Happy Belated Valentine’s Day!
Did you have a lovely time? How did you mark it? And with whom did you celebrate? Your sister? Your girlfriend? Boyfriend? Hubby? Your children? Your wife? Mr. Darcy?
Did you celebrate your special relationship(s) with flowers? A movie? Crafts? Cards? Conversation? Silly text-messages? Your favorite book? A good meal?
It will probably come as no surprise to you, especially given the title of this post, that hubby and I celebrated with F.O.O.D… Butter-Basted Rib Eyes.
And here’s the most beautiful part…I was by his side…every step of the way… In his space…during meal prep…with – camera – in – hand. And did he complain? Nope. Not once. That is love, my friends. I even asked him to wait to eat his gorgeous steak….had him bide his time, though tempted by its mouthwatering aromas and snappy sizzling sounds, so as to give me what I needed… which was time… Time to get “the shot”.
Now, it must be said, as romantic as Dom is, he is not the only romantic partner in this relationship. Case in point… in return for his patience – I gave him the display plate. Yep, the prettily composed plate that went to press. That’s right. He got it. That’s love, too! Don’t you think? 😉
So last week, while I was focusing my attention on cocoa and doughnuts, little did I know that Dom had his eye on the little beauty gracing the cover of the February issue of Food & Wine. He had the plan to make us a steak house dinner so delicious and delectable that I wouldn’t ever think twice about staying in for Valentine’s Day, again.
The thing about a steak cooked on the stove top…a perfect piece of meat basted in a mixture of foamy butter, sprigs of thyme and rosemary, and fresh garlic…is that you’re treated to a multi-sensory experience. It hits every note. And it’s quite wonderful.
Dom began by prepping the steaks with olive oil and seasoning them with salt and freshly ground pepper. He let the meat stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
In a large cast iron skillet, he heated up the olive oil on medium, until it began to shimmer.
Next, he added the steaks and cooked them over high heat until crusty on the bottom, about 5 minutes.
Next, he turned the steaks…
…and added the butter, thyme, garlic, and rosemary to the skillet.
He cooked over high heat, basting the steaks with the melted butter, garlic and herbs until they were medium-rare, about 5 – 7 minutes.
Lastly, he transferred the steaks to a cutting board and let them rest for 10 minutes before we plated, photographed, and duhugg in.
It was a lovely meal from my lovely guy…
Buon Appetito!
Ciao!
Print
Butter-Basted Rib Eye
- Category: Dinner
Ingredients
- Two 1 1/4 pound, boneless rib eye steaks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
- 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 4 thyme sprigs
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 rosemary sprigs
Instructions
- Rub the rib eyes with 1 Tbsp. of olive oil then season with salt and pepper.
- Let the meat stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- In a large cast-iron skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. of the oil until shimmering.
- Add the steaks and cook over high heat until crusty on the bottom, about 5 minutes.
- Turn the steaks and add the butter, thyme, garlic and rosemary to the skillet.
- Cook over high heat while continually basting with the butter, garlic and herbs until the steaks are medium-rare. About 5 – 7 minutes.
- Transfer the steaks to a cutting board and lest for 10 minutes.
- Serve.
(Recipe adapted from Food & Wine.)
Forgot to pin? Here you go!
One more thing, can I use minced garlic instead of cloves? If so how much would I need ?
I would use 1 tsp. of chopped garlic per 1 whole clove… Thanks for your questions.
Can I use regular salt or does it need to be kosher salt?
Sure, regular would be fine.
When I added the butter it immediately burned and made a mess. How do you cook a cast iron on high heat without burning the butter ?
Hmmmm – I’ve made this on numerous occasions and haven’t had a problem…I’m trying to figure this out for you. You remembered to put oil in the pan first? You continually basted with the butter mixture rather than just letting it sit (in the butter)? If you did both these things, I’m really not sure what could have happened. I hope you try again and have better luck next time.
This looks awesome! I’m going to try it tonight but I could only find thyme in a jar.. How much would I use of that instead of the fresh thyme?
6 fresh sprigs = about 3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme. Thanks for your question!
Thank you. And also when I cooked this on high heat it burned my steaks. Next time I think I’ll sear it on high heat then turn it down a bit. What would you suggest??
You’re welcome. I think that’s a good plan! Good luck!
going to make this tonight,, i am suggesting i place the butter into the pan, as the steaks are sizzling from the olive oil, slowly and on top of the steaks,,bast..use fresh sprigs, thyme, fresh is always better.. maybe even a splash of some red or Marcellus wine..
Sounds great Phoebe!
Looks amazing! Ready to try it out….how did you prepare the mushroom topping?
Thank you, Iris! You can find the recipe for the mushrooms here: https://www.ciaochowbambina.com/steak-mushrooms/ 🙂
I made this today, and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you, Pat! 🙂
Seriously there is nothing better then a Rib Eye cooked exactly this way.. I’m drooling!
I am in 100% agreement! Thanks for stopping by with a kind word, Kimberly!
If u let the steak rest that long after removing from the stove top didn’t it continue to “cook” itself to a higher temperature like medium,or higher ?
Thanks for your question, Jami. Actually, by allowing the steak to rest, the juices that have been forced to the middle during the cooking process then have the chance to evenly distribute throughout the meat (while it cools) rendering it a much juicier steak. 🙂
Love your recipes. It the mixture of spices, oil and butter that I use in my cooking.
Thank you so much, Gretchen! I love that!
I made it this weekend and it and it was amazing and I look forward to making it again. But I made I’m a little bit different i started by putting some butter in the pan with onions and sweet pepper and garlic and mango sausage. And cooked it down and then I used all the great flavor to cook the rib eye steaks in and when the steak where just about done I put the onion and garlic and sweet pepper and mango sausage back in the pan and a half can of beer and let it finish cooking and I made gravy out of it for the mashed potatoes and for the rib eye steaks .
Well, those flavors sound wonderful! Glad you enjoyed!
What’s the cooking time for a medium well done steak?
Hi Jody, That will really depend on the thickness of your steak. However, a medium well steak is ready at about 150 degrees F. So a meat thermometer will be your friend. I would say you could roughly plan on 10 – 12 minutes. I hope this helps. Thanks for your question! Buon Appetito!
Hello! This recipe sounds wonderful! I can’t wait to make this for my husband for our first Valentine’s Day dinner! Quick question, I don’t have a cast iron skillet, would a deep non-stock skillet work? Thanks!
Hi Christina, Awww! Congratulations! No worries – the non-stick skillet will work just as well! Have fun and enjoy!!
What about the mushrooms. They look delish. How were the mushrooms prepared?
Hi Mary, You can find my recipe here…https://www.ciaochowbambina.com/steak-mushrooms/. Thank you!!
tried these last night w/ fresh cut french fries & salad……… VERY delish! I asked my daughter to season the ribeyes w/ s&p only……… she over salted a bit, but your recipe was still very good! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much for your feedback! I bet they were delicious…especially with those fresh cut fries! Yum! 🙂
I love your love!! And I love those steaks!!
Thanks, dolly! Love you! 🙂
Yummmmm! Those steaks looked amazing!! They look restaurant quality!!! Hope you guys had a love-filled night!!! ❤️
So, so good!! Our night was lovely – though it did not include Cinderella with little ones! 🙂 Thanks, Nic!