Giant Steak with Truffled Potatoes

Friday November 2

We bought an over-two-inch thick, 1.77 lb., aged Australian T-bone at Jungle Jim's on our last visit, and froze it. We left it out all day today to defrost, and it still had a core of ice in its middle when we got home for dinner. A little careful nuking on defrost took care of that, but it was still a damn big steak.

In order to make sure it was done perfectly both outside and in, we first grilled it, using the Frequent-Flipping Method, until it was nicely browned on the outside, and then stuck in the thermometer probe (set to ping at 120 degrees) and shoved it into a 400-degree oven. When it was done, we were somehow able to let it rest for 10 minutes before falling on it.

In the meantime, we had steamed up some Yukon gold potato cubes, and now we threw them in the Kitchenaid and whipped them up with butter, cream and salt. They got mounded on the plate and drizzled with some black truffle oil, while Holt whacked chunks off the giant T-bone. A lot of the steak's weight was indeed bone, but you won't hear either of us complain about it. The meat was blissfully tender and a little gamier than the normal un-aged supermarket beef, but all the better for it.