Cowboy Ribeyes

Man oh man, do I love meat...my sister and I cooked a 2.5 pound bone-in ribeye (or cowboy ribeye). It was massive and probably would have cost close to 100 dollars in a steak house. It was so gorgeous. We decided to cook it a little differently than I normally do. Now, I am a tried and true believer in grilling steaks. My husband really can't eat a steak any other way. My sis wanted to prepare it "au poivre" style which really means that course ground pepper is pressed firmly into the steak. When the steak is done, you make a pan sauce with heavy cream and cognac. Traditionally, this preparation is for leaner pieces of meat because the sauce is super rich. But, being good southern girls and die hard meat eaters, we decided that we might as well put this decadent sauce on top of a huge ribeye. Damn, it was f'in good! Here is what we did.

Cowboy Ribeyes "au Poivre" (serves two serious meat eaters with leftovers or a normal family of 4)

1 2-2.5 pound bone-in ribeye (we shopped at whole paycheck for this steak)
2 tbls of peppercorns pounded with a mallet
1-2 tbls of course kosher or sea salt
3 sprigs of Thyme
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup cognac for deglazing
Shallot or finely diced onion
1 garlic clove
Butter
Olive Oil

1) Smash peppercorns with a mallet in a baggie. Mix salt and pepper together and put on a plate. Firmly press steak on both sides into the salt and pepper mixture. It is a lot of both, but this steak is huge so you want to flavor it. Let sit for several hours to penetrate the meat.

2) Melt butter and olive oil in the pan. Get the pan smokin' hot. We used a ceramic Le Creuset pan, but castiron would have been preferable.

3) Put steak in hot pan. Sear the fire out of it. DO NOT TOUCH IT! Let it cook for five-seven minutes and then take a peak at the steak. You will likely need to turn the heat down to medium after the initial sear.

4) After 5 minutes, dump out browned oil (ours was butter and it looked black so we got rid of it and added more fat). Then replace some oil and flip steak. Let cook for five minutes.

5) Sear the sides of the meat where all that luxurious fat is. It makes a difference. My sis took tongs and pressed the steak on each side into the pan. It sizzled a lot, but really cooked the fat well.

6) Depending on how you like your steak, you can finish this steak in a 350 oven. Using a meat thermometer, take the meat out when it is five degrees below the desired temperature. There is carry over cooking. We opted against finishing in the oven.  We continued to flip the steak, but turned our heat down. The second side had the MOST AMAZING CRUST I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!

7) Once steak is done, tent it with fool on a plate. Turn down heat and add onion and garlic. Saute quickly. Remove the pan from the heat and then add the cognac. Light it on fire with a lighter. It will blaze, but it really helps cook off the alcohol. Put it back on the heat and stir.

8) Add cream and thyme. Let reduce and thicken. This sauce is soooo freakin good. It can be used on any meats really.

9) Slice meat after 10 minutes of resting. Be careful to cut around the bone. Save the bone for stock!

2.5 pound bone-in ribeye

Peppercorn encrusted steak cooking on first side

Perfectly cooked steak resting (look at that crust!)

Sliced ribeye cooked rare

10) Spoon sauce over the meat. It only needs a little bit.

11) Serve with desired sides, such as a green salad or roasted asparagus. We served ours with roasted yellow beets and a spanish red wine called Tres Picos. Cheers!