Steakhouse de Rayner

For those of you who read my “About” section, you may have noticed that the only word emphasized in all caps was “EATING”. With the start of my new blog I think it’s only fitting that I have a few articles about food! For any fancier date night, I request a steakhouse. In Cleveland, MS where we went to college, this meant Crawdad’s in Merigold, MS. When we are in my hometown in North Mississippi, this means we go to Como Steakhouse—cue all the praisehands. Folks Folly in Memphis is beyond amazing. In Baton Rouge, it’s Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Ahh. Date nights. But you see, we now have a tiny date ruiner. Her name is Darcy, and she throws both food and tantrums, ruining most any adventure after 5pm including my beloved steakhouse dine-outs. I cannot do without this steak in my life, and giving Darcy away would be frowned upon. So, in this post, I’m going to tell you about one of Ben and my favorite discoveries: Trader Joe’s filets (and pizza dough, but that’s for another post). Trader Joe’s is a grocery store throughout many of the southern states, with super friendly staff, awesome products, and even better prices. If you happen to be lucky enough to have one in town, I highly recommend stopping by and checking it out for yourself.

But anyway, Trader Joe’s filets. You can buy a two pack of quality filets for around $13 per pound. Combine that with a couple of potatoes ($1.00) and salad ($3.00), and you’ve got yourself a fancy steak dinner for two for less than $20 total. Not so bad…

Here’s what you need:

Crib to put baby Darcy to sleep early (I should triple star this)
2 USDA Choice Premium Angus Beef Filet Mignon Steaks (1.5-2 inches thick—don’t skimp)
Salt and Pepper (lots and lots of it!)
Butter (for both searing the steak and for after you finish grilling)
Skillet
Grill

Here’s how to do it:

Put steaks out and let them get to room temperature
GENEROUSLY season both sides of the steak with salt and pepper. If you’ve never prepared a steak like this before, when you think you’ve poured enough salt and pepper, you probably need more. It takes a couple times before you get a good feel for what you prefer when it comes to the salt. Generally, more is better. Hellooo hypertension.
- Don’t salt and pepper until you are ready to cook this baby. If you put the salt on preemptively, it will leach moisture out of the steak, and I’ve done it and it’s so sad. Don’t.
Get your skillet SCREAMING hot, throw about a tablespoon of butter and let it coat the bottom of the skillet. Yes, I said butter. This is steakhouse dinner date night, okay?
Sear both sides of the steak. This is a very quick step. You want to let each side of the steak sear for only 10-15 seconds. This is going to help keep the flavor in and give it that outer crispness that you love when you order at the steakhouse.
Move the steaks to the grill. Your grill should be at a consistent temperature of 500 degrees.
For medium rare, grill each side for 4 minutes.
For well-done—you’re just a monster. Leave my blog now.
Remove steaks from the grill, butter to liking
Let sit for a few minutes and enjoy!