I’ve been fortunate in my life to meet some of the greatest people who have influenced food in a major way, from television chefs like Martin Yan to cooking greats like Jacques Pepin.
But the person who I’ve enjoyed meeting the most is Marcella Hazan, who happens to live here in Florida. (read about when I first met Marcella and Victor Hazan)
Marcella Hazan has been one of the most influential cooking teachers and cookbook authors in the world. After 6 best-selling cookbooks on Italian-American cuisine (my favorite is The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking), she’s been often referred to as the “Doyenne of Italian Cooking in America.”
I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon with her and husband Victor at their home in Longboat Key, teaching Marcella how to make my Mom’s Chinese fried rice and egg rolls.
After rolling and deep-frying 50-some egg rolls and enough fried rice to last a few days, we all sat down to enjoy our lunch. I so wish I had a notepad and pen at the dinner table, I would have even risked being considered bad-mannered, taking notes while eating.
Marcella and Victor recounted stories from when they met to her first time on television. Marcella flung cooking tips my way and sling-shotted zippy one-liners back at me if I happened to ask a silly question like, “So, do you cook every day?”
Her reply, “We have do eat, don’t we?!”
Towards the end of the meal, she asked me what dish I loved to eat the most. My reply was, “Steak. A big, thick steak.”
Without hesitation, she promptly began teaching me her and Victor’s favorite way to cook steak. Since that day, it’s been my favorite way too.
***
This summer is all about steaks, as I’m the beef gal for Sweetbay Supermarket, a Florida chain this summer. Last week, I chatted with Pat, the butcher on duty at my local Sweetbay. Pat’s favorite cut is the ribeye and so I thought I’d feature Marcella’s recipe of Steak with Rosemary and Garlic with the ribeye cut.
I always try to get bone-in ribeye (Coco, the puppy, sure appreciates it.) Pat loves the marbling in the ribeye, saying “deep marbling equals more flavor.”
To make Marcella’s steak, get a pan super-hot and lay the steak in the pan. If you’re cooking with ribeye, there’s no need for any oil as the ribeye’s own fat is just fine.
Cook both sides.
Once the steak is cooked to your liking, remove it to a cutting board to rest.
The next step is to grab a separate pan. We’re gonna make the rosemary-garlic oil. Add olive oil to this pan.
Turn the heat to medium-low and immediately add in thin garlic slices and sprigs of rosemary.
The reason you add the garlic and rosemary to the pan while the pan is still cold is so that both aromatics can heat up at the same time that the oil is heating up. This allows the garlic and rosemary to gradually release its flavors and aromas into the oil, and at the same time prevents them from burning.
Burnt garlic and burnt rosemary are bitter, so you want to make sure that you watch this carefully. It should only take 3 minutes or so.
When the edges of the garlic is just turning brown, carefully add the cooked steak into the pan with tongs and gently flip the steak in the pan so that both sides are coated with the hot rosemary-garlicky oil.
This is when I season the steak with salt and pepper (In the next post, I’ll tell you why I like to season the steak either 1 hour before cooking or just after cooking)
Another great recipe from Marcella Hazan is Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter…yum.
Rosemary Garlic Steak
Ingredients
- 2 Sweetbay Black Angus Ribeye Steaks
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 6 sprigs rosemary
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat a frying pan over high heat until very hot. Add the steaks in the pan and cook to your liking. Remove the steaks from the heat and let rest. Depending on the size of the pan, you may have to do this (and the next step) in two separate times.
- In a separate pan, add the olive oil. Turn the heat to medium-low and immediately add the garlic and the rosemary to the pan. As the oil heats, the garlic and rosemary will slowly release its flavors and aromas. Keep a careful watch on the pan as you do not want it to burn the aromatics. Once the edges of the garlic begin turning light brown, use tongs to add the cooked steak back into the pan, snuggling it into the
- Season the steak with salt and pepper, flip the steak and season with salt and pepper again. Remove the steak to a serving platter and then pour the garlic, rosemary and olive oil on top of the steaks.
More great steak recipes
Leite’s Culinaria – Steak au Poivre
The Pioneer Woman – Pan Fried Ribeye Steak
One Perfect Bite – Steak Diane Flambé
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
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all i can say is ”yummyyummyyummy!! love this recipe 🙂
Looks and sounds great.
Looks amazing. I can’t wait to try it myself.
My favorite cut of steak plus Marcella Hazan and Jaden’s blessing? Off to the store I go =P
This looks like an amazing steak! My mouth is SO watering right now! I made your salted steak recipe before and it was fabulous, Jaden! I look forward to your next post to see why you salt after the steak is cooked!
I’m not given to bouts of envy, but I really must admit I’m envious you got to spend so much time with this icon. Your steak looks mouthwatering and I know my meat eaters will enjoy it. Thanks so much for the link. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
My family has been using garlic and rosemary on beef long before Marcella’s books came out.
The difference is, to flavor the olive oil with garlic and rosemary before cooking your steak.
And nothing beats a grilled steak cooked over glowing red wood (oak)embers! Brush on the garlic-rosemary olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and let it stand for an hour before grilling, and if you wish, drizzle a little on before serving.
You can brush some of the garlic-rosemary olive oil on your favorite bread and grill as well.
I will try this out. My family likes steak with just olive oil, salt, and pepper. But this one, for sure, tastes scrumptious!
How do you know at what stage the steak is while frying without cutting to check? And as far as this particular receipe, do you fry it a little in the garlic/rosemary preparation, or do you just smother it with it, sorta?
Hazan’s cookbook was my first “important” cookbook. Nothing beats a steak Fiorentina. I’ve had a place in Longboat Key for 20 years and hope to one day take a class with her son, whom I believe still offers them there. Your tutorial is excellent.
It sounds like a good way to use those extra trimmings you get off big rosemary bushes in any home!
Thanks for the recipe. I have two large rosemary plants in my yard and just received some garlic from my daughter’s garden, I can’t wait to get home and give this recipe a go.
What a special treat that was to meet Marcella and get cooking tips from her! The steak looks amazing. Steak is my favorite too, and the nice thing about Sweetbay’s beef it’s all Angus beef! My rosemary bush is doing great too…perfect!
I trust this would be fabulous. Marcella’s son Giuliano provided me with his favorite way to prepare rib eye steak and it literally transformed how much I love steak.
I can’t wait to use your previously mentioned salting method with this recipe! I was waiting for an excuse to trim my rosemary bush 😀 Thank you!
Ha! Marcella’s method is your favorite way of preparing a steak, and my favorite is your “million dollar steak”:) I am willing to alternate between the two of you, though, as I love garlic and rosemary, and Marcella’s way will bring me back to Italy, to relive again the glorious days of my adventurous summer:)
Lucky you to meet such an icon Jaden. To be able to cook and eat with her must have been amazing. Love this recipe. I love steak so I’m going to try this one out.
This would be my Poppa’s fav! Love the garlic-rosemary idea!
yum! I love the flavors of rosemary and garlic, but never thought of pairing it with a steak!
I must try this soon!