The Perfectly Seared Sirloin Steak with Lime Dressing

A warning to the vegetarians, this lengthy post is about cooking the perfect meat.

I am not much of a red meat-eater. But every once in a while I see a lovely, perfectly marbled sirloin at the butcher, I just cannot help myself. So this is a nice sirloin steak I got from one of the butchers at Atwater Market. Specs of the sirloin steak is 670g cut into the thickness of a 1-inch slab. I would not go for anything below 1 inch thick for a steak cut.

The sirloin is a very tasty cut of meat. Not quite as tender as a tenderloin, but not tough like chuck. Tenderloins are a little overrated, in my opinion. It's quite a tasteless cut despite it's exorbitant price tag. I would pick a sirloin any day.


My sirloin steak is cooked pretty simply. It's seasoned with salt, pepper and a little bit of garlic powder.

This recipe feeds 2-3 people.

670 grams of sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch slab
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Method:
1. Heat skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of oil until smoky hot.
2. Season steak with salt, pepper and garlic powder generously on both sides and sear the meat in the skillet. Do not move it around or touch it. Sear for 4 minutes and then turn over, sear for another 3-4 minutes.

A word of caution, if you have a fire detector installed in your home, it would be wise to disarm it or turn on your cooker hood on high. This will be a smoky event.

3. Take steak off the pan and onto a cutting board. Let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Lime Dressing
Juice from 1/2 lime
Steak fond (What's a fond?)
1/4 cup of red wine (or any broth you have in hand)
salt
pepper

Method
1. In the same skillet, add lime juice and a bit of butter. Scrap the bottom of the skillet to get the fond out. This will make your sauce tasty.
2. Add the red wine/broth and let it simmer down to half. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour over steak as sauce.


It's imperative to not cut the steak while it's just off the pan. The juices will run out and you'll be left with a very leathery, dry steak. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes. The thickness of the steak is equally important. The thicker the better, thin steaks will dry out faster than you say sirloin, so I recommend 1-inch and above.



Here's my cooking time for different steak thickness to achieve that pretty pink center in medium and rare.


Medium done:
1 inch cuts - 4 minute on each side
2 inch cuts - 7 minutes on each side

Rare:
1 inch cuts - 2 minutes on each side
2 inch cuts - 4 minutes on each side

Note: It is definitely worth it to get a cut thicker/bigger than you can finish. Extra steak can be used as sandwich meat the next day. It's better than any cold cuts you get at the grocery store.


That Mother-ship tomato salad is a great topping for the steak as well when it's all chopped up. :)