Steak

We are happy to announce that Emily Connor has won our October "Cook the Cover" contest with her delicious variation on Emeril Lagasse's grillades. Emily Connor explains her variation:
Some of the most memorable recipes are those that combine the best of both worlds: In this case, Southern comfort food and classic Italian. The addition of crimini mushrooms, fresh thyme, and rosemary imparts the "hunter-style" (or cacciatore) while preserving the authenticity of the grillades. A few other changes — a simplified version of the spice rub, elimination of several dried herbs, and the use of olive oil and balsamic vinegar — streamline the recipe without sacrificing any of the flavor. As a twist to the dish, try serving with cauliflower purée. Not only does it complement the flavors and nicely soak up the braising liquid, but it's a great way to highlight the freshest of fall ingredients.

Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Eating Korean by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee and are part of our story on Lunar New Year.

Skirt steak is great on the grill. You can do just about anything to it, and it will not fail you. This preparation sparkles with the addition of the roasted lime juice.

Harmony is achieved in a dish when contrasting flavors combine to create balance. In this dish, the black pepper and bourbon add a real jolt of flavor that's miraculously mellowed by the cream and butter.

I purposefully made this beef marinade super powerful. With this hors d'oeuvre, you only end up with a little mouthful and the peppery flavor needs to come through loud and clear. In the catering company, we shave the beef into small pieces which are then piled onto the crostini, so you can easily bite through without too much effort.

Eat healthfully (and still have steak) A lowfat diet can include beef. In fact, because red meat is loaded with iron and folate, it's especially good for women, and the sirloin used here is one of the leanest cuts. Chef Tom Colicchio pan-roasts it with almost no added oil at Craft, his new restaurant in New York City. And instead of teaming it with a fat bomb like butter-laden mashed potatoes, he has a better option: zingy corn relish. It has vitamin A and several Bs, plus a crunch so mouth pleasing, you'll never miss the fat.

Chef: Patrick O'Connell, The Inn at Little Washington, Washington, Virginia. Claim to fame: Named best chef in the Mid-Atlantic region by the James Beard Foundation. How he defines natural: "Natural means meat and poultry raised without antibiotics and hormones, and locally grown vegetables."

Editor's note: The recipe below is part of a healthy and delicious spa menu developed exclusively for Epicurious by Lake Austin Spa Resort. Back in the 1800s, trail driving cowboys — some of the world's foremost experts at putting whatever was at hand to good use — made the first red-eye gravy by swirling some coffee, mixed with a little flour, in a skillet full of juices from pan-fried steaks. This concoction, along with pinto beans and Dutch oven biscuits, filled many a belly between Texas and the stockyards in Kansas City. Today, most of us are punching clocks instead of cattle, but a sizzling steak with red-eye gravy can still be mighty tasty. The dry rub for the steaks, made with ground coffee beans, doesn't taste anything like it sounds. Give it a try, lest folks take you for a complete greenhorn, podnah.

In true Argentine and Uruguayan fashion, the steak is simply seasoned with salt and pepper, so the quality of the ingredients is particularly important. This is a well-marbled cut, which makes for a juicy and full-flavored grilled steak.

If you can find them, large, bright pink watermelon radishes will look and taste great here.

Inexpensive and flavorful, blade steaks become even more enticing when topped with a slightly sweet-and-sour Italian-style vegetable sauce.

When garlic is cooked very slowly in olive oil, the result is two delicious ingredients — soft roasted garlic and garlic oil — that give this soup an Italian feel and great flavor.

Kansas city steaks (also known as New York strip steaks) are sirloin steaks that have the bone attached. If you can't find this cut, ask your butcher to cut the filet side off porterhouse or T-bone steaks, leaving the strip side with the bone for you. What to drink: A Merlot-based red with intense fruit and velvety tannins. Try a Bordeaux or a California blend.

Straccetti di Manzo Generations of Roman cooks have relied on this trattoria favorite — made with classic ingredients — for dinner in a hurry.

We've run at least a dozen different recipes for steak au poivre since our first one, in 1953 — and there's a reason why, even after we started adorning meat with chiles, salts, and dry rubs, we continue to return to this dish. Why? Because it's so darn good. And despite its somewhat macho image, this particular preparation tastes practically tony. (We found it a good excuse to use fine-quality peppercorns, such as Tellicherry or the smoky, meaty Talamanca del Caribe.)

These steaks pair nicely with the roasted Potato Wedges with Rosemary Butter and are, conveniently, roasted at the same oven temperature.

Grillades The grillades served with Baked Cheese Grits make for perfect comfort food — breakfast, lunch, or dinner.