Cooking: "Steak and Eggs and Eggs and Steak...

Sage Knaus

1d • Food and Dining

... that's what you should have for breakfast - Delicious!"

Bonus points to those who get the reference (if not, I included a gif below).

Well gents, it's time for another food post!

This time, focusing on breakfast/brunch.

MATERIALS/TOOLS

Cast iron skillet, 12"
Wide spatula
Rubber spatula
Tongs
Cooking range
Paper towels
Sturdy metal spoon

INGREDIENTS

Eggs (1 dozen, though we're only making 1-2 per person)
Eye of round steak (thin cut, pack of 3-4; 1 per person; see pic)
Salt and pepper (preferably pink Himalayan salt and whole peppercorns, both in a grinder)
Onion powder (optional, to taste - for both eggs and steak)
Garlic powder (optional, to taste - for both eggs and steak)
1 stick of butter (unsalted, 1 tbsp per steak; 2 if steak is larger; reserve some for eggs)
Olive oil (as needed)
Smoked paprika (optional, to taste - for eggs)
Black truffle oil (optional, a few drops mixed with olive oil - for steak)
Steakhouse Wedge pre-packaged salad mix kit (only using 1/4 bag; see pic), or
Caesar pre-packaged salad mix kit, or
Arugula lemon thyme pre-packaged salad mix kit (if you have access to Trader Joe's)

PROCEDURE

Season steaks

You can do this right before putting them in the pan, or in advance. Either way, you'll want to take a paper towel and pat the steaks dry.

If you season in advance, first, sprinkle enough salt, pepper, and any other seasoning onto one side of the steak and press the seasoning onto the steak (recommend rosemary, as it pairs well with steak). Flip over and repeat. Again, if you're doing this 1-2 days in advance, leave them in the refrigerator. As they cure, they'll form something called a "pellicle", which helps seal the juice inside and create a nice crust.

Turn on your vent, possibly even a ceiling fan and/or crack a window. When you're cooking with oil, especially things like steak, you want plenty of ventilation/air circulation. The smoke, if enough, can set off an alarm and/or otherwise make the area unpleasant.

Heat skillet with olive oil

Heat olive oil in skillet, set on medium-high. Once you start seeing light smoke wisps come off the pan, place steak in pan (on the side if using a thicker cut, then flat). With my thin-cut steaks, I put them straight in, flat. Instead of just letting them sit, I toss in 1-2 tbsp of butter, and use tongs to move the steak in circular motions around the skillet to keep it from sticking or leaving chunks.

Cook for about 1 minute, then flip over and reduce heat to medium-low. As it cooks, tilt the skillet so the butter pools at the bottom. Collect it in a spoon and toss onto the steak several times (basting it). This helps fill any gaps in the steak with more flavor and makes the steak juicier. After about a minute, remove the steak from heat.

If you're cooking with a thicker cut of steak, have a bi-metallic stem thermometer handy and make sure the internal temp is 155 F. It's okay if it's still pink and juicy, so long as the internal temp is good.

Eggs

Drain most excess juice left over, but leave some for lubrication and seasoning. Bring the heat back up to medium/high. Add 1-2 eggs and let sit for about 1-2 mins. The beauty of cooking the eggs in the same skillet is it adds a nice flavor (and color) to them, and since it's already hot, will make the outer edges of the eggs crispy. If you like, once the whites are solid (but before the yolk solidifies), use a rubber spatula to loosen the egg(s), then a wide spatula to gently flip it if doing over-easy.

Turn off range and remove from heat. This should only take about 30 seconds to a minute before you can move it to your plate with the steak.

If you're doing scrambled, I'd prepare that mixture ahead of time, before you cook the steaks. You can do scrambled any way, but I prefer adding some cream cheese with a little less heavy cream than you'd usually use. Salt, pepper, onion powder, maybe some garlic powder, shredded cheddar cheese, possibly even small-diced peppers if you want more of an omelet result, then the sky's the limit. I also like to top it with thinly sliced green onion. The possibilities are endless... maybe enough for yet another post ;-)

Salad

I really love these pre-packaged salad kits. Easy to assemble, and if you live alone, they can last you 2-3 days. I highly recommend the Steakhouse Wedge kit, if available to you, as the bleu cheese dressing pairs nicely with the steak. Don't worry about mixing it all up, just put it on top of the lettuce for now.

Other sides

Can't go wrong with toast or an English muffin, maybe some sausage or bacon (especially if the bacon is candied with brown sugar, then it doubles as dessert (maybe even with some chipotle seasoning for subtle spice)).

Could also do potatoes (I'll cover that in another post which focuses more on steak dinners), though they do supplement the protein nicely as a carb for any meal of day.

ENJOYING

Usually, I eat the egg first (if yolk is runny, can be mopped up by the steak and salad). The steak I'll cut into several pieces ahead of time (either when I first put it on the plate, or after the egg joins it). If it was cooked just right (not too long), should be tender and juicy.

After the egg, I then eat the steak, then the salad. Why? Well, salad last because you can move it all around your plate to not only mix the ingredients, but to mop up the yolk and steak juice to add even more flavor.

Anyway, this makes a great protein-dense breakfast to slow burn through the day.

CLEAN-UP

If you've never owned a cast-iron skillet, GET ONE! They're fun to cook with and add a whole depth of flavor to it.

Just keep in mind, you don't clean them the same way as everything else. NO SOAP. Instead, scrape it out with steel wool/scrubber pad and water (while it's still relatively warm from cooking, but not too hot), then put 1 teaspoon of olive oil and coarse sea salt and "scrub" with a wadded paper towel. The salt both seasons and helps scrape off debris. Once it's nice and smooth, wipe clean with a new paper towel, and store in a cabinet or drawer under your stove.

Good luck, gents, and as always, please share your own experiences, fun tweaks, personal preferences, etc.

6 comments