Cooking the Perfect Steak

So, I know, this is not typically the place one would go to find helpful advice on preparing slabs of meat.  Generally slabs of meat at my house (grass-fed, preferably) are cut into small bits and stretched into many, non-meat heavy meals.  While looking for a "romantic Valentine dinner" last night, I happened upon advice for cooking the perfect steak.  And while I don't know if a big slab of beef is particularly romantic, per se, it sure results in an appreciative gleam in my hubby's eye (I guess the rarity of the experience is just so exciting for my would-be-extremely-carnivorous husband whose wife protects his arteries and heart with ample vegetables not exactly because it is his wish).  Anyway, a big slab of beef I decided it would be, and I decided to share the website where I found the very helpful instructions on perfect steak prep:

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/How-to-Cook-Steak/Detail.aspx

For those who don't feel like actually reading the directions, I will summarize Julie Filips's advice as follows:

1. Preheat a cast-iron skillet (or oven-proof one) to 500 degrees in the oven.
2. Use hot pads to remove and put on burner, turn to high.
3. Put steak on dry skillet.
4. Fry both sides a few minutes.
5. Put back in oven a 3-5 minutes until desired doneness. 
6. Put under foil, and pour 1/2 c red wine in the skillet.  Reduce to 1/3 c while boiling.  Turn off heat and add 2 T butter.  Pour over meat.

I will say that the 3-5 minutes they give as a range puts it in a rarer category.  I did more like 12-15 for a medium-well steak (I know, I know, but I'm pregnant, and eating blood feels risky).  I served it with buttered pasta and sauted broccoli (the broccoli was good, I used a little olive oil and a little water and plently of salt so it was sort of steam/sauted).  The steak was good, though next time I'll do it medium. 

Next time will probably be quite a ways off.  I'm still not doing the big slab of meat thing regularly.
Happy Valentine's Day, Owen!