The Missing Link

February 10, 2018 Sean Falcon

This amazing piece of meat was given to me by a dear friend and coworker Link, hence the post name. This beast was purchased from Barons Meats in Alameda, CA and was on my desk by 10:00am. I spent the rest of the day thinking about how I wanted to prepare this monster and my daily responsibilities suffered because of this. I regret nothing.

If you haven't treated yourself to a high quality piece of meat yet, you owe it to yourself to do so. There is such an amazing difference in quality, texture and flavor. It's definitely on the pricey side, but once you bite into it, you'll see why. The main word you're looking for is USDA Prime or Wagyu. Now you won't be able to find these types of meat in your standard supermarket, so what you're looking for here is a dedicated butcher. A true butcher shop that specializes in nothing but meats. You'd be surprised how hard it is to find quality butchers in some parts of the country. When you do find one, it's worth developing a relationship with them. Hopefully you'll get the best cuts and the good butchers will go above and beyond if you show them that you care about their craft as much as they do. Plus, these guys usually have access to higher quality meat that they may not be buying because the demand is so low. Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean it's not a possibility.

Ingredients

Large bone-in ribeye, roughly 3" thick. In a restaurant, this would be a steak for two.
3 diver scallops
1lbs Maitake Mushrooms
Kosher Salt
Canola Oil
Onion Powder
Sel Gris or Fleur De Sel
2 tbsp Clarified Butter
2tbsp Butter at room temp
Sherry Vinegar
A few sprigs of Thyme
3 or 4 garlic cloves, smashed

Cookware

12" Cast Iron Skillet
7" Fry Pan
Quarter Sheet pan
Quarter Sheet rack
Spoon for basting
Oven safe platter for serving

Short and Sweet Instructions

Roast the seasoned mushrooms
Heat the cast iron in the oven at the same time
Rub steak with a light coating of oil and season
Sear steak on stove and finish in oven
Sear scallops while steak is resting
Reheat veg in the oven while you baste the steak
Butter / herb baste steak in hot pan while veg is in oven
Plate and serve

Prep

Steak: Let the steak rest at room temp for at least one hour before cooking.

Mushrooms: break down the Maitakes into clumps. Trim off the root end of the cluster.

Scallops: Remove the adductor muscles. Keep cold in fridge.

Cooking Instructions

Mushrooms

Toss mushrooms with canola oil, kosher salt and onion powder
Place on a foil lined quarter sheet pan and roast in a 400º oven for 15 minutes
Set aside

Steak

While the mushrooms are cooking, I like to keep my cast iron pan in the oven so it gets heated evenly
When you're ready to cook, start heating the cast iron pan over high heat.
Rub the steak with a small amount of canola oil. This will be the only lubricant used while cooking the steak. I don't use any extra oil in the pan because it's going to start smoking immediately.
Season liberally with Kosher salt only
Once the pan is rocket hot, place the steak in the pan, and gently press it down so it all comes into contact with the cooking surface.
Sear over high heat for 1-2 minutes or until you've developed a nice brown crust.
Flip the steak and repeat.
We're cooking for color here, so don't worry about the interior. All we're going for here is a nicely caramelized exterior.
After the second side is seared, remove it from the pan and place it on a foil-lined quarter sheet rack and place it in the 400º oven.
The cooking time here will vary greatly depending on the thickness of the meat. I ended up cooking my steak at 2 different temperatures. I started it at 400º for 20 minutes. That got my interior temperature to just about 100ºF. I bumped the heat up to 425º and roasted it for another 12 minutes which got it up to 134º. It probably went up a few degrees while it rested, so the steak ended up a perfect medium doneness. Again, your times will vary, so just keep track of the temperature with a thermometer and you'll be fine.
Once your steak is cooked, pull it out of the oven and let it rest for at least 10-15 minutes. A steak of this size should be treated more like a roast, so give it ample time to rest.
Just before serving, we're going to use the butter, thyme and garlic as a baste to add flavor and bring the steak back up to temperature to serve. If your steak cools down too much or sits for too long, you may want to pop it back in the oven for a few minutes to aide in the warming process.

Scallops

While your steak is resting, you can cook your scallops.
Heat a small fry pan over medium heat and add the clarified butter
Heat until just smoking
While the pan is heating, lightly season the scallops with kosher salt
When the pan is heated, add your scallops to the pan and sear until golden brown. Roughly 3 to 3.5 minutes.
Flip the scallops and repeat for the other side. It'll take less time to cook on the second side, so keep that in mind. Roughly 1.5 to 2 minutes.
Remove the scallops from the pan and place on a c-fold or normal paper towel

Finishing