Panfried Steak with Steak Sauce

Ask your butcher to cut you some nice steaks for panfrying. A well-marbled rib eye makes a beautiful if somewhat pricey steak, but so do cheaper cuts like flatiron or hangar steak. Whichever, I always prefer restrained portions: 5-6 ounces per steak is plenty. Buy one steak for each person.

4-6 steaks, about 1 inch thick
Salt and pepper
4 garlic cloves, thickly sliced
Olive oil
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Season the steaks generously on both sides with salt and coarsely ground pepper. Scatter the garlic over the steaks and drizzle over a little olive oil and rub it into the steaks. Set aside at cool room temperature for an hour or so. (Or cover and refrigerate, and return to room temperature in a few hours.)

You'll need two skillets, preferably cast-iron, to cook the steaks. Heat the pans until they're really hot. Remove the garlic slices from the steaks and discard. When the pans are good and hot, lay 3 steaks in each pan and let them sizzle. Do not touch them, do not move them. After 3 minutes, inspect the cooked side to see if it's beautifully seared and browned, and when it is, turn each steak over. Cook on the second side just until the juice appears on the surface, about 2 minutes more. Remove the steaks to a warm platter. Leave the pans on the stove, but turn off the heat.

To quickly make the sauce, pour 1/4 cup stock into each pan, stirring with a wooden spoon to deglaze. Pour all of the deglazed juices into one of the pans, turn up the heat to high, and quickly cook down the sauce to thicken slightly, then stir in the butter and parsley. Turn off the heat, swirl the pan to mix well, and spoon the sauce over the steaks.

Variation: Panfried Steak with Herb Butter

Instead of a sauce, make a simple herb butter to smear on the steaks: Mix 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley into 4 tablespoons softened butter and add a small garlic clove, pounded to a paste with a little salt. Spread a teaspoon or so over each finished steak on the platter. You could, of course, use a small shallot, finely diced, instead of garlic, or another herb, such as tarragon, chives, or rosemary.