Cooking With Comics

STEAK!

That's right true believers, this week we're talking about steak, how to cook one without a grill and how to enjoy some Wolverine comics while you're at it. Because, honestly, what better way to enjoy Wolverine than with a good steak and cold beer. Just seems right, don't it?

First of all, let's drop the recipe on you. For this particular steak preparation, you'll need a good ribeye about 1 1/2 in. thick. If you don't know too much about picking a great steak, don't worry, because I don't either. What I do know is that the better the marbling, the better the flavor, because all the fat cooks into the meat as you prepare it. So 1 1/2 inches with some good marbeling and you should be a-ok.

This method comes courtesy of the Food Network's Alton Brown, culinary nerd extraordinaire. It does require a cast iron skillet, which I'm hoping you all have. If you don't you can always pick one up. I suggest, for the time being, getting a Lodge as they're the most trusted brand and they're American made. This suggestion only applies until my friend Jason gets his business off the ground, at which point you should buy all your cast iron cookware from him. Local business for the win.

I could write out the process in my own words, but it would look exactly the same as Alton's directions, so I'll do this the simple way.

Ingredients

• 1 boneless rib eye steak, 1 1/2-inch thick
• Canola oil to coat
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Directions

Place 10 to 12-inch cast iron skillet in oven and heat oven to 500 degrees. Bring steak(s) to room temperature.

When oven reaches temperature, remove pan and place on range over high heat. Coat steak lightly with oil and season both sides with a generous pinch of salt. Grind on black pepper to taste.

Immediately place steak in the middle of hot, dry pan. Cook 30 seconds without moving. Turn with tongs and cook another 30 seconds, then put the pan straight into the oven for 2 minutes. Flip steak and cook for another 2 minutes. (This time is for medium rare steaks. If you prefer medium, add a minute to both of the oven turns.)

Remove steak from pan, cover loosely with foil, and rest for 2 minutes. Serve whole or slice thin and fan onto plate.

Pretty simple, right? The great thing about this process is how quickly you can get a restaurant quality steak out of your own kitchen. A much better alternative than grabbing some fast food on one of those lonely bachelor nights and a real stunner when you're having a friend over for some dinner, whipping up a quick, delicious steak is always a win. I like to make mine a "breakfast for dinner" specialty and add some scrambled eggs, biscuits and a good breakfast stout. However you decide to serve it, you'll soon have your friends proclaiming you're the best you are at what you do.

Much like Wolverine.

Despite the fact that I'm a pretty hard and fast Batman devotee, it's hard to deny just how cool Wolverine is. If you were to poll most die hard superhero fans on their opinion of the coolest superheroes of all time, I'd say ol' Logan would be right up there at the top with Bruce Wayne. Iconic as hell, his popularity rivals that of Spider-Man these days, the webhead who long topped the list of Marvel's most popular characters. Most recently, Wolverine has been written by one of the men Marvel refers to as "The Architects": Jason Aaron. Aaron's run on Wolverine, at times inconsistent, has hit some high points truly worthy of inclusion in the greatest stories in the character's history. At it's best, Aaron's Wolverine places the character squarely in the middle of some of the most iconic action films of the 80s and lets all us nerds finally answer the questions, "What if Wolverine were Rambo," and "what if Wolverine fought the Terminator?" When it fires on all cylinders, Jason Aaron's Wolverine aspires to some great company, specifically the run on the character by legends Chris Claremont and Frank Miller.

Claremont and Miller were the first to really delve into the mysterious past of the Wolverine, showing us a man throughout time and proving the seemingly one-dimensional Canadian wrecking ball to be anything but. They made Wolverine a complex man of mystery, an international warrior constantly straddling the line of law and morality. In the run by Claremont and Miller, Logan found love, glimpsed peace and kicked the hell out of a whole lot of ninjas. For any kid reading comics in the 80s, Claremont and Miller directly contributed to a love of Wolverine that would help the character grow into the icon he is today. Their work on the character is, simply, one of the best superhero stories ever told.

So what better way to enjoy stories like that, full of love, intrigue, mystery, death, zombie robots, ninja assassins and indestructible skeletal systems than with a great steak and a good brew? I defy you to find one. So enjoy that meat, enjoy those comics and come back next time for another Cooking With Comics!

SUGGESTED READING

Best of Wolverine - Worth the price, this omnibus features the Claremont/Miller stories mentioned above as well as some other great tales from the earliest days of Wolverine.

Wolverine: Weapon X Vol. 1 - The Rambo meets Wolverine story is good old fashioned survival action fun.

Wolverine: Weapn X Vol. 3 - Wolverine versus the Dethloks, a group of undead robots from the future bent on destroying all super-powered individuals. If you're a lover of the Terminator franchise and you're a Wolverine fan (and really, how many people out there can say they're one and not the other) then this run by Aaron may end up being your favorite comic of all time.