Help me cook steak.....please!

A tender steak, that is. I simply cannot perfect cooking a steak. I have tried so many marinades, cooking styles, etc. I have all but given up. I hate wasting food, and it's bad when I can go buy a steak out, more tender and delicious than I can make at home, cheaper than making it myself.

I really need help here. It's only me, so I don't want to fire up the grill. My steaks suck on the grill too!!!! Any secrets to creating the perfectly tender, well seasoned, steak indoors? Should I just give up and eat out?

I fix 'em but they're never as good as eating out. Maybe it's the quality of the meat they sell to restaurants.

--gina

Are you buying really good quality meat?  Marbled?  Aged?

My husband loves steaks broiled. Have you tried that?

Buy quality cuts.   I raise grass fed beef.  Rib eye is an excellent choice.   Use an oven safe frying pan.  Caste iron is excellent.  Heat on stove top med- until hot.   Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat your steak in olive oil, add a little cracked pepper, sear on one side, about 1 minute, sear other side.    Top with a table spoon of butter, place in oven, coo****il an instant read thermometer reads 120 degrees for medium.  Remove, tent with foil, rest 10 minutes and enjoy.  Salt just before serving.   Salting before cooking can pull moisture from the meat.   I would not recommend grass fed beef for the beginner.  Grain fed (supermarket beef) is fattier and cooks slower than grass fed.   This gives you the BBQ experience without going outside.  This recipe comes from the Barefoot Contessa.  Hope it works for you. 
I cook beef all the time and I suck at grilling.  This is the only way I am successful. 

Totally agree with every word here.  We buy grass fed beef and it is NOT what youze guyz are probably looking for.

Buy high quality grain fed beef - marbled,  aged if possible.  It's expensive.

Recipe that northcountrygirl is right on the money.  I sear a good steak in a heavy cast iron pan (very hot) and then put it (I mean the pan) in a very hot oven.

IT depends on the cut of steak and the grade you get. A five star steakhouse will serve prime cuts of tenderloin, prime rib, ribeye, ny strip, etc.

Prime is the top grade and is marked by lots of fat marbling within the meat. It is also wicked expensive. Doh!

Choice is still very good! But you need to be careful and make sure you get a tender cut of meat. For example, a london broil is not a tender cut- it is very tough and sinewy no matter how much you marinade it. A tenderloin or a rib-eye can be very tender! I love rib-eyes because they're also a nice fatty cut! I also love a good prime rib!

The only way to make a tough cut of meat tender is to braise it for a long time on low and slow heat- this makes the connective tissue eventually break down into gelatin. So it is not possible to get a tough cut of beef cooked quickly steakhouse style and have it be tender at the same time.

Prime is the top "normal market" grade.  But if you want the best,  you buy dry aged beef from a butcher or high end specialty market.

I never buy steak in the supermarket.

Yeah but that's really, really tough to find

i love taking a NY steak, and trimming excess fat, and then cutting it into bite size pieces.  i skillet-grill some onions in butter until they start to get pretty brown, then i dump in the steak and season it with lawry's (not a ton, or it will be too salty).  as the steak gets mostly done, then i add some pepperjack cheese.  it winds up being nice and tender with a great 'sauce'.  would be great on a sandwich, if i still ate bread - but good to keep in mind for any normies in your family.