Garlic Butter Steak with Fresh Thyme

Sear hard, then drop the heat and spoon foaming thyme butter over the steak for two minutes. That baste is the recipe — the steak is just the surface it lands on.

Why the thyme matters here. Thyme is one of very few herbs that improves in hot fat. The butter carries its oils onto the crust and into the pan sauce; anything more delicate would scorch black in seconds.

Home kitchen · 4 to 6 servings

• 8 sprigs Fresh thyme, whole sprigs
• 2½ lb Ribeye or New York strip, 1½ inch thick
• 6 oz Unsalted butter
• 1 head Garlic, cloves smashed, skins on
• 2 tbsp Neutral high-smoke oil
• to taste Coarse salt and cracked black pepper

Herb quantities are given in loose cups, not weight — a cup should look like too much before you chop it.

Method

1. 1 Salt the steaks 40 minutes ahead and leave them uncovered at room temperature. Pat bone dry before they hit the pan.
2. 2 Sear in smoking oil in a heavy skillet, 3 minutes a side, without moving them.
3. 3 Drop the heat to medium. Add the butter, smashed garlic and all the thyme sprigs at once.
4. 4 Tilt the pan and spoon the foaming butter over the steaks continuously for 2 minutes, until the crust is deep brown and the kitchen smells of thyme.
5. 5 Rest 8 minutes on a rack. Slice against the grain and pour the pan butter over, thyme and all.