I gotta tell ya, trying to cook steak quickly when you’re starving is always an adventure. Today was one of those days where dinner needed to happen FAST. So I grabbed this thin sirloin tip steak from my fridge – honestly because it was on sale yesterday and looked decent.
Getting My Stuff Together
First thing was pulling out ingredients:
- The steak obviously, about 1/2 inch thick
- Coarse salt and pepper from my grinder
- Plain vegetable oil (olive oil would burn I think)
- Butter because steak needs butter period
- Garlic cloves still in their skin, lazy way
Grabbed my heaviest pan – this old cast iron skillet I’ve had forever. Put it on medium-high heat for like 3 minutes while patting that steak dry with paper towels. Super important step! Wet steak = sad steam instead of awesome crust.
Fire It Up
Drizzled just enough oil to coat the pan, heard that sizzle test where you flick water droplets. When they danced? Game time. Plopped that steak right in and it screamed LIKE it should. Set my phone timer for 2 minutes flat because thin cuts don’t play.
While it cooked, smashed those garlic cloves with my palm. Didn’t even peel em cause I’m impatient. When the timer beeped, flipped it using tongs. Beautiful brown crust already! Added thick slice of butter and threw garlic in. Tilted the pan and kept spooning melted butter over the steak like I saw chefs do.
Critical Waiting Part
Second side got 2 minutes exactly same as first. Transferred steak to cutting board and poured buttery goodness from pan on top. Here’s where most people screw up – you gotta WAIT 5 minutes before slicing. Watched the clock tapping my foot while it rested. Sliced against grain – saw those juices stay IN the meat not on board.
Total clock check: 14 minutes from fridge to plate. Steak was still pink inside but hot throughout. Honestly shocked how decent it came out for minimal effort. Lesson learned? Thin cheap cuts can taste expensive with high heat and enough butter. Would smash again!
