A proper steak is easy to cook, though by "easy" I just mean "involving relatively few steps and a short list of ingredients". It's the details that make the difference between an okay steak and a really excellent one. So, first, let's look at the simple version of the steak-cooking process.

• Procure meat
• Gently massage meat with olive oil, salt and pepper
• Brown one side of the steak in a heated pan for approximately 1-2 minutes
• Turn steak and place the pan in a 475 degree oven for no more than 2 minutes
• Carefully retrieve the pan, then let the steak rest while covered for at least 5 minutes

And voila! You have steak. But it's really not as easy as that.

Let's look at the first item on the list, Procure. Not all steaks are created equal. In fact, finding the right cut and marbling can be a pretty meticulous process. The specific cut isn't a big issue, but quality really does count for a lot. Not every steak needs to be a filet mignon, but you'll never get an amazing steak dinner out of chuck. You'll be better off with a sirloin or strip steak. But just as important as the cut is the marbling. Marbling, put simply, is the ratio and distribution of fat to meat. In the United States, marbling is the most significant criterion for the USDA grading system. The highest grade, Prime, has the greatest amount of intramuscular fat distribution, which results in a juicy, tender steak. Not all grocery stores list grades, so keep an eye out for steaks that are evenly and heavily flecked with bits of fat rather than steaks that have large swathes of red or bands of fat on the outside.

As for the next step, it's not absolutely necessary to marinate your steak but it does help. Marination can be as simple as massaging the oil, salt and pepper into the steak the night before it's cooked, or at least several hours prior to cooking so the flavors will soak into the meat instead of just sitting on the surface.

The actual cooking process is where there's the most room for error. Having the right equipment is essential. Ideally, you will be cooking your steak in a cast iron skillet and turning it with sturdy tongs. The tongs allow for quick, efficient turning that won't puncture the meat while the iron will allow the skillet to get hotter than most regular pans and hold onto that heat more evenly. Non-stick pans have a habit of transferring nasty flavors to foods that are cooked on higher heats.

The time windows I have listed above are extremely relative, depending on both your rareness preference and the thickness of your steak. Naturally, thinner steaks cook more quickly and unless you feel like doing extensive testing to determine how quickly your likely idiosyncratic oven cooks one pound of beef, it's best if you just keep an eye on your steak while it cooks. You'll likely be able to tell how long it should spend in the oven by how it looks during and after the initial browning. If upon turning you have the signs of real charring, your steak is going to cook more quickly and you'll want to retrieve it from the oven earlier if you want it nearer to rare.

And yes, tempting as it is to dive right into your steak, resting the meat is essential. If you cut into your steak immediately you will lose a lot of the moisture and flavor to the juices that will squirt and leak out. Those juices are proteins suspended in water and while the fibers of the meat itself are colorful, those proteins are where the flavor lives. Letting the steak rest will allow the juices to settle back into the meat and make each bite tasty.