Meet Marcel

Cheesing on the sofa.  He's ten, and an adventurous eater - will try anything: bone marrow, duck, lamb - but prefers Icees and Taco Bell.

Every time he's over at my apartment, he wants me to make him a steak.  I have a couple strip steaks on hand in my fridge for the cause.  These are cheap steaks, about 2.35$ for a 1/3 lb piece of meat.  He thinks he's getting a 40$ cut of Kobe beef though.

Take the steak out of the fridge, salt and pepper both sides, and let it rest on a plate, coming up to room temp.  From here, do one of two things: either toss it on your old, reliable Foreman grill (I know you still have one too) for 3 minutes, or set it in a smokin' hot pan that either has melted butter or hot olive oil in it.  (We go the butter route.)  In the pan, let it go for about 90 seconds on each side.

Let your son's steak rest for a couple of minutes, to let the juices settle.  (Otherwise he cuts right into it, all the goodness runs out of the steak and pools on the plate, and the meat is hella dry.)  Roast a potato to serve with the steak, or just serve him a handful of chips.  He won't care, he'll be all up in that steak.

It's super cheap, take no time to make, and your kid is stoked.  He goes back to school on Monday and tells his homeys that at Dad's apartment, he gets steak.