Bear Down Wildcats

All things steak. My favorite cut is easily the bone-in rib-eye. Love the flavor of the marbled fat.

What steak makes your mouth water?


Current favorite rib-eyes in AZ:

Monti's in Tempe
Cup Cafe at Hotel Congress (they only have it intermittently as a special)
'lil Abner's in Marana

Any other faves in AZ?

Also, any recommendations for a killer rib-eye in or near Anaheim? Going there for business and looking for a hung o' beef. My hotel is adjacent to both a Morton's and a Ruth's Chris, which are backups, but I'd rather find a kick ass non chain.

Ugly Steaks from Dickmans Deli

http://www.insidetucsonbusiness.com/new ... 963f4.html

Oh yeah. Uglies are tasty. Me and a buddy fairly regularly get togeth for grilled surf and turf. Ugly steaks and shrimp.

First off...great site. http://amazingribs.com/table_of_contents.html

Second, interesting steak cooking technique. http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_techniq ... _meat.html
A co-worker told me about this, and I argued the classic "2 minutes, 1/4 turn sear until the blood runs through, then flip once" method. But I tried this, and it comes out incredible. With Tri-tip I do an indirect cook for around 20 minutes, then sear. For most everything else I use the technique above. It comes out really good.

UAdevil wrote:All things steak. My favorite cut is easily the bone-in rib-eye. Love the flavor of the marbled fat.

What steak makes your mouth water?


Current favorite rib-eyes in AZ:

Monti's in Tempe
Cup Cafe at Hotel Congress (they only have it intermittently as a special)
'lil Abner's in Marana

Any other faves in AZ?

Also, any recommendations for a killer rib-eye in or near Anaheim? Going there for business and looking for a hung o' beef. My hotel is adjacent to both a Morton's and a Ruth's Chris, which are backups, but I'd rather find a kick ass non chain.

My favorite? Bone-in ribeye.

Longhorned wrote:
My favorite? Bone-in ribeye.

Yup.

You can make a perfect steak on your own charcoal grill if you buy the perfect cut of meat. But people who insist on this miss out on the whole steakhouse experience. A huge part of that is the ambience and the side dishes. My favorite was Monty's. Jim Herrick's old haunt where he got himself into trouble. The waiters would take a baked potato and load it up with real bacon, butter, and sour cream with some green onions. Just wow.

What's the steakhouse in Tucson where Lute used to do his radio shows from?

^Would have Sullivan's or McMahon's for Lute's show. Both very mediocre for steaks imo.

I've never had a steak as good as the ones I make on my Weber at home at a restaurant and I have a hard time justifying going out and paying top dollar for one. The sides are great, though. I like it when they have a seafood option.

ghostwhitehorse wrote:

Got a lot of vampires in your hood huh?

ASUCatFan wrote:I've never had a steak as good as the ones I make on my Weber at home at a restaurant and I have a hard time justifying going out and paying top dollar for one. The sides are great, though. I like it when they have a seafood option.

And why I never order tri-tip at restaurants.

However, I am still not great at steaks as I am at tri-tip.

I am a fan of the steaks at Durants in downtown Phoenix

azcat49 wrote:I am a fan of the steaks at Durants in downtown Phoenix

So am I. So is my wife. And talking about ambiance. But those are spectacular cuts to begin with. And the food and cocktails are impeccably prepared.

Bone-in ribeyes in order from best to worst: Vic and Anthony's (with some lobster bisque to start it off), CUT (dry-aged), or Mastro's, all in Vegas. Still waiting to try the Mastro's locations in Scottsdale, though I am concerned my nice shirt, pants, and shoes combo that I can get away with in Vegas will not suffice there.

The main thing is making sure you get a Prime cut of meat. It's all the difference in the world. With a prime cut of meat, you should only use salt and pepper. Maybe olive oil if you're to lazy to olive oil the grates of your grill instead. I prefer Hawaiian Red Sea Salt Coarse and cracked black pepper.

I grill a minute and a half on each side to char it (over as high of heat as I can get), and then move it over to the cool side of the grill lid closed for about 10 minutes to finish up. That is for medium rare. If you like rare, you can really just do 2 min over direct heat on each side. I also let the steak rest for 5 minutes after it comes off the grill. I've read both this helps and doesn't so who knows.

If you're going to grill less than Prime, just grill a hamburger patty, dump a bunch of steak sauce on it, and call it a steak.

not really a steak but I picked up a $8 on sale London broil at Safeway the other day and wasn't even sure how I wanted to cook it...but I was rather impressed with the results.

blended together a marinade of garlic, salt, soy sauce, honey, balsamic, and red wine and marinated the meat for about 18 hours. seared it in my le creuset for about 2 minutes on each side then placed it in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. I had no idea how long I should cook it for and didn't even have a thermometer.

it turned out absolutely perfect. tender, very juicy, picture perfect evenly cooked medium rare throughout the entire 3 lb roast. I had no real plan of cooking it and lo and behold it turned out to be the most amazingly well cooked cut of beef I have ever had.

the real dill wrote:The main thing is making sure you get a Prime cut of meat. It's all the difference in the world.

I'd cook prime beef everyday…as long as someone else is buying.

With a prime cut of meat, you should only use salt and pepper.

Agreed, simple but generous seasoning is all you need. Beef (especially grass-fed) has a lot of natural flavor. Why mask that great steak taste?

Maybe olive oil if you're to lazy to olive oil the grates of your grill instead.

I just use vegetable or peanut oil for my grates, but I also don't buy prime beef either.

If you're going to grill less than Prime, just grill a hamburger patty, dump a bunch of steak sauce on it, and call it a steak.

See I don't buy this sentiment. The home cook can make an excellent steak by abiding some simple rules:

1. Buy the right cut of meat
2. Dry-age it yourself (mainly for ribeyes and t-bone/porterhouse)
3. Allow the meat to come up to room temperate (30 mins for smaller cuts, up to 60 mins for thicker steaks)
4. Season liberally with salt and pepper
5. Cook using high heat to sear the outside and low, indirect heat to finish it off (I do the opposite order for leaner cuts like tenderloin)
6. Let the meat rest after cooking (5 mins for little steaks, up to 10 for bigger ones)

Besides, if we're going to get snooty about prime beef, anything you or I can get at our local butcher shop has already been picked over by top-drawer steakhouses and restaurants. We're basically getting their sloppy seconds.

Steak sauce should only be reserved for really shitty steaks. Even then...

Don't forget the catsup.

azgreg wrote:Don't forget the catsup.

Our language can be kinda goofy sometimes.

TheBlackLodge wrote:

the real dill wrote:The main thing is making sure you get a Prime cut of meat. It's all the difference in the world.

I'd cook prime beef everyday…as long as someone else is buying.

With a prime cut of meat, you should only use salt and pepper.

Agreed, simple but generous seasoning is all you need. Beef (especially grass-fed) has a lot of natural flavor. Why mask that great steak taste?

Maybe olive oil if you're to lazy to olive oil the grates of your grill instead.

I just use vegetable or peanut oil for my grates, but I also don't buy prime beef either.

If you're going to grill less than Prime, just grill a hamburger patty, dump a bunch of steak sauce on it, and call it a steak.

See I don't buy this sentiment. The home cook can make an excellent steak by abiding some simple rules:

1. Buy the right cut of meat
2. Dry-age it yourself (mainly for ribeyes and t-bone/porterhouse)
3. Allow the meat to come up to room temperate (30 mins for smaller cuts, up to 60 mins for thicker steaks)
4. Season liberally with salt and pepper
5. Cook using high heat to sear the outside and low, indirect heat to finish it off (I do the opposite order for leaner cuts like tenderloin)
6. Let the meat rest after cooking (5 mins for little steaks, up to 10 for bigger ones)

Besides, if we're going to get snooty about prime beef, anything you or I can get at our local butcher shop has already been picked over by top-drawer steakhouses and restaurants. We're basically getting their sloppy seconds.

Agree. I'm just a snob on the cut of meat when it comes to steak. I forgot to add, make sure you get your steak cut at least 1 1/2 inches thick. I get mine cut 2 inches.

I don't have the balls to dry-age my own mean. Where do you do this? Garage? What is your method? Isn't essentially hanging the meat in a dark place until it molds over?

Dill, Alton Brown has an episode from about 13 years ago where he shows how to age steak in your refrigerator using a glass container with holes in it, as I recall imperfectly. It's out there somewhere if you want a new hobby without the mold.

Longhorned wrote:Dill, Alton Brown has an episode from about 13 years ago where he shows how to age steak in your refrigerator using a glass container with holes in it, as I recall imperfectly. It's out there somewhere if you want a new hobby without the mold.

this? http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... index.html

Alton Brown is awesome.

the real dill wrote:I don't have the balls to dry-age my own mean. Where do you do this? Garage? What is your method? Isn't essentially hanging the meat in a dark place until it molds over?

Looks like SD86 and Greg beat me to the punch. I use the roasting pan and extra rack from my toaster oven because it takes up less room in the refrigerator than a half sheet pan. Remember to change the paper towel everyday to prevent leathery spots, and if some of the towel sticks to meat just use a little cooking spray to take it off. Three days later, a one-pound steak will have lost about one to two ounces of weight, all of which is water.