I mean, you have to eat, right? And my philosophy, for awhile, has been if you have to cook something, then at least cook the hell out of it! Life is too short to eat bad food and so much of the time I devote to prepping and cooking is for dishes I make sure are appetizing, filling and fun. Around here, we don't tread lightly and we don't make it lean; I like to say we eat like royalty, and that means big old cuts of delicious red meat!
Dave and I have been buying up the tomahawk steaks when we see them and we noticed they are not as hard to find as you may expect. I think he enjoys the primal caveman aspect to the cut and who can blame him? It's a showpiece for sure. It's simply a cut of beef rib eye that has extra rib bone for presentation purposes. It's called a tomahawk because it resembles a single-handed ax. I don't know how much that extra bone weighs, but bear in mind, you still pay by the pound, so the tomahawk may not be your pick every time if budget is an issue. The size makes them perfect for the grill since the long rib bone doesn't fit very well in or on a pan. We've done it both ways and of course, grilling is better for this hearty cut of meat.
We've tried a few recipes and have liked them all. With the steak just being a dressed up rib eye, a simple rub can work well here. For this one pictured, we tried a reverse sear and we both agreed if you like a medium done steak, this technique is worth perfecting.
A traditional sear states that meat should be cooked quickly at high heat, just to crust the outer edge and then cooked at a lower temperature until done. The idea is that the quick crust will lock in juices. This recently has been hotly debated with naysayers believing the sear just adds flavor, nothing more. The reverse sear allows for the slow cook to happen first. We took the steaks out of the fridge and let rest at room temperature for a more even cook. We rubbed it with a blend of steak seasonings and then slow roasted it at 250° for about a half hour. We like our finished steak at about 130°internal temp or medium rare, so we pulled it from the oven around 115°.
It went straight into a preheated cast iron skillet and seared on all sides for about 45 seconds each side until it was the perfect level of crust and char. We let it rest for a minute or two before slicing; it was delicious, and cooked perfectly. You could easily do this cooking technique on a grill too, you would just be sure to keep the steak on the indirect heat side of your grill and finish it on a pan that was heated over the hot side.
It's a great cut of beef and the reverse sear is a simple way to cook your meat perfectly.
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