What makes a great steak?
By Tony Street
Here are some insider tips on making a great Y.O. style steak at home.
The Grade
Selecting a good cut of beef is just as important as the way you prepare it. The best steakhouses and restaurants in the United States serve up the most expensive grade of beef known as USDA prime beef. Prime grade beef accounts for about 3% of all beef production in the U.S., and most of our beef at the Y.O. The demand for this high quality beef makes it hard for you and I to just pick up at the corner grocery store. If you can’t find Prime grade, look for Choice grade – the next best thing.
The Aging
Ever heard the terms dry-aged, wet-aged? Have any idea what they mean? Most fine restaurants age their beef to intensify the flavor and improve the tenderness of the cut. Wet aging is done by vacuum packing the meat and letting it age in its own juices. Wet aging is done by more than 90% of fine steakhouses.
Dry aging is done by letting the meat sit (in very controlled conditions) for several days or weeks. This is a difficult process to perform because the risk of spoilage and food poisoning can be very high. You can however, check with your local meat markets to try and find a source for dry aged beef. If you can’t find it, don’t worry because very few palates could tell the difference between the two.
The Seasoning
Great steaks need little seasoning. This goes back to our first rule: If you start with high quality ingredients, you won’t need much else.
However, every great steakhouse seasons the steaks they cook. Typically a steak is seasoned with coarse ground black pepper, sea or kosher salt, garlic, and some type of signature spice. In addition to the seasoning most steakhouse’s use a marinade, butter, or some type of baste or finishing liquid.
Here at the Y.O., we finish the steak as soon as it’s done with a liquid mixture of red wine, red wine vinegar and soy sauce. This helps to lock in all the flavor and moisture, giving your cut the succulent flavor you love.
Cooking method
Most big steakhouses broil their steaks, using overhead, infrared broilers that produce incredibly hot temperatures to cook steaks. Don’t worry though, you don’t need to go out and invest in one, but the principle is the same. You need incredibly high heat in direct contact with the meat.
A basic, inexpensive cast iron pan or griddle is the steak’s best friend. Heavy, dense and able to hold a lot of heat, cast iron pans make the perfect steak. Only by having contact with that intense heat can you cook the steak hot enough and fast enough to make it perfect.
The basic process is to preheat the pan as hot as you can get it. Drop in the steak for two minutes. Flip, add and cook for 3-4 more minutes depending on how you want your steak done. When the steak is at the temperature you like it add your butter or finishing liquid. Be prepared – this is a smoke-filled process, but it can be done on your side burner on your grill without flooding the house with smoke.
Bon Appetite Y’all
Tony Street
I am going to the Texas Hill country for a couple weeks to brush up on Texas Hill Country Cuisine. I have more than a dozen restaurants on my schedule. I am not going to reveal too much yet but I am going to add a couple new wild game dishes, Fredericksburg peaches, lamb chops, duck, beef ribs and OK that’s enough for now. Stay tuned for the full menu.
Its November 22nd and I had an awesome 1st day in Dijon. Once I got on the train which proved to be more challenging than expected I was able to relax a little bit. I did start bumming a bit that my wife was not able to join me. Once the train took off and I took in a little of the French countryside I started making my prep lists and prioritizing. I worked on some side dishes and garnish ideas.With the Thanksgiving gala coming two days before Texas restaurant week I started the prep list for gala menu. The first course of the Dallas Dijon Sister City Thanksgiving Gala will be pumpkin bisque. I decided I was going to make a small batch of soup as soon as I got started and decided I would try garnishing the soup with the seeds by roasting them with cinnamon. I hope the french chefs don’t think I am crazy.
The second thing on my prep list was a big batch of cornbread. The main dish for the gala is Quail and Dressing and the cornbread needs to stale for at least a day. I was really concerned about the cornmeal and hoped that there idea of cornmeal was not polenta especially since the executive chef at the Hotel Mercure is from Spain. In fact I was nervous about many ingredients that were on my shopping list that I had emailed to the chef. I have been through this problem before when I was the chef at Texas Embassy Cantina in London and Antigua Restaurant in Acapulco. For example in Acapulco it was impossible to get decent beef and in London you could not get good avocados and could not get processed cheese at all. Therefore we had to open a Tex Mex restaurant without queso.
OK the train was arriving so I began mentally preparing myself for the task at hand. During the last two months I had spoken to Hughes Genot a couple dozen times but had no idea what he looked like. Hughes is the president of the Dallas Dijon Sister City Program and the man who has funded my trip. I kept wondering if there would be a man holding up a sign saying Tony Street. Instead when the train doors opened he and his lovely girlfriend Helene Isnard were standing on the platform two feet from me. We exchanged pleasantries including the mandatory smooch on each cheek and headed to the taxi. We drove through the more modern side of town and being Sunday everything was closed so it was quite under whelming.
Minutes later we arrive at the Hotel Mercure which is also very modern and reminded me of your average Marriott. In the lobby was waiting chef Gonzalo Pinenero and he suggested that I leave my bags and let him show me around. Gonzalo and I immediately hit it off and I was so relieved to know that his first language was Spanish as I am pretty close to fluent. My life long curiosity of what a French kitchen looked like was about to end. We started the tour on the line where all the foods are cooked to order and handed to the chef. The line is made of two kitchens pretty much identical. One where they cook all the meats and the other where they cook all the seafoods. This sort of answered my questions about the menus in Paris. All the menus were split in to two sections seafood first and then red meats. The prices were about the same. I did not really see menus with what appeared to be appetizers.
Anyway he told me to look around so I did. Everything was as organized and clean as I expected. I wish that my kitchen staff could have been here to see this. We move on to to the walk ins and freezers and then to the pastry kitchen. One of my worries when making the menus in Dallas were the pastries. I worried about making pie dough and if the flour and oven temps would be a problem. As soon as I walked in the pastry kitchen that was down stairs I realized that this would not be a problem. The pastry chefs are also the chefs for the Dijon Convention center. They had several walk in refrigerators and freezers that were packed full of the most beautiful pastries I have ever seen.
So anyway I figured that they could manage helping me with a few pate brisee’s (pie crust). After I took the tour Hughes invited me to sit down and have lunch at the Hotel. I am ready to have my first lunch in Dijon but am also very eager to get started in the kitchen. I decided to have lunch with them and I am glad I did. It ended up being kind of a meet and greet for everyone involved with the week long event. It was then that I met the Dallas musician Ross Vick from True Heart. I could tell right away that he and I were going to hit it off.
So out comes the amuse bouche. It was an espresso cup that looked exactly like a miniature cappuccino in fact the chef called it a mushroom cappuccino. It was a rich, dark, velvety mushroom cream topped with an unsweetened whipped cream and sprinkled with finely chopped truffles. I was already more impressed with the Mercure’s cuisine than I thought i would be. I ordered the Foie gras as an appetizer (imagine that) and lamb chops for an entree. They were both very good and I scarfed them down. I was so ready to get in that kitchen so I excused myself and went to change. So my big moment has arrived and I am so excited that I had to calm myself down. So I stuck to my plan and started working on…
Its the night of November 21st and my first day in Dijon was a success. Let me tell you about dinner last night at Le Laurent.
I walked to the restaurant from my hotel which ended up being a nice stroll down Champs de Elysee. When I arrived, I was one of three tables I still cant adjust to eating so late like the locals. When I sit down the cockiest of all sommeliers comes over and asks what kind of wine I would be starting with. Well you know the drill right? When I told him that I would only be drinking water he stormed off in a major tizzy. It was so awkward that I almost left. Is there some law in France that I wasn’t aware of that says you have to drink their beloved wine with dinner?
So the server asked me what I was going to eat and I said “whatever the chef suggests just make sure foie gras is involved”. The server and chef chose a 5 course meal for 150 euros. Five minutes went by and no amuse bouche had arrived. I guess they thought that the American did not know what an amuse bouche was. So now we are really off to a bad start because they have been rude to me twice before I even got a morsel of food . At this point I forget about trying to have a dining experience and settled for having dinner so my attitude was BRING ON THE FOOD!
So out comes the first course and it was the most colorful plate of food that I have ever seen. It was a selection of root vegetables that were meticulously placed on a plate. I swear it must have taken one of the army of chefs that you could see in the kitchen at least 10 minutes to arrange the roots. I had mixed feelings about this dish. My first impression was that I couldn’t believe that one of the best chefs in the world would send out a plate that had absolutely no seasoning, sauce, or put his touches in any form or fashion on the dish.
On the other hand it was a nice start to a meal. The vegetables had very earthy but clean flavors that were refreshing on the palate. The textures were also very nice the chefs obviously babysat each root while they were cooking because they were perfectly cooked. I still am not sure how I felt about this dish. I don’t think it did a very good job of setting the tone for a 150 euro meal. It would have been most impressive as a garnish with a meat entree. Second course comes out this time brought by a different server which worked out perfectly her and I got along very well.
She liked my Texas accent and I liked her personality. So the dish was a soup with clams, scallops, oyster mushrooms, in a lobster broth that was so silky and refined that it wouldn’t surprise me if it had been reduced for a couple of days. Though this dish also lacked a little something I am sure that this dish was exactly the way the chef meant it to be. I am sure his palate is superior to mine so this bowl of crustacean’s was a total success.
Next arrived the highlight of the meal. It was two globules of goose liver resting on a spiced bread sitting next to two slices of perfectly ripened mango (my favorite fruit) that was seasoned with what appeared to be Thai chili. This mango reminded me of when I lived in Acapulco and ate spicy mango on a stick with some spicy chili powder. The mango was garnished with thinly shaved coconut. All of this sat on a smear of what i think was a balsamic reduction. I hate to keep saying this but this was the best dish I have ever had .
Next came the first disappointment of the evening. It was lamb done two ways. Both of them were loins that were over cooked. I cant imagine that the chef meant them to leave the kitchen that way. I mean they were medium well at best. I almost sent it back but i did not want to make a scene so I ate it. They used the skin of the lamb and rendered it until crispy and used that in a sauce on one loin and garnished the other with it. The dish had a lot of potential but fell short by being overdone.
Next arrived the cheese tray. I am officially over this tradition and I have only been here for 3 days. After 
pretending to enjoy my cheese plate they brought a beautiful souffle. This looked very promising but unfortunately did not deliver. It was perfectly cooked but the flavor profiles were strange. The chef used herbs instead of something sweet. It had no sweetness at all but instead tasted of something aromatic like grass.
So overall it was a good experience and the food was beautifully prepared but I could have gotten better food at many restaurants in Dallas.
It is November the 21st and I am off to Dijon. Its been a very rough morning so far. I left the hotel in plenty of time to get to Gare De Lyon (the train station) with time to spare. I arrived 30 minutes early even though I was traveling with three suitcases, a hanging garment bag, and a computer bag. I forgot to mention that I had all the luggage for both my wife and I. So Basically I was traveling with make up,dresses,bras, and panties. Historically every time I enter the United States the custom agents tear my luggage apart. I guess I have a guilty looking face. Well I hope when I return to Dallas that things will be different this time. So anyway the language barrier almost made me miss my train to my job in Dijon. I sat in front of a platform until 5 minutes before my train was supposed to leave and there was still no train. So I asked and they told I was on the right platform number but wrong building of the station and that I had better hurry because the trains leave on the minute no matter what. So here I am running with all my luggage looking like an idiot and make the train by the skin of my teeth. The conductor held the door open for me as it was closing it was like out of a movie
So I am now traveling 1st class on a really nice train through the Burgundy countryside and all of the sudden feel very relaxed. However I did learn a lesson this morning I was over confident. I have lived and worked in three countries including the US but this is the first time that I will be working in a country that I do not understand the language. When I get back perhaps I will study French. So let me fill you in about yesterday in Paris.
So as I mentioned yesterday
I was on the sight seeing bus deciding about lunch. I got off at the Eiffel Tour hoping to go to the top and take pictures but the line was hopelessly long. So I just hung out in the park and took pictures. The tower is truly amazing it put tears in my eyes for more than one reason. I must have taken 100 pictures from every angle
imaginable. I crossed the street to take a picture and noticed a Crepe stand. I had never heard of such until now but it was a stand that sold many different varieties of crepes. I love crepes so I decided to blow off lunch and sit in front of the tower and eat one. I ordered one filled with ham and cheese and topped with a Mornay Sauce. The crepe was very good but not nearly as good as the idea of eating one in a park in front of one of the most recognized and spectacular structures in the world. That moment could make most peoples bucket list.
So I am back on the bus
and headed to Notre Dame. Its a gorgeous day theres not a cloud in the sky and about 60 degrees. I have no idea how many degress that is Celsius and I wish that our country would move to the metric system. I am nervous about my baking when I get to Dijon. My first day there I am cooking about 10 sheet pans of corn bread so that it will be nice and stale for the cornbread dressing on the 24th the day of the gala. We arrive at Notre Dame and I get off and head for the entrance. For some reason I get very emotional when I see old amazing archetcture especially temples and church’s and this was definitely no exception to the rule. I walked in and immediately was over whelmed. I sat at the back of the church for about 10 minutes just taking it in. Trying to imagine to myself what all has taken place at this site for the past 900 years. I get up and walk around through the church and leave after about 15 minutes. I decided to stroll through the Latin Quarter which is the area that Notre Dame is in. Its a great liitle neighborhood but i am trying to see Paris in one day so I hop back on the bus and head to the Louivre. I know that trying to see the Louivre in a couple hours or even one day is not possible so I decide that I am going to see a few pieces such as Venus De Milo and Mona Lisa. This task of course turned out to be imposible. I was in there for three hours and had not even thought about those pieces. I frantically asked the aides where I could find them and headed towards them.
As I approached the Mona Lisa I saw a huge line of people and I had a feeling that I was about to see her. Sure enough I turn the corner and there she is. Unlike all the other masterpiecres you could not get within 20 feet of the painting. I was a little dissapointed but like the crepes it as more about the idea of being there. So I did like the Griswalds from the movie Vacation when they looked at the Grand Canyon and admired it for about 15 seconds bobbing my head and moved on.
I jump on the bus and head to Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Montmarte. Along the way the bus stopped at La Madeleine and I was hungry so I got off. I sat down at a sidewalk cafe and order a cappuccino and a Tarte Tatin . All of these sidewalk cafes are so crammed full of people and everyone smokes and throws their butts on the sidewalk. People here are so different and I love the attitude. I sat and…
It is November 20th and I just boarded a sight seeing bus that is good for the entire day. Its one of those buses that you can get on and off anywhere and stops at most points of interest. I stopped at a café along the way and ate a croissant and coffee. Oh my I could write an entire page about the coffee situation and perhaps I will later.
To give you an idea, when you order coffee you get a double espresso. A lot of Americans would be put off by this but I was in heaven. Its amazing how so many American everyday foods originated from the French. Every time I mention one of these foods I will underline the item just for grins. So I am cruising around on the top deck of the bus in the open air enjoying the Paris scenery trying to decide what I am going to eat for lunch.
I am considering walking around in the Latin Quarter and just blindly picking a spot. The only prerequisite is they must have Foie Gras or perhaps I will try Quiche Lorraine. There will probably be several occasions on this trip that I eat things just for the sake of saying I tried an authentic __________ when I was in France. The quiche is an example. The area is right by Notre Dame and that’s definitely on my list.
Oh yeah, 1st things first…
Let’s talk about dinner last night
So as planned I dined at Relais Louis. The reservations were arranged by my friend Hughes Genot the man who funded my trip whom I will not meet in person until I get to Dijon. He is good friends with the owner Mr. Manuel Martinez. The place sets in a very trendy, yet quite neighborhood on the left bank. The building itself appears to be really old French architecture and it wouldn’t surprise me if it was over a hundred years old.
I arrived at 7:00 pm and I was the only customer in the building which at first was really uncomfortable, especially since I am still crushed that my wife is not with me. I again realize that the French eat much later than we do. The place was completely full when I left at 10:00.
I sat down and the server, who I later learned to adore, asked me what kind of wine I wanted to start with and this was uncomfortable moment number two. I have not had a drink in eleven years and all though this was without a doubt the most opportune time to secretly relapse considering how depressed I was about my wife, that I was alone in a different country, everything about it was text book excuse for a guy like me to give in. I thought of my wife and kids and came back to reality and ordered a Coca Cola. At first the server thought I was joking. Then she went and got the manager and he came to speak to me to make sure I understood the server . I explained to him I don’t drink and he laughed and walked off. I have a feeling this won’t be the only time this happens on this trip especially since tomorrow I will be going to Burgundy.
Ok let’s get to the food
I told the server to tell the chef to pick my food and that I was very hungry and that I loved Foie Gras.
First thing that arrived to the table was an amuse bouche - a shot glass with a celery puree with a coconut foam. It was delightful and refreshing. Then arrived a variety of house made breads and muffins. There must have been five or more kinds all which were yummy.
Next was the best appetizer dish I had ever had. It was a scallop dish that had a scallop terrine and a grilled scallop topped with a heavenly sherry cream with caviar.
Next was an oyster dish, they have very high quality oysters, the kind that if they were on a raw bar in New York or L.A. the establishment would be boasting about the quality and charging an arm and leg for them. Sort of in the same manner that in the states we call them heirloom tomatoes but in France they just call them tomatoes.
Anyway, these glorious oysters (harvested in South-Brittany France – I asked the server to ask the chef) were on a bed of pureed wild mushrooms almost like a mousse and topped with a morel Champagne cream. I am trying to refrain from saying this each time but it was the best thing I have ever put in my mouth.
Next was a monkfish and squid on risotto with a saffron beurre blanc. God I love the French and the way they use butter and cream with everything. This is how I learned to cook and the way I still cook today.
Next was the Foie Gras – I really don’t know how it was prepared I just inhaled it. I remember that it was on grilled spice bread that was sweet and had a strong ginger flavor. Oh yeah it was the best thing I have ever eaten.
Next was the beef dish. They were short ribs braised in a red wine that would probably cost you a pretty penny in Dallas. The beef was way above average but I must sa,y this was my least favorite dish as I am pretty picky when it comes to beef.
Next was the cheese tray. I asked the server how many I could pick and she said as much as you want. I told her to pick for me and she placed 8 different slices of cheese on the plate. I am getting sick thinking about the cheese and how much I ate that night and…
It is November the 19th and I just arrived in Paris. I had a horrible problem at the airport. They would not let my wife on the plane because she is a citizen of Thailand and she needed a visa to board the plane. When I made the reservation AA told me she just needed her green card and Thai passport. AA did give us credit for a future flight but leaving her at the airport was one of the saddest moments of my life. I will be in France alone for three weeks and am very bummed about it, but there are a lot worse places I could be for three weeks plus I have to focus on the task at hand.
I got checked in to the Hotel Mercure on Champs Elysees and I should take a nap as I am mentally and physically exhausted but all I can think about is French food. I keep remembering JC1 (I call him JC1 because both French chefs I worked for were named Jean Claude) and all the agony that he put me through when I worked under him at the tender age of 16. The restaurant is still there 25 years later in FT. Worth Texas it’s named Saint Emillon. JC1 however passed away 10 years ago.
I walked around about an hour day dreaming of JC1 and Ratatouille (the cartoon not the food) and finally decided to go back to the hotel and ask the concierge for a lunch recommendation. They called ahead to a place two blocks down the street with a name that I can not remember. It was a very small country French style restaurant very much like Saint Emillon.
I am not feeling too well as I am still very disappointed about leaving my wife. I had talked up Paris to her for months before the trip and spent countless hours planning things for us to do, yet here I am in the most romantic place in the world alone. I arrived at 11:30 and wondered why I am the only customer in the place. I later realized that the French eat much later than we do.
As soon as I sat down I noticed that the place had an unpleasant odor and as I was looking around saw a huge table full of cheese. Oh that smell I can’t get it out of my mind. So here I am culture shocked tired and depressed so I ordered the biggest cliché of all French foods hoping to snap me out of it so I order the escargot. It was of course the best I had ever had. I then order the Monkfish (in France known as Lotte). It was on a ragout of some kind of yellow bean that I did not recognize. It was amazingly fresh and very lobster like in texture as all Monk fish is.
I think I ate 3 full baguettes and it was wonderful. You could smell it baking in the kitchen. Both French places I worked at in the states baked their own bread but other than that it’s pretty hard to find fresh baked bread in there. So my first lunch in Paris was perfect and I can’t wait until this evening when I will dine at a two star Michelin restaurant on the Left bank named Relais Louis. I might have Foie Gras breakfast, lunch, and dinner the entire time I am in France. This is about as good as it gets.
Next…Dinner at Relais Louis
Follow Dallas Chef Tony Street, travels to Dijon, France to cook a Texas-themed feast for 300 Gala attendees at an event honoring Charles Rivkin, the U.S. Ambassador to France.
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Nov 19: Arriving in Paris |
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Nov 20: Paris ~ Dinner at Relais Louis |
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Nov 21: Off to Dijon |
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Nov 21: Dinner at Le Laurent |
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Nov 22: Dijon Day 1 |
