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    Create The Best Steak Ever With A Recipe By Celebrity Chef Melissa Cookston

    Create The Best Steak Ever With A Recipe By Celebrity Chef Melissa Cookston

    Tired of quarantine cooking? Now you can beef up your summer cooking game with the best steak ever!

    Melissa Cookston has step-by-step instructions for a Wagyu Ribeye Cap. If you don’t want to splurge on Wagyu, you can purchase prime or choice ribeye’s at your local grocery store.

    What makes a Ribeye Cap the best steak ever? The marbling in the cap (or spinalis dorsi muscle) of one of the most flavorful cuts, the ribeye. In case you don’t know, the spinalis dorsi muscle, or ribeye cap, is generally cut with the ribeye steak. It’s the uber-tender, outer portion of the steak. On a ribeye loin, the spinalis does not go the whole way down.

    The “loin end” on a ribeye generally resembles a strip more than a classic “ribeye.” This end also has a texture more similar to a sirloin or NY strip steak.  As a butcher cuts into the loin, the stereotypically looking ribeye emerges. This is the steak with the spinalis. The good part. The juicy part. The part that absolutely melts in your mouth, with much ooo-ing and eyes cast heavenward while you chew.

    That’s a ribeye cap and you really can’t get anything better as a steak than that.

    A recipe and step-by-step instructions are below.

    Trimming it out

    If you want to buy a whole ribeye and trim it out yourself, it’s not really hard. If you purchase a whole ribeye cap, know that you will have to trim off the silver skin and then cut it into steaks. Trim out the silver skin and then cut (with the grain) about 3 finger length strips. Tightly roll them up, tie them with butchers’ twine, and you’ll be ready for the grill.

    What makes them the best steaks?

    In a word, marbling. If you like tender steaks, you’re probably a filet mignon fan. If you like more texture, value, and a general “beefiness,” you probably prefer sirloins. If you want more flavor, you’re a ribeye fan. If you want the ultimate, you’ll be wanting these.

    Beef gets flavor from muscles that have to work. Beef gets tenderness from either marbling (intramuscular fat) or muscles that don’t work as hard. Filet (aka beef tenderloins or tenders) is not a muscle that works hard, thus its’ tenderness. That being said, it doesn’t have a ton of intramuscular fat, so it is not intrinsically flavorful. Sirloins (the hips) work hard and therefore generate a good beefy flavor. Again, as they are more hard-worked muscles, they aren’t super tender (barring a couple of exceptions to the whole sirloin, depending on how your butcher trims it out.

    Now that brings in Ribeyes

    Ribeyes are kind of a mix of muscles- they have to work, so they develop flavor. But, they don’t have to work too hard, so they also generate good intramuscular fat. It’s this fat that melts while cooking, making the ribeye taste so moist and juicy. It’s also this fat that carries the flavor over your taste buds and makes you absolutely love the flavor. And, of all the different muscles, it’s the spinalis dorsi that has the most intramuscular fat.

    Let’s get a steak on the grill!

    Ribeye Cap steak is an amazing steak (and expensive), so you want to cook it right. You can usually buy choice or prime ribeye caps at a few butcher shops or Costco. Roll them up like a filet – they cook better using a reverse sear method, and they look impressive on a plate! Melissa used a new Kingsford Charcoal for cooking these- Kingsford Apple. It has apple chips embedded in the charcoal and added some great smoky nuance to the steaks.

    What about butter?

    Butter makes everything better! For these, Melissa made a quick garlic-rosemary compound butter and the flavor could not have been better. Making your own compound butter is super easy; Melissa usually keep 3 or 4 in my freezer at any time, so she’ll have it when it’s time to serve something – cilantro-lime butter goes perfectly with grilled skirt steak, a lemon-thyme butter for scallops, etc.

    Follow the recipe below to ensure you get a great steak! Now, get out there and grill!

    Ingredients:

    For the Butter

    • 8 TBS unsalted butter European or cultured
    • 1 tsp finely chopped rosemary
    • 1 TBS minced garlic
    • Juice from 1/2 lemon
    • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
    • 1/4 tsp coarse ground black pepper

    For the steaks

    • 4 Ribeye cap steaks rolled and tied to look like filets
    • 1 TBS coarse ground black pepper
    • 1 TBS granulated garlic
    • 1 TBS paprika
    • 3 TBS kosher salt
    • 1/2 TBS granulated onion
    • 1/2 TBS ground coriander
    • 1/2 TBS crushed red pepper flakes

    Instructions:

    1. Allow butter to come to room temperature. Add to a mixing bowl with other butter ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Layout a sheet of plastic wrap. Scrape the butter onto plastic wrap, then use the wrap to form the butter into a log shape. Refrigerate at least one hour to firm up before using it. Cut butter into wheels to place on cooked steaks.
    2. In a small bowl, add seasonings for steak and mix seasonings together. Season outside surfaces of steak. Allow steaks to sit out at least 30 minutes at room temperature before grilling (lightly covered.)
    3. Start grill with coals on one side of the grill. Oil grates. Place steaks on the opposite side of the grill. Using a meat thermometer, cook until steaks reach an internal temperature of 120 degrees. Remove steaks from grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
    4. While steaks are resting, open grill to allow more air to the charcoal so it will get hotter. Add a few coals if necessary. Place steaks over hot coals and allow them to sear and develop some delicious char marks. Remove from grill, plate, and top with butter.

    Serve to the acclaim of your family and friends!

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