Cooking a Steak

Hear the word "steak" and you'll likely think of a grill with glowing coals, and that's what I usually think of too. However, unless you have a hearth in your home you may want to consider other techniques during the winter months. James Beard suggests broiling, pan broiling, and sautéing, all of which give good results, though I find that the latter two tend to smoke up the kitchen.

Another option, for a thick porterhouse cut, is to roast it in salt: I recently had a steak cooked this way at the Osteria il Borro not far from Arezzo, and it was a very pleasant surprise, of the sort to write home about. Excellent, as was the rest of the meal, and if you ever happen to drive through that part of Tuscany (it's 15 minutes from the Rome-Florence highway, off the Valdarno exit) the restaurant is well worth a stop, as is the medieval hamlet it overlooks, which the Ferragamo family bought in 1993 and has meticulously restored.

How to cook the steak? You'll want one weighing about 2 1/2 pounds (1.1 k) and 1 1/2 inches (3.5 cm) thick, about 5 pounds of coarse kosher salt, and a roasting pan large enough fot the steak to lie flat. Preheat your oven to 420 F (210 C), and while it is heating put a half-inch (1 cm) thick layer of salt in the bottom of the roasting pan. When the oven is hot lay the steak on the salt and cover it with sufficient salt to make a half-inch thick layer, and roast it in the oven for about 40 minutes. The salt will form a solid crust that you will want to crack open in the kitchen. Transfer the steak to a platter, carve it, and serve it with a piece of the crust as decoration (if you want). Also with a side dish; we had grilled vegetables, but home-made fries will also be nice.

This cooking time should yield a rare steak, or at least ours was rare, and very tender too. If you want, you can rub the steak with chopped herbs before laying it in the salt, but if the meat is of good quality this should not be necessary.

What to drink with a steak like this? We had Il Borro, a Merlot-Cabernet blend with some Syrah that the Ferragamo family has recently begun to produce at Il Borro. It's a powerful wine, with considerable forest berry fruit (black currants, in particular) and rich, smooth, polished tannins that lead into a long fruit finish. Quite nice, in an elegant international key, and all the more impressive because the vineyards are very young. I'd recommend the 2001. If you instead want something a little less substantial, Pian Di Nova, a Syrah-Sangiovese blend, is also nice.

While we're on the subject of salt cooking, don't forget chicken in salt, and fish in salt. And finally, do check the Borro Estate site; they also offer accommodations (and much more), and it's a very nice part of Tuscany to get to know.

Next, How to pan-fry a steak.