New York Sirloin Steak

I love steak. There are few things I enjoy eating more than a really good quality steak cooked to perfection. But the really good cuts of steak can be so expensive! I try not to spend more than $2 a pound for meat with a couple exceptions. Ground turkey I usually buy at $2.50 a pound, but considering how much cheaper it is than ground beef, I figure it's a steal. Seafood is an exception to this as well because even tilapia never gets that cheap. My favourite cuts of steak are really hard to justify spending $10+/pound. Seafood is at least good for you. So I watch the ads and watch for beef to get to around $3/pound and try to make it as much like a great steak as I can. This last week, New York Sirloin steak was on sale for 2.99 a pound. I got really excited because New York Strip steak is one of my faves! After a little research, I found out they are completely different things but decided to try it anyway. When you have an excellent cut of beef, it's so easy to cook it. Season it really well with salt and pepper and sear it in butter at a really high temperature on both sides before finishing it in the oven to desired doneness. This cut was a little different. Unlike a NY strip or rib eye, the meat has muscle fibers thick enough to form a grain. In a strip steak or rib eye, the muscle fibers are thin and you will get a tender steak very easily. A steak that has a grain will be a lot tougher. Cooking it needs to be done differently and you need to cut it differently to get it as tender as you can. With a steak like this you want to cook it a little slower than a hard sear. I let the meat sit on the counter to come up to room temperature. Starting with the meat all the same temperature helps ensure even cooking. I put the oven on to high broil and put the bottom rack just above the bottom of the oven. I put a piece of aluminum foil on top of this rack and then put the top rack just one slot above the bottom rack. Having the foil there acts as a drip pan for the steak while allowing the heat to circulate all around it. I put the steak on the top rack and let it cook for about 5 minutes. I flipped it to the other side and did another 5 minutes. After that I moved the top rack to the very top and moved the bottom rack just under it again. I put the steak on the top rack again and did another 4 minutes per side. Turn the broiler off and let the meat rest on the counter for 5-10 minutes. After it's rested, you will want to cut against the grain. It's hard to explain that without showing it, so here's a YouTube video for how to cut against the grain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRdX4U6hNLY