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A 2-inch bone-in, lip-on ribeye: medium rare, cooked over oak or applewood. Gosh, I'm hungry now.

Whatever way you like it be sure to let it rest for a few minutes before you eat it.

Man, this is an easy question. Medium-raw over a fire!

And yes, definitely, let it rest!

With steak, the secret is in the meat, not the cooking.

Has to be really good beef (I like prime Argentinian grass-fed beef), well aged and hung. The key is to find a great butcher.

Other then that -- medium rare, rested and with a wine and shallot reduction.

Sprinkle a little soy sauce on the steak. Let it get to room temperature on the counter before cooking. Sear it on high heat for four minutes on each side and finish it in the oven.

Usually a rib eye at room temperature (mostly choice cuts, occassionally a prime cut or three) seasoned generously with coarse salt and pepper, seared on med/high or high flame with a cast iron skillet for ~4 min on each side and let it rest for 10 minutes. Wipe out the fat renderings a little, sautee garlic and/or shallots in the pan over low-medium, then deglaze with water/wine/balsamic vinegar depending on the mood.

My personal favorite is appropriately aged top quality ribeye seared on both sides to medium rare in a smoking-hot cast iron pan, followed by pan sauce made in that pan (agree with mschatelaine on the wine/shallot reduction). Why? Because absolutely all of the flavor is captured, nothing is left in the pan or on the grill, and a certain degree of crust/caramelization occurs that is difficult to get on the grill or in the broiler.

If you don't trust your sense of touch, use a fast-read thermometer if necessary to achieve the desired degree of doneness.

I like dry aged rib-eyes. If they have a bone in, I will grill them, searing them on each side and serving them a cherry red medium rare. Without a bone I typically broil them, again, just long enough to brown the outside and keep the inside deep red.

Lately my prep involves cross hatch cutting the surface of the meat and rubbing olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper and sometimes spices into both sides. Then I rub a bit of worcestershire in.

Let the meat stand for a few minutes and deglaze the bottom pan of the broiler and make a sauce.

don

searing it for a few minutes on each side and popping the entire pan (uncoated) in the oven to finish it off. if you have a thin cut, grilling it.

A well-marbled rib-eye is the best steak you can eat, IMHO. I've actually resorted to purchasing Bison Rib Eye lately and cook it thusly:

Purchase a 1-inch thick Rib Eye (usually about 1.25 pounds) and allow it to sit in your fridge for two days, wrapped loosely in paper towels (on a plate, of course). This will dry it out enough to concentrate the flavors. Then allow to come to room temp and season with salt and pepper RIGHT before putting in a smoking-hot cast iron skillet. Cook for 4 minutes a side (not moving the steak once it touches the pan), then remove steak from pan and place on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for 4 minutes. Remove and allow the steak to rest for an additional 5 minutes before serving.

My favorite toppings: a cilantro and parsely chimi churri or a cilantro and chive compound butter.

A great steak is all about the beef. A little olive oil, salt and pepper, cooked medium, it is a mouthful to behold!

My vote is for the butter steak! A ribeye steak cooked in a cast iron skillet over medium, first in its own rendered fat then basted-basted-basted with melted butter, gives a crust like no other. The look on a friend's/SO's/complete stranger you want to be nice to's face when you serve them the butter steak is priceless.

I like Alton Brown's method for ribeyes. Sear on both sides quickly on a dry, hot cast iron skillet and then finish in a 500' oven for 2-3 minutes on each side.

I second verily on AB's ribeye method: Totally delish! The only issue is that it sure smokes up our house when I cook them this way! (No outside vent over the stove.)

I tried the Over to Pan Seared Steak method. The beef came out so tasty and tender that I don't think I'll make steak any other way! Basically, before grilling, you bake the steak at low heat (275F) until the meat reaches 90F-105F. According to the writer, this process allows the meat enzymes to break down muscle fibers and make the steak "super tender". Definitely worth a try for steak-lovers!

My household has converted to AB's method as well. There is nothing better.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Lobels-Guide-to-Grilling-The-Perfect-Steak-43779

This is the reason why I never order Filet Mignon out at restaurants anymore... nothing compares to this steak. I usually mince up some garlic as well... Great on a grill or in the broiler.

I don't know, but the best ones always seem to involve setting off the smoke alarm.

I like Gordon Ramsay's method for butter steak.

I'm pretty surprised at some of these cooking times... I like my pan fried steak medium rare, and never cook more than a total of 7 (or 8 minutes if rather thick) total. Then I follow with 10 minutes resting time -- the time it takes to make the shallot and red wine sauce. Pretty simple. And yes, don't get the pan too hot (don't want to burn the steak), use butter, etc. I think the method I use is the one from Cook's Illustrated.

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=8402

The best steak I've ever had in my life though, was a different sort of beast, and not something that I could ever replicate at home: a 2" thick (could have been even thicker!) grilled bistecca Fiorentina that I had in Florence... The secret is in the breed, Chianina, an ancient Italian breed. Oh... the taste of the meat is like nothing else! It's not a question of tender or tough (it was very tender, btw), but the flavour of the meat. I've had some great grass-fed beef in my time, but this, this is in a league of its own. (of course, I haven't tried Kobe beef...)

So a good cooking method, although necessary, is maybe only 25% of the secret of a truly excellent steak... The rest is down to the meat -- the breed, how it was raised, butchered and aged.