Believe it or not, I’ve never cooked a steak.

We found pair of porterhouse steaks in our half-share of beef from Thousand Hills Cattle Company and I didn’t know how to prepare them. Growing up, my family cooked proteins to the well-done state, and sometimes past. Burgers, kabobs and Omaha Steaks-brand filet mignons wrapped in bacon all arrived at the same fate and I used to think I disliked them all. Now that I’m an adult, I prefer a rosy medium-rare.

My classmate mentioned her favorite steak marinade was a simple mix of soy sauce, brown sugar, and sriracha hot sauce. I added minced garlic, ground ginger, black pepper, and grated Asian pear to mine. After the steaks soaked in the marinade for a few hours, I allowed them to come to room temperature and seared them on both sides. Then, I placed the whole skillet in the oven at 325 until they were cooked to our liking.

On my first go around, the steak was too chewy so I bashed the hell out of the second with a textured meat cleaver before I tried again, later.

The steaks dripped with richly flavored juices. We even chewed the flavor from the gristle and nibbled the melting fat. I may have unwittingly committed a steak felony or two during these first attempts, but we enjoyed the steaks anyway. 
After all, cooking at home is fun because anything goes. We can all be the kings and queens of our own kitchens.