Terra Americana

Lately I have been waxing poetic about steak.  It all started months ago when I asked my friend Dan "What is your favorite food?"  His response was immediate and clear;  "A good steak." 

While my favorite food is bread, I do often dream about a good cut of juicy red meat.  Growing up I refused to eat steak.  When my mother made it she had to prepare something else for me.  That was often a frozen dinner of fish stick parmesan.  I know, I know - how did I get from there to here?  I am also embarrassed to say my boycott of steak had nothing to do with a better diet or a concern for animal rights.   Meatballs, hamburgers, bring em' on.  The steak issue for me was about the marbling and texture.  Yuck.

My poor attitude started to change the summer I spent backpacking through Europe.  I seldom ate red meat and often found myself craving it.  In London, my friend Kjrsten Madison often spoke about the virtues of red meat.  When my mother met me in Italy our first stop was dinner at a restaurant in a medieval walled village.  She ordered steak, it turned out to be a side of beef, fatty, but grilled over charcoal.  It was well done to a succulent perfection.  We both enjoyed it thoroughly.  My resolve to never eat such fare dissolved when I finally realized how I like it cooked.

Local, grass fed beef, rubbed with a bit of seasoning, butterflied and grilled so that any fat on it is a golden crust of flavorful juices, that is how I like my steak....

What you've shared:

1. How do I like steak? So barely cooked it's still mooing. Especially buffalo steaks - rare, rare, rare. Julie, yes, that subtle chocolately whiff in buffalo meat makes it memorable, doesn't it?            Posted by Clodagh Reeves
2. I'll order mine like Craig's with a P.S. humanely raised and slaughtered with no additives.
   Posted by Mark G. Auerbach
3. Grass fed, rare and with lots of fat and cholesterol. :-)    Posted by Craig Fear
4. On the grill!      Posted by Angela Vatter
5. Medium Rare    Posted by Kevin Mayo
6. I like mine as rare as I can get it. I've convinced my wife to start eating her steak on the more red side of medium rare and she loves it.
   Posted by Scott Griffiths
7. Crispy on the outside with sea salt and course black pepper and fatty body temp on the inside
   Posted by John Gannon
8. I like my steak as rare as I can get it. Opa-Opa in Southampton, MA cooks it the way I like it. I have more control at home when I cook steak. We marinade it with Montreal Rub and cook it 3 minutes each side. It's yummy! I would like to try whatever you have for a rub, tho. Anything with horseradish is GREAT on beef.       Posted by Anita Alvarez Huizing
9. I was raised on well-done, burnt to a crisp. I slowly converted over the years to medium > medium rare > rare by my husband and his extended family who run a chain of hi-end burger restaurants (Hackneys in the Chicago area).
   
   T-bones were my fav because we had a local butcher - you know, the old time butcher shop. Prime rib was a fav for years when eating out, but oh my, the fat.
   
   Switched to the filet mignon for a few years.
   
   Now, grass-fed NY strip, rare.
   
   Yum. I am now hungry.
   Posted by Suzanne Engels 
10. Porterhouse, because you get two cuts in one (tenderloin and NY strip). Seasoned with Montreal seasoning and Worcestershire sauce for about an hour, cooked on the grill. Mmmmm!!
    Posted by Edward Weagle
11. I get mine from my meat CSA, Chestnut Farms. Great family from Hardwick raising all their animals ethically and sustainably. www.chestnutfarms.org
    Posted by Craig Fear

How do you like your steak cooked? from Terra Americana on Vimeo.

If you love a Good Steak;

• Grilled Sirloin
• Juicy Grill Rib Eye
• Steak Sauce
• BBQ Steak Marinade

Photo Credit:   Julie T Cecchini