I made the butter a celebrity chef swears by for creating the perfect steak, and loved it for more than meat (2024)

I started by dividing all of the ingredient quantities in half

The butter is essentially a compound mixture — softened butter mixed with savory or sweet ingredients. The recipe yields enough for four steaks but I halved the ingredients since I was cooking for two.

Drummond said it's crucial to make this butter in advance, so I prepared it three hours before dinner.

The butter recipe was relatively straightforward

I whipped softened butter in a bowl and set it aside. Then I chopped parsley until it was finely minced.

I added it to the butter along with red-pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Stripping the fresh parsley from the stems was the most time-consuming part of the preparation.

I also made the error of washing the leaves and blotting the water off using paper towels. Though some of the moisture was removed, it was still damp and a hassle to work with.

If you have a salad spinner, I'd highly recommend using it to dry the herbs.

Once I formed a cohesive mixture, I mounded the butter on a piece of plastic wrap to form a log. I tied the sides together and placed it in the fridge.

To prepare the steaks, I used salt, pepper, and a cast-iron skillet

I preheated the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit then covered the meat with freshly-ground salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, I heated a cast-iron skillet on the stovetop to medium-high heat and added butter and oil.

I seared each side for 45 seconds before placing the skillet in the oven for three minutes.

I noticed that one of the steaks cooked medium to medium-well done and the other was a perfect medium-rare.

Unfortunately, I couldn't control the thickness of the steaks when I purchased them.

Drummond advised that the rib-eye thickness should be 2 inches. If you can, visit your butcher and ask them to cut you a piece of meat that's precisely 2 inches to ensure even cooking.

The steaks were juicy, flavorful, and buttery

I removed the firmed-up butter from the fridge and cut coin-sized pieces to place on each steak. It melted slowly and covered the meat with sweet herbs.

I slathered a piece of my steak in a pool of butter and took a bite.

The meat was succulent and enhanced by the herbs. When my husband tried it, he said, "Holy s---, this is delicious."

My favorite component was the citrus — it brightened up the overall flavor. Butter and steak are very rich ingredients, so the lemon acted as a necessary counterbalance to the dish.

Now that I've tried it, I'm not sure I would make it too frequently

The cowboy-butter recipe is great for leftovers and I've found it to be incredibly versatile in the kitchen. I've used it on burger buns, pasta with chicken, and even smeared it on a crostini.

But making the butter actually took longer than it took me to cook the steaks. This only heightened my expectations for everything to be sensational due to all the time and effort involved.

Overall, though, this recipe is a worthy winner that I'll return to when I feel like stepping up my at-home culinary game.