Dry aged steaks and garlic fries

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that I too could dry age steaks at home with only paper towels, a baking sheet and a cooling rack — and, of course, a little extra room in the fridge. I was super excited to try it out for myself, but my travels kept me from being in the house for 4 days in a row until this Saturday.

So, upon my return, I set out to find the 2 best-looking steaks in my grocer’s full-service meat case for my project. I chose 2 Certified Angus Beef brand ribeyes with lots of marbling. Now, to be perfectly fair, these 2 steaks would’ve been delicious whether I did anything extra to them or not. But, I like experiments and I love a good dry-aged steak, so I brought them home, followed the instructions and let them live in my fridge for 4 days before cooking them up.

They were delicious and extraordinarily tender and, most of all, it was a fun little project. I definitely recommend it for those of you who love a dry-aged steak!

I served the steaks with one of my favorite treats — ballpark-style garlic fries. I only make these about 2- to 3- times a year, and they definitely fall in the “treat” category because they are so good. (And, because, well, they're French fries that you add oil and butter to.) 

I was first introduced to the garlic fry at a magical place called Fry Depot, located at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. I knew I had to try to duplicate them, so I came home and spent about 2 days, off and on of course, Googling. I looked at tons of recipes trying to find one that looked like it would produce a legitimate replica. I finally ended up combining a couple and then making some of my own adjustments. These aren’t exact reproductions, but they are good!

To make the fries, you’ll need:

1/3 of a 28 oz. bag of shoestring-cut frozen French fries

Vegetable oil

6-8 cloves of garlic, minced

1/8 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Sea salt

Fry the French fries in a skillet or deep fryer according to package directions.

While they’re cooking, heat olive oil, butter and garlic in a saucepan on medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Let it cook several minutes so all the flavors mix together.

When fries are done, drain on paper towels and then pour into a large mixing bowl. Toss with sea salt. Add garlic mixture in and toss well.

Our dinner looked like this: