Meat Month: Beef Rib Steak

I generally get the Chuck for Swissing or London Broil from Acorn Acres Farm (formerly Welcome to My Garden). I've gotten some roasts that I've cooked low and slow for the winter months. I'll get ground beef for the quick meal. This season they even had Summer Sausage that was meaty and dense with no fillers. I try to buy what they have a lot of and leave those specialty cut steaks to the other customers. I know that even the cheaper cuts like that London Broil is tender and juicy if cooked right.

During an early winter stock up, I got a Beef Rib Steak. They told me it was a special occasion steak. It's a tender steak that you can't mess up as long as you don't over cook it.

Earlier in January, I opened up the package. It was tightly wrapped in thick butcher paper and thick plastic to prevent freezer burn and keep it fresh. It was a bright and vibrant red with a slight marbling. It looked incredibly fresh. It still had the bone on it. 

It only needed a simple preparation to bring out the natural flavors of this grass-fed beef. You really could just use salt, pepper, and oil (a little fat because it's so lean). I went a little further since this was a special steak.

I seasoned it with the following ingredients to coat it. Then I let it marinate for a few hours:

• 2 tbsp Sage Mushroom Olive Oil (1 each)
• 1 tbsp Worcester Sauce (1/2 each)
• Smoked Salt
• Chili Powder
• Smoked Coarse Ground Pepper

I went with smoked seasonings since I wasn't grilling, and the sage mushroom oil adds an earthy flavor.

Basic Cooking Instructions

1. Take the meat out of the refrigerator to get closer to room temperature. 
2. Heated a large skillet on high until it is smoking hot and preheat oven to 400° F. 
3. Bring down the heat a bit and add both steaks to the pan. 
4. Sear it on each side for 3 minutes. 
5. Put it in the 400° F oven 15-20 minutes for a medium-cooked steak (slightly pink in the middle). 
6. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute through the meat (and not pour out on your plate).

It was fork shredable. It was tender and soft, but substantial. It was incredibly flavorful. The flavors of the grass-fed meat stood up to the seasonings.

Tips

• Always wash your hands and your preparation surface thoroughly before and after touching the meat.
• Grass-fed beef cooks faster than conventional, grain-fed beef. The center should be around the 140° F mark when you pull it off the heat. There is some carry-over cooking as it rests.