Easy Cast Iron Skillet Steak

The winter of 2015 has been nothing short of insane!! One day it's 67 degrees and the next you wake up to an inch of ice with a little snow to top it off. To the best of my memory; it's been over 20 years since we've had one this crazy.

The crape myrtle trees were dripping with ice.

My dinner time wind chimes were swaying in the breeze and the pine trees in the background were sagging with the weight of the ice. We will be burning brush this spring as we had a lot of tree and branch damage.

Before the bad weather hit, we made a run to Columbia to buy a whole ribeye for an equally insane price. Andy hand-cut them and we vacuum sealed them for future use. Well, two days went by, Momma was coming over for dinner (or so we thought) and we decided to grill some steaks.The weather men started calling for Icegeddon so we had a change of plans.It was cold and miserable and my big teddy bear didn't want to grill the steaks outside in the cold. I can't blame him; it was miserable! The next best option got discussed and the steaks were cooked up in a cast iron skillet. The secret is hot and quick! I like my steak rare and Andy goes for medium-rare. Anything past that is "ruint" (ruined) in my book, but hey, to each his own.

The steaks must sit at room temperature for a minimum of 45 minutes. I did one full hour. The last 15 minutes or so, turn on your oven and preheat it to 450 degrees. Don't go by the "beep" that tells you it's ready but it's really only 300 degrees, go by your internal temperature gauge and make sure it really is 450 degrees. While the oven is preheating, season both sides of your steak with sea salt, cracked black pepper and a little Chicago Steak Seasoning (or not). We usually keep the extra fat on for the cooking process. Trim it off when you get ready to eat. The extra flavor is worth it!

Coat the bottom of a seasoned cast iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of oil. Heat the oil on medium high. I had mine on "8-1/2" with 10 being "high" on my stove. Get your grease sizzling hot. Turn the vent hood on high and hide the smoke detector.

Place the steaks in the skillet. Make sure they have plenty of room. These steaks were about 1" thick. Set your timer and sear them for 1-1/2 minutes. If you're fixing a filet; sear them for 2 minutes. Do not touch them! Let them smoke and sizzle and don't be tempted to cut the time short.

Turn them over and sear for another 1-1/2 minutes. When the timer goes off; put in your 450 degree oven for 2 minutes for medium/medium-rare and 1 minute for rare. We did the two full minutes and will back off to 1 minute the next time. Remove immediately to a platter and loosely lay a sheet of aluminum foil on top. DO NOT WRAP IT TIGHTLY! Let the steak rest for 10 minutes.

TENDER, TENDER, TENDER! Tons of flavor and we all stayed warm.
Momma has no idea what she missed!