Steak House Ribeye and Baked Potato with Onion Straw Topper and Wilted Lettuce

Cooking that perfect steak can be a daunting task but after some practice learning how to cook to a near steak house perfection can be in your grasp.  A few tips that I have learned over the years for cooking a steak is to never over season it you want to experience the flavor of the meat especially a expensive cut like a ribeye so all I use is sea salt and pepper to season it and rub in a little olive oil to help crisp up the outside portion of the steak.  Another tip I personally have for cooking that perfect steak is to cook something like baked potatoes with it since the potatoes take a long time and this will allow the grating to the grill to get nice and hot to allow for the cross pattern grill marks on the outside of the steak.

Ingredients:

1. 4 Ribeye Steaks Cut about 1 in to 1 1/4 in Thick
2. Sea Salt
3. Cracked Black Pepper
4. Olive Oil
5. 4 Medium to Large Baking Potatoes
6. 1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion
7. Flour
8. Cayenne Pepper Powder
9. Canola Oil
10. Buttermilk
11. 2 Heads of Romaine Lettuce
12. 4 Pieces of Thick Cut Butcher's Bacon or 6 Slices of Regular Cut Bacon
13. 1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinager
14. 1/2 Cup Water
15. Sugar
16. Butter (Optional)
17. Sour Cream (Optional)
18. Cheddar Cheese (Optional)
19. Chives (Optional)

Directions:

1. Bring the steaks to room temperature. and preheat the grill to 450 °F (~232 °C).
2. Wash and scrub the potatoes under cold water to remove the dirt.
3. Prepare tin foil for the potatoes then apply a little bit of olive oil and rub it into the outside of the potatoes then add salt and rub into the potatoes as well.  Apply a little bit of olive oil to the steaks and rub it into the steaks then rub a little bit of the salt and pepper into the steaks after they are rubbed in the oil.  Set the steaks to the side and wrap the potatoes in the tin foil.  Once the grill is up to temperature place the potatoes on the grill and allow them to cook for ~45 Minutes before cooking the steaks.
   
4. Next prepare the seasoned flour for the onion straws.  In a shallow bowl mix together a batch of flour with some salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper powder then mix together till ingredients are completely mixed together I prefer to work with smaller batches to reduce waste.
   
5. Cut a little more than 1/2 of the yellow onion into thin slices then remove and set to the side the inner parts that don't make good rings.  Take the rings in small batches and cut a line though them to open the onion rings up.  One this is done take the middle parts not used for the rings and the rest of the onion and chop into fine pieces and set to the side.
   
6. Chop the bacon into small pieces and then in a skillet on medium low heat begin to cook the bacon. Once the bacon is partially cooked add in the onions that you chopped into the bacon and brown them together.
   
7. While the bacon and onion brown wash the romaine lettuce and then peal the leaves off of the heart and let them dry.
   
8. Pat dry the leaves and then break into smaller pieces and place them into a bowl leaving the stalks out of the bowl and discard the stalks after breaking off the main part of the leaves.  By this time the bacon and onions should be done slowly add the apple cider vinegar, water, and a dash of sugar to the skillet.  stir and then turn off the heat once the sugar dissolves.
   
9. Place enough canola oil into a small fryer that small batches of the onion straws will be submerged then preheat the fryer to 350 °F (~176 °C).
10. Take the onion straws and coat them in buttermilk with one hand then place the onions into the bowl with the flour mixture and with your dry hand coat the onions with the flour mixture knock off any excess flour and set aside and move to the next batch.
    
11. Take the steak and place it on the grill and allow it to cook for 5-8 minutes then rotate the steak 90° and allow the steak to cook for about another 4 minutes this will add the cross grill marks to the top of your steak.  While the steak cooks test the fryer with a small dash of the flour mixture to make sure it is up to temperature once it is add small batches of the onion straws to the oil.  Using small batches and making sure the onions are clear of extra flour makes sure that the flour won't kill the oil.  the onions will fry till they become golden brown once this happens remove from the oil and place on a plate with a paper towel to soak the extra oil off of the straws then move to the next batch.  During this time set the skillet back on very low heat to help warm it up for the lettuce.
    
12. once the steak has cooked for the 9-12 minutes flip the steak over and allow the steak to finish cooking.  To test how done the meat is use your index to pinky finger and touch them to your thumb feeling the area of your palm just below your thumb. your index finger and thumb is rare and with medium rare and medium following down to your pinkey and thumb for well done. when compared to poking the steak with your tongs.  The Potatoes will be done by this point as well but if you wish to test them poke a tooth pick or a wooden skewer though the potato if the potato gives no resistance it is done.  When the steak is done lightly dust the top of it with some sea salt.
13. Allow the steak to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.  Durring this time remove the tin foil from the potatoes and cut down the middle of the potatoes allowing the excess steam to escape.  Take the mixture in the skillet while it's warm and pour over the top of the lettuce then toss together coating all the leaves serve in either a side bowl or plate onto the main plate.  Squeeze the ends of the potatoes to open them up and plate them then dress with butter, sour cream, cheese, and chives if you desire.  Plate the steak and then top with the onion straws and enjoy.