BUTTER AND HERB–BASTED HANGERS

© by Mike McColl, with styling by Mia Bachmaier

SERVES 2 TO 4

Basting steak in a hot pan is as classic a way of cooking as one can get, and I find the activity makes me hungrier as I participate in the steak’s journey from raw to done. Since this is a hanger steak, with all its qualities (including its tendency to poach sometimes), I recommend using only the thickest part of the steak, saving the rest for another use, and a heavy pan (cast iron, or with a heat-cookie bottom) wide enough to avoid any crowding—you don’t want to see a lot of moisture bubbling away at the bottom of the pan when you’re cooking. Done right, which isn’t hard, you will end up with a perfectly soft and moist steak baptized with the flavour of herb-infused butter. This goes well with roasted baby potatoes. Another option: sauté some sliced cremini mushrooms until soft and darkened in the same pan you used for the steak (discard the lemon and thyme), tumble them over your steak, and sprinkle with some chopped fresh parsley before serving.

1 OR 2 LARGE HANGER STEAKS

1/2 TEASPOON SALT PER STEAK

UNSALTED BUTTER FOR COOKING

OLIVE OIL, FOR FRYING

1 LEMON, ZESTED AND HALVED CROSSWISE (1/2 PER STEAK)

1 BUNCH OF FRESH THYME

FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER

CUT OUT THE THICKEST PART of the steak (you may have to cut off both ends and save just the thickest part of the middle, depending on the shape). Reserve the rest for another use, like Hanger Souvlaki, or freeze for a stew later on. Lightly dust the hanger steak with salt and let sit at room temperature for no less than 30 minutes.

HEAT A HEAVY PAN over medium-high heat. Melt enough butter with olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan by 1/8 inch. Add a few sprigs of thyme and cook just until butter stops bubbling. Add steak along with the cut lemon (unsqueezed). Cook steak to desired doneness (medium-rare works well here), basting with the infused butter as you go. If too much liquid is bubbling in the pan, transfer steak to a side plate, cook pan sauce until it bubbles off, then return steak to the pan. To avoid burning the butter and to help brown the meat, move steak around the pan often, which will cool the pan and colour the surface of the meat. When the steak is done (approaching 125°F in the middle, or pinky-red when checked with a small incision), let it rest in loose foil for 4 or 5 minutes (reserve the juices). Squeeze lemon into the pan and reserve liquid.

USING A SHARP KNIFE, cut each steak into two or three tidy pieces (which makes for a more tender bite, since cutting a piece through its wider, cut side means you are cutting across the grain in this case). Serve drizzled with some of the foil and pan juices and top each serving with a sprig of thyme and a pinch of lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.