Beef chops, the cookening....

These beef loin chops went down to dry-brine yesterday noon.  So, 18 hours or so resting open in the fridge, rubbed with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.  That is ALL the seasoning these steaks need.  Just trim the steaks, rub with seasoning, and put in the fridge on a plate lined with paper towels.  Then.... go away.  LEAVE IT ALONE.  12-24 hours. 

The cooking plan:

An hour before cook time, set the plate of steaks on the counter to warm up a bit.  

Now, in a small fry pan drop half a stick of unsalted butter*.  Join it with 2 cloves of slightly crushed garlic and a teaspoon of dried rosemary.  Set that on a small burner on medium low (Electric stove).  The goal is to infuse the melted butter with the garlic and herbs.  In 20-30 minutes, check it.  When the garlic is turning a bit brown, shut off the heat and let it coast.

Cook time for the 1.5" thick steak:   A large cast-iron skillet on medium high.  Look for whisps of smoke and that bit of burning smell.  Quickly rub the steaks with a slight amount of high temp oil and set them in the pan.

Now.... stare at them longingly, but DON'T TOUCH THEM.  They are now stuck to that pan, and that is a GOOD thing.  They are doing Maillard magic and crusting hard.  Let them. If you tug a steak and it moves freely, they have all reached crust.  It takes just long enough to set off most smoke detectors.

Turn the steak, and shut off the burner.  There is plenty of heat left in the pan to finish those steaks.    Give it about 2 minutes, and turn them over.  Crusty?  Excellent!  Keep the pan on the shut-down-but-still-hot burner.

The next step is to pour the butter over the steaks.  I do it through a strainer to remove the used up garlic and rosemary, but you don't have to.   Immediately turn over all the steaks a few times to coat them well.  Take their temp.  We are looking for 120ish for medium rare after resting.  Flip occasionally and recheck temp, and they should finish within a few minutes.

At 120ish, or whatever you prefer, pull the steaks and set them to rest while you assemble the rest of the meal.  For me, that was getting a plate, knife, and fork.

Plate and eat!

* What to do with that leftover butter?  If you want the kinky answer, keep looking.

A moment of honesty, I will use an entire stick or two of unsalted butter for this.  I WANT a lot of leftover herby beefy butter.  

What WE do is cook it a bit longer on medium low till any moisture is gone, and then pour it into a measuring cup.  In 30-40 minutes on the counter all the herby butter oil will rise to the surface.  Skim any uglies, and slowly pour off the oil into a container.  You now have clarified beefy herb butter.  It's astonishing!