sit for four minutes, then carefully flip each one and place the rosemary on the up-sides. Sear for about three more minutes, then remove to a plate and let sit for about eight minutes.
Now you have a perfectly cooked pan-seared Denver Steak.
Pan Seared Denver Steak Recipe
Ingredients (per steak)
- Denver cut steak
- Salt + pepper
- Sprig of rosemary
- Olive oil
Directions
- Blot off any package moisture from the surfaces of the steak with a paper towel.
- Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp of kosher salt, evenly, on both sides of the steak
- Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then again in foil.
- Place in fridge for 48 hours.
- Remove from wrapping, and blot any package moisture from the surfaces of the steak; let sit, at room temperature, on a wire rack for about an hour.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a cast iron pan at medium-high heat.
- When the olive oil just begins to smoke, place steaks in pan, with a sprig of rosemary on top of each.
- Sear for four minutes; flip, placing the rosemary back on top.
- Sear for three minutes; remove from pan and let sit on a plate for about eight minutes.
