Pan Broiled Steak

A complete pan-searing method in four sentences, and the technique still holds. The only real omissions are the cut, its thickness, and how done the four minutes leaves it.

• Thickness governs the timingFour minutes of slower cooking after the sear would suit a steak around three-quarters of an inch to an inch thick, left rare to medium-rare. A thicker cut needs proportionally longer; the recipe gives neither cut nor thickness.
• "Smoking hot" is literalA bare cast-iron pan wants five minutes or more over high heat before the meat goes in. If the steak does not hiss loudly on contact, the pan is not ready and the surface will grey rather than brown.
• Rub with fat, not pourThe instruction means a thin film wiped over the hot iron with a scrap of suet or a folded paper towel. This is pan broiling, not frying; standing fat will smoke off and taste burnt.
• Turning often is rightThe turn-only-once rule is largely later grill lore; frequent turning, as directed here, gives more even cooking and no worse a crust.
• Salt timingThe recipe salts only after cooking. Modern practice suggests either salting well ahead, or after, rather than immediately before the pan, when the surface is wettest.
• The glaze is the pointThose browned deposits are the whole sauce. Add the two or three tablespoons of hot water while the pan is still hot, scrape at once, and pour it over before it reduces to nothing.
• Rest before the sauceLifting to a hot platter gives you a minute or two of resting time while you deglaze, which is exactly what the meat needs. Any juice on the platter should go into the sauce.
• YieldThe recipe gives no yield, cut, or weight; scale by the size of the steak you have.