The Perfect Rib-Eye Steak with Whole Grilled Potatoes and Chimichurri Sauce

After achieving my active wellness mode goals, I added a little organic, grass-fed steak back into my way of eating. I did it less so for the sake of eating meat again. The flavor is certainly incomparable but it’s not essential to my palate. I make a steak now and again more so to honor a past food ritual and share a hearty dining experience with someone I love.

When choosing a steak, especially a rib-eye, look for a highly marbled piece, with white veins running throughout, as that fat will create a lot of flavor once it melts over the high heat. A less marbled piece of meat may become tough after a cook. I source my organic grass-fed beef from a Vermont farmer but, sometimes, I pop into old-fashioned butcher shops to ask questions and love how they often refer to a rib-eye as a Delmonico steak. The term feels fancy and special, and eating meat should indeed feel significant since, let’s be honest, a life was taken to get it to your plate.

Because there’s so much delicious fat on a rib-eye, grilling it can sometimes spark a fire so be very alert of any rogue flames. A few years ago, I was introduced to the reverse sear method, so when there’s no grill in sight (or even when there is), I take that path. It guarantees a perfectly cooked steak every single time. And I feel quite powerful wielding my tongs, placing and then flipping a perfect slab of red meat in a very hot pan.

This recipe typically serves at least two—four if you’re light eaters, one if it’s the only steak you’ll have all year. I sometimes serve it with a pan of roasted and charred Brussels sprouts or a bright lemony green salad, or both. But if I’m going for quintessential steakhouse style, I’ll offer a pile of whole grilled potatoes along with chimichurri sauce. The sauce entwines with the dry potatoes and the drippy steak, creating a sort of enhanced dressing that’s been unmatched time and time again.

The potatoes don’t have to be grilled; you can simply roast them dry on a baking sheet in the oven. The sauce is well suited to everything—these potatoes, a steak, a whole-roasted fish, and all kinds of vegetables, especially crisp-edged turnips or caramelized cauliflower.

Ingredients

For the Perfect Ribeye Steak

• 1/2 cup black peppercorns

• 1/2 cup coarse (not flaky) sea salt

• 1 pound (454 g) bone-in rib-eye steak, about 1-inch (2 cm) thick

• 1 tablespoon grape seed oil or other high-heat cooking oil

For the Whole Grilled Potatoes with Chimichurri Sauce

• Ten 3-inch, thin-skinned potatoes, cleaned and dried

• Chimichurri Sauce (recipe below)

A New Way to Food by Maggie Battista

Directions

Make the Perfect Ribeye Steak

1. Prepare the salt and pepper rub. Grind the peppercorns into a coarse grind with a mortar and pestle. You can also grind them with a spice or coffee grinder. Just be sure to clean out your grinder by whizzing up uncooked white rice in it just before and after you grind the peppercorns. Toss the ground peppercorns and salt together in a bowl until well-distributed and light gray in color.

2. Preheat the oven to 250°F (121°C) with the rack in the center position. Pat the steak dry thoroughly with a paper towel.

3. Sprinkle and rub the steak on all sides with the salt and pepper rub. Start with a tablespoon of the rub and add more to suit your preference—the more you add, the spicier and saltier the finished steak. Reserve any unused rub in an airtight jar for up to 1 year. Ideally, let the steak stand for 1 hour at room temperature or up to 8 hours in the fridge. But if you only have 10 minutes, that’s fine too.

4. Place the steak on a rimmed baking sheet and slide it into the oven. Roast until the internal temperature registers 105°F (41°C) for a rare steak or 115°F (46°C) for a medium-rare steak, about 15 to 20 minutes. The steak will be the juiciest, most tender, and flavorful at these temperatures but feel free to roast it to your preference. Remove from the oven.

5. Heat a cast iron skillet or stainless steel pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil to the pan and swirl until it’s well-coated and just begins to smoke. Sear the steak for no more than 30 seconds on both sides and up to 20 seconds on its sides, until you get a nice seared golden color. The final internal temperature of the steak should be 120°F (49°C) for a rare steak or 130°F (54°C) for a medium-rare steak.

6. Transfer the steak to a plate and let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Make the Whole Grilled Potatoes and Chimichurri Sauce

1. Fire up the grill to between 400°F and 450°F (204–232°C).

2. Place the potatoes directly on the grates (if the potatoes fall through your grates, cook them at 400°F/204°C in your oven) but to the right or left of the main fire. Close the grill lid and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, opening only once to turn them over. (In an oven, this may take closer to 40 minutes.) The potatoes will be ready when they are easily pierced with a fork and have light grill marks all over the skin. Remove them from the grill and cover with foil.

3. Serve the potatoes with the chimichurri sauce and the steak.

Chimichurri Sauce

This green sauce is a vibrant staple in my kitchen. It dressed up any grilled food from animal protein to every kind of vegetable. I especially like to serve it with just boiled or grilled potatoes for a starchy-bright flavor pairing. You can finely chop the ingredients for the sauce but I prefer to blitz them in a food processor when I’m short on time, which is most of the time.

Ingredients

• 1 small bunch parsley (about 8 sprigs), stems cut and discarded

• 1 large bunch cilantro (about 16 sprigs), stems cut and discarded

• 1 small bunch basil (about 6 sprigs), stems cut and discarded

• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled

• 3 scallions, trimmed and roughly chopped

• 2 tablespoons lime juice (from about 1 lime)

• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 1/4 cup (60 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

Directions

Blitz all the ingredients in a powerful blender or food processor until roughly diced and loose, about 20 seconds. Stir it to make sure no big chunks remain. If a big piece of scallion or garlic remains, blitz again. Taste and add more salt, if you like. The flavor intensifies as it sits so feel free to let it rest while you prepare your meal. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.