T-BONE FOR A GO

t bone steak
by victoriakosmo @ unsplash

Do you ever find yourself standing in the steak aisle in a supermarket, all confused and overwhelmed by the choices, not knowing which cut to choose?
Well, let us make this task easier for you.
What you’re looking for in a steak is for it to be tender, juicy, and rich in flavor. While every cut can offer one of these qualities, a T-bone steak can give you a patchwork of all worlds. How, you may ask?

T-bone defined

Well, a T-bone steak is a cut gathering a chunk of tenderloin on one side and a strip steak on the other with a T-shaped bone in between. Yes, that’s where it got its name from.
The strip steak brings in the rich meaty flavor, where the tenderloin is known for its tenderness (surprise, surprise!), and so it adds the juices to your plate.
As you might have been thinking, this experience is given for a price. A T-bone steak is on the expensive side, and we’ll tell you why:
Needless to say, T-bone, one of the finest cuts of steak, has a low, per-cow production rate. Not to mention that the fact that a T-bone is of high quality makes it popular and more demanded than other cuts.

This contradiction of low production and high demand is, mainly, what explains its high price.
Although, as expensive as your T-bone gets, buying it raw will always be cheaper than ordering it at a fancy steakhouse, which would at least charge you $60.00 for it.
Now the question remains, is T-bone the best steak? The answer to that is NO.
In fact, the majority of chefs choose Rib-eye steak as their favorite. This choice is mainly based on its extreme tenderness, juices, and rich flavor. But still, taking the price and per-steak meat quantity into consideration will drag you, once again, towards T-bone.
You do get a top-notch quality of meat in a Ribeye, but you’re sacrificing the quantity, and you’re spending serious dough on it. So it’s totally up to you.
As for us, we choose to give you the best experience with the most affordable options. We stick by the on-budget community’s side, and we do not recommend getting your T-bone on a night-out.

The matter is, for a nice dinner at a nice steakhouse, you’re expected to spend around $117.00 per person. Imagine having a family steak dinner out. We don’t envy you.
Come to think of it, do you really want to spend that much on something you can recreate at home for way less money?
Plus, it is way more palpable and intimate to make the effort and bring the fanciness of a steakhouse home.
Now we’re not going to leave you on your own. We’re making sure you do it right. We’re going to work on marinating, grilling, serving, reheating.

T-BONE FROM THE PACKAGE TO YOUR PLATE

Let’s start with picking the perfect piece.
First, pay attention to the marbling. The small flecks of fat give your steak a richer, meatier flavor. In other words, search for a cut with a lot of white, thin lines. You want that. You might have heard of beef grades.
According to the USDA, there are three grades. Prime, choice, and select. Prime being the most marbled, the fanciest, and the highest of quality. Choice is the most widely available, it is not as good as prime, but it’s still of decent quality. Select is the least marbled beef, which makes it leaner and lacking juices. You want to choose the highest quality you can afford.
Second, Make sure it’s not too thick (you don’t want it to burn on the outside yet still be raw on the inside), nor too thin (you don’t want things to go quickly out of control). Around 1½ inches would be perfect. (You can go from 1½ to 2 inches and still be okay) But you still can find a lot of T-bone recipes requiring thicker cuts with prior marinade. It all depends on the recipe.
Finally, be aware of what you’re picking. There are three types of beef in general: Enhanced, natural, and organic. “Enhanced beef” means that at some point, the meat was injected with additives.
What kind of additives? All types of tenderizers, flavorings, and colorings should be expected.
“Natural beef” means that it was minimally processed, yet there are no additives or preservatives. According to the USDA, minimal processing means that the product was processed in a manner that does not fundamentally alter the product.

“Organic beef” guarantees, when it’s certified, that the cow wasn’t given any growth hormones or antibiotics.

To Marinate or not to marinate?

Marinating is the process of soaking food in seasonings and acidic solutions for a while before cooking it. Acidic solutions can be lemon juice or vinegar. Usually, this operation is done to tenderize food and enhance its absorption capacity.

T-bone steaks, though, are naturally tender. So this step is actually optional in our case.
You may also know that T-bone steak can be cooked on the grill, open-fire, in the oven, or on the stove in a pan.
Since it’s our goal that you master cooking it, we gathered some of the finest T-bone recipes out there for you:

Here’s a T-bone recipe of Andrew Schloss and David Joachim from their book “Mastering the grill deck,” 2009.

PORTERHOUSE AU POIVRE

Heat instructions depending on what you’re working with:

THE GRILL: Direct Heat
GAS: High (500oF)
CHARCOAL: Red-hot, 12-by-12-inch bed (about 3 dozen coals) with high and low-heat areas.
WOOD: Red-hot, 12-by-12-inch bed with 4-inch-deep area for high heat and 2-inch-deep area for low heat.
This recipe is estimated to take: 5 minutes for preparation, 1 hour for marinating, and 20 minutes to grill.

What you need:

• 1 large porterhouse or T-bone steak, 2 to 3 pounds, and at least 2 inches thick.
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons mixed peppercorns (such as black, green, red, and white), coarsely crushed
• Oil for coating grill grate
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large shallot or scallion, minced
• ½ cup Cognac
• ½ cup heavy cream

What you should do:

• Rub your T-bone steak with oil.
• Press pepper into both sides of the meat.
• Let rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
• Heat grill. Brush grill grate and coat with oil. Sprinkle salt over your steak. Grill over high heat until darkly crusted, about 4 to 6 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium-low (on a gas grill) or move steaks to a low-heat area (on charcoal or wood grill), cover, and grill 10 to 15 minutes for medium-rare to medium-done (135° to 140°F).
• Transfer to a platter and let rest for 5 to
• 8 minutes.
• Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallot and cook until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add Cognac; boil over high heat until reduced to about ¼ cup. Stir in cream and any juices from the steak platter. Boil until slightly thickened, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Season to taste.

This T-bone recipe is brought to you by Chef Ted Reader, from his book “Qing of the Q’s blue plate BBQ”

WORKIN’ MAN’S PORTERHOUSE WITH BLUE COLLAR BUTTER

This T-bone recipe serves 2 people

What you need:

For the Blue Collar Butter

• 1 cup softened butter
• ¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• ½ tsp cracked black peppercorns
• 2 tbsp red chili peppers, seeded and minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced salt, and freshly ground black pepper

For Beer-Lime Marinade

• 1 (8 oz) bottle of beer
• Juice of 1 lime
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 (36 oz) Porterhouse steaks/T-bone steaks
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp Amazing Steak Spice

To prepare the Blue Collar Butter: In a food processor, process all the ingredients for Blue Collar Butter. Transfer to an airtight container, cover, and freeze until needed. You will have more Blue Collar Butter than required for this recipe — keep it in the freezer and use it on grilled meat or vegetables.

To prepare the Beer-Lime Marinade: In a large, rectangular glass baking dish, combine all marinade ingredients; mix well. Place steaks in marinade, ensuring the meat is completely covered. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

When steaks are thoroughly marinated, preheat grill to medium-high (about 400°F). Remove meat from the dish and discard marinade. Remove Blue Collar Butter from the freezer and set aside. Rub marinated steaks with olive oil and Amazing Steak Spice, firmly pressing so that seasoning adheres to the meat.
Grill steaks for 8-10 minutes, each side, for medium-rare doneness. Transfer steaks from grill to plates and let sit for 3 minutes. Top each with a large dollop of Blue Collar Butter and serve immediately with beer.

Now we’re getting you to Italy with this recipe from “Emeril at the Grill” by Emeril Lagasse

ITALIAN- STYLE GRILLED T-BONE STEAKS

This T-bone recipe serves 6 people

What you need:

• 3 T-bone steaks, about 11⁄2 inches thick and 11⁄2 to 2 pounds each, at room temperature
• 1⁄2 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra- virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 6 ounces fresh arugula, rinsed and spun dry
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more to taste
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons coarse sea salt, or more to taste
• 1⁄2 cup 1- inch- wide strips of shaved Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese for garnish

What you should do:

• Preheat a grill to medium-high.
• Rub each steak with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and season each steak with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of the cracked black pepper.
• Grill the steaks, rotating them 90 degrees midway through cooking, for 6 to 8 minutes. Turn the steaks over and grill, rotating them halfway through cooking, for 6 to 8 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer the steaks to a platter and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.
• When you are ready to serve them, slice the two sides of each steak away from the T-shaped bone, and then very thinly slice each portion of steak against the grain. Divide the arugula evenly among six large dinner plates, and arrange the steak slices evenly on top of the greens. Drizzle any accumulated meat juices over the meat. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil over each plate.
• Sprinkle 1 ⁄4 teaspoon of the sea salt over each plate, and serve immediately, garnished with the strips of Parmigiano- Reggiano.

Both following T-bone recipes come from “How to cook steak Quick and easy home steak recipes” by Robert Green

PERFECT T-BONE STEAK IN THE OVEN

This T-bone recipe serves 2 people

What you need:

• T-bone steak – 10 oz.
• Soy sauce – 4 tbsp.
• Sesame oil – 1 tbsp.
• Brown sugar – 1 tsp.
• Ginger (fresh root) – 1 tsp.
• Garlic – 3 teeth.
• Chili pepper – 1/2 pcs.
• Salt
• Rosemary – 1 pc.

What you should do:

• Wash the meat, dry it.
• Peel and grate the garlic and grate.
• Cut chili peppers into rings.
• Combine soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and chili.
• Add sugar and mix. You can use brown sugar.
• Pour the marinade over the meat and put it in the refrigerator for several hours.
• Before cooking, let the meat stand at room temperature for about an hour so that the internal temperature is evenly distributed.
• Dry your steak with paper towels.
• Preheat a pan with a thick bottom or grill pan to a slight haze (518-572 degrees). Oil does not need to be added. We need a crispy crust, which will prevent juices from coming out of meat. To do this, fry the steak for 90-120 seconds on each side. You can’t pierce a steak in any case – this is how all the juice comes out of it, so it’s best to use cooking tongs.
• When the steak is fried on both sides, put it on a baking sheet, cover with foil, and put in an oven preheated to 374 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
• Remove the steak from the oven. Without removing the foil, let it rest for about 5 minutes. Put a sprig of rosemary on top, then salt and pepper. The steak is ready!

Enjoy your meal!

T-BONE STEAK IN A FRYING PAN

This T-bone recipe serves 4 people.

What you need:

• T-bone steak 2 lbs
• Garlic 8 cloves
• Rosemary 8 pcs
• Mint to taste
• Vegetable oil 20 tbsp
• Butter 4 tsp
• Salt to taste
• Peppercorn to taste

What you should do:

• Wash the rosemary, mint, and garlic. Rinse the piece of T-bone steak under running water and pat dry with paper towels.
• Add vegetable oil, a sprig of rosemary, mint, and garlic to the pan. Put on an intense fire. A pan is best used with high edges, as there will be a lot of spatter when frying beef.
• Let rosemary and peppermint in hot oil for a while.
• Remove with a fork/spoon from the pan since they have already fulfilled their function by saturating the oil with aromas.
• Turn the garlic to the other side. In hot oil, put a piece of beef.

Attention! At this stage, neither salt nor pepper meat is needed so that it will remain as juicy and tender.

• Fry for about two to three minutes on one side. Then gently flip the piece to the other side with tongs. Leave for a couple of minutes at high heat (the longer the meat is fried in a pan, the harder it turns out).
• Serve on a plate (the plate should not be very cold.) Using a teaspoon, put softened butter on the steak.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. It is better to use a black coarse grind or crush black pepper with peas in a mortar; it fits perfectly with this T-bone recipe.
• Cover the steak plate with a deep cup or microwave lid. Let the steak “rest” for a while (ten minutes will be enough).

Serve steak with greens and vegetables, as well as various sauces to your taste.

There still is one step we want to guide you through, REHEATING. In case your appetite did bail on you on dinner, don’t worry. Your leftover steak can be reheated and still maintain the juice. Out of many ways of reheating, we used the oven.
What you should do is set your oven on 250°F, place a cooling rack in there over a big shallow baking sheet, and place your steak on the wired rack. It should take about 20 to 30 minutes. Or you can use a thermometer to get the precision you need and make sure the internal of your steak has reached a temperature of 110°F.
Don’t forget to let it rest after getting it out for 5 to 10 minutes before enjoying it.