Cast Iron has been the choice pan of many cooks these day. Whether its the nostalgic feel of the past or the heat retention performance of the pan, you can not deny its allure. We will be using cast iron today to cook a simple Cast Iron Steak and Potato recipe. If you do not have a cast iron pan, I recommend that you use a Lodge Cast Iron Pan. They are affordable and made in the USA!

Ingredients

1 8oz steak
2 Small Russet Potato cubed
1 Lemon Wedge
3 Cloves of Garlic
Few Spring of thyme
1 cup of red or white wine or chicken/beef stock
2 tablespoon of butter

Directions

1) Salt the steak liberally and let it chill in the fridge uncover for 1 preferably two day.
2) Parboil the potato with salt, cook until slightly soft but not cooked all the way.
3) Heat up the cast iron until smoking hot (Literal wisp of smoke)
4) Drain and let the potato sit
5) Add some oil and sear the steak and flip every 30 second
6) Around 1:30 min in add the lemon, thyme, butter and Garlic
7) When the steak is somewhat cooked, around 2 min in add the potato and brown. Remember to keep flipping the steak.
8) When the steak is cooked to your liking, remove it and let it rest. Continue cooking the potato until it is browned.
9) Once the potato is cooked, push it to one side and add the stock or wine and reduce until its thick.
10) Return the steak to the cast iron pan then add some more butter and baist the steak in the sauce.

Technique Discussion

1) When you add salt to the steak, the moisture will be drawn out then via osmosis, then the salt solution will be drawn back in. In essence, you are brinning the steak. For those of you who do not know, you want salt to penetrate the food so that it will taste well seasoned. If you add salt at the end of cooking the food will taste overly salty on the exterior and bland on the inside. Some people will try to mask this with a sauce.
Leaving the steak uncovered in the fridge will dry outer edge of the meat. This aids in searing the steak and developing a maillard reaction. If the steak is wet or moist, steam will form and prevent a maillard reaction because a maillard reaction occurs at over 300 degree Fahrenheit.

2) You want to parboil the potato because it will not get cooked all the way if you only cook it on the stove top. Well, it can get cooked but it will take forever. Parboiling will cut down the amount of time you spend on the stove.

3) Cast Iron is a very poor conductor of heat, but it can store a lot of thermal energy. By heating it up until it smokes, you are storing a lot of thermal energy so that when you add the steak, the pan does not drop in temperature and steam the food. If you follow the instruction in step 1 the chance of this happening is lower due to the lack of moisture. If you do not have a cast iron pan, you can find an affordable Lodge Cast Iron Pan at Amazon.

4) By Draining the potato, you are removing moisture from the potato and the steam coming off the potato is drying it as well. Again, moisture will prevent a maillard reaction which you want for a carmelized flavor.

5) Flipping the steak every 30 second will aid in a evenly cooked steak. You can leave a steak to cook on one side then flip when its ready but you need a lot of experience to be able to cook it evenly.

6) You want to add the garlic, butter, and thyme later to prevent the items from burning.

7) Add these items later because the butter is now melted and took on the flavor of the thyme and garlic.

8) You need a steak to rest so that the juice will distribute and develop an affinity to the meat. If you do not let it rest, the juice will flow out to your plate. You want a juicy steak right?

9) Adding stock or wine and reducing it lets you make a sauce for the steak. You can skip this step but I recommend making full use of the fond developed on the pan.

10) You want the steak to take the sauce right? If not, you can remove the sauce and put it in a gravy jar separately.

I hope you enjoy this Cast Iron Steak and Potato Recipe, for more recipe, visit our Recipe Page.