Cigar Aficionado announced it’s annual top 25 list. Always an interesting read, whether you agree or disagree with the various cigar ratings. See http://www.cigaraficionado.com/top25/show for the list.

While out the shopping the other day, I decided to stop into my local Williams-Sonoma.  I’ve always shied away from purchasing products at a place like Willams-Sonoma (I’ll save the diatribe of overpriced and over marketed kitchen supplies for another post), but I do admit that I love walking through the store for what I call ‘food porn’.  I can’t resist wonderfully displayed gadgets and cookware.

I cringe every time I walk through the cutlery section of practically any kitchen supply store, however.  Hordes of 16, 20, and 32 (!) piece cutlery sets line the shelves.  Being a self proclaimed foodie and moderately skilled home chef, I can’t help but feel sorry for the poor folks laying down $500-2000 for dozens of pieces of unnecessary cutlery.

A man really only needs 3 pieces of cutlery in their kitchen drawer.

Chef’s Knife

The chef’s knife should be the workhorse of your collection.  The chef’s knife should handle the heavy work- vegetable dicing, herb chopping, and meat slicing.  90% of your knife work should be covered by the chef’s knife.   I prefer fully forged knives, as they offer great stability and balance.  8-10 inches should be an ideal size (Go ahead, make your joke).   Global makes a great, well balanced 8” chef’s knife in the G Series with excellent durability and even better value at under $100.

Paring Knife

Don’t feel comfortable wielding your 8” Chef’s Knife to slice a shallot or peel an apple?  No fear.  Equip yourself with a nimble 3” paring knife.  The paring knife is perfect for intricate knife work like slicing delicate fruit, carving out cores, and peeling vegetable skins.  Wusthof makes an excellent 3” paring knife that features Santoku style indentations ideal for letting the knife glide through food.  At $55, it’s not cheap, but it’s also not breaking your budget.

Serrated Knife

Rounding out the set is a serrated knife.  Ideal for slicing breads, tomatoes, and sandwiches, a serrated knife features a jagged, toothed blade that won’t get hung up on your tougher ingredients.  Since a serrated knife can’t be sharpened at home, I always recommend using your serrated knife exclusively on a wood board to avoid curling or dulling your edge.  Victorinox makes a bargain 10 ¼ inch serrated knife for under $26 that can’t be beat by its $200 counterparts.

Ditch the oversized knife block that has been collecting dust and go for a three knife rotation.  For a shade over $180, this three knife setup is perfect for any man’s kitchen.

The perfect steak is tough to come by.  We’ve all been to backyard barbeques with steak related atrocities- burned up hunks of beef barely resembling a steak, let alone edible food.  When hankering for the perfect steak think simplicity.

The Cut

When it comes to picking a cut, I almost always reach for a ribeye.  Ribeye steaks are well marbled, packed with flavor, and typically won’t break the bank as much as a pricier tenderloin cut.  A 1 ½ inch cut is ideal.

The Seasoning

When it comes to seasoning, simplicity is perfection.  Fancy rubs, sauces, and marinades get in front of the true flavor of good beef.  I stick to salt and pepper.  Nothing more, nothing less.

The Method

With a great steak picked out, the question becomes how to cook it.  Most folks will opt for their backyard grill, but I prefer to use a cast iron skillet.  Cast iron holds it heat well, evenly disperses the heat, and creates a great crust.

The Steps

1. Take your steaks out about an hour prior to wanting to grill them.  By letting your steaks come up to room temperature, they will cook faster and hold their juices better.
2. When your steaks have been out about 30 minutes, go ahead and season your steaks liberally with salt and pepper.  Don’t be afraid to error on the side of more salt than less.   By salting and peppering 30 minutes prior to cooking, you will let some of the proteins come to the surface of the steak.  These proteins will help form a delicious crust on the steak.
3. Put your cast iron skillet on the stove and turn your heat on high.  Let your pan get blazing hot for about 10 minutes.
4. When your cast iron skillet is sufficiently hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil and a cube of butter.  When the butter has melted, it’s time to add your steak.
5. Using a pair of tongs (avoid a meat fork or anything that will pierce the steak), place the ribeye in the skillet.
6. After 2 ½ minutes, flip your steak and wait another 2 ½ minutes.
7. It’s time to take the steak off of the skillet.  A total combine time of 5 minutes should yield a steak cooked to medium rare.
8. Let it rest.  With your steak safely off the skillet and onto a plate or cutting board, it can be tempted to dive in immediately- don’t!  By letting the steak rest for 8-10 minutes, the juices will resettle throughout the steak and you’ll be left with a perfectly juicy, tender, and flavorful steak.

Simple but sophisticated.  This method is a tried and true favorite that does justice to an piece of steak.

I came across http://www.cigars4dummies.com/ this week and loved the web site. The site is devoted to being a comprehensive guide to cigar smoking and teaching things such as smoking basics, types of cigars, history, storage, etiquette, etc. I’ve been smoking for years, so I consider myself knowledgeable, and there were still things on the site that I found really educational. For a new smoker especially I think that site is a great tool for getting comfortable with the important things to know.