A Kat classic, I might add. Basically you take a honkin’ big t-bone (2-1/2 – 3 lbs), coat it in a dry rub of fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, salt and pepper, and blast the crap out of it on the hottest grill you can muster. 12 minutes side one, 9 minutes side two. On a steak that is nearly 3″ thick.

Well, a 2-1/2 to 3″ t-bone ain’t cheap. But The Meat Center just sent a $10 off STEAK coupon in the mail. Expensive recipe? Yes. But 10$ off? Time to see how this recipe holds up.

Get to the counter, and of course the butchers have been crushed under steak requests. “Ninety one! Ninety one!” the busy butcher yelled. Professional purchaser that I am, I responded “NINETY ONE!” in my most forceful alto. Taught my fellow meat counter wannabe’s a lesson. You want service? Command service.

I point to the T-bones. ” I need a 2-1/2 to 3 pound T-bone”. Butcher responds “I’ll have to cut one.”

What would you say? I said “Excellent. Cut it”

Waiting patiently, several butchers asked if I needed assistance. I just pointed to my new friend at the band saw. “Oh. Yeah.” And away they went to serve hamburger and sausage. They were jealous.

My man comes back and displays the majesty of beef. Three of his fellow butchers gathered as he held it above his head and placed it upon the scale. There was a strange silence amongst them.

“That’s a beautiful steak” one of them finally exclaimed, caught in the reverie of the moment. Many at the counter stood dumbfounded at the sight of this monster. Final tally? 2-2/3 pounder.

Well, I get it home, prep the rest of the meal and now it is time to prep the meat. Fresh rub, drizzle with oil, an into the hottest pan I have.

Beef. Glorious Beef.

First note. That is not a T-Bone. It’s a porterhouse. A prime porterhouse. Look at the size of the fillet on that thing. And he charged me T-bone price. Hooray Butcher! Challenge your butcher and he will reward you.

That is a 12″ pan. On high heat with no oil for a good 15 minutes before I dropped the steak in. Gotta love cast iron and its heat retention in this case.

Departing from the recipe, I did not coat both sides of the steak before placing it into the pan. Didn’t want to waste any of that goodness.

Still fresh in the pan, I coat the other side. Which looks like this:

Beef. Glorious Herb Crusted Beef.

My spoonholder trout is starting to eye this thing.

The house is really starting to smell good. After 12 minutes, it’s time to flip. As I’ve never flipped a nearly 3 pound herb crusted steak, this was a bit awkward. Luckily, the 12 uninterrupted minutes transformed the herbs into a thick black crust, which separated easily from the pan. A breeze.

9 more minutes and it’s off the heat. To rest. As illustrated here:

Beef. Glorious Resting Herb Crusted Beef.

Rest for 5 minutes. This serves four easily. And it is ridoonkculously good.

Formally, the chef will bring this entire steak tableside. She will then remove the fillet and the strip from the bone, slice it, and serve each family unit a portion of each.

And for all the temperature freaks out there, this steak had it all. Near the bone, rare. Progressing to medium rare in the majority of the meat to medium on the extremities.

Success!