Maybe you left work early to catch the very first showing of Matchpoint? Well I was first in line at the Prather Ranch store when they introduced their brand-new veal t-bones (admittedly I was the only person in line). You’re picking Brokeback Mountain for best picture, even though privately you admit Capote was an infinitely better film. I’m picking Marin Sun Farms “velvet steaks” as the best steak available in San Francisco, even though privately I lust after a richly marbled Niman Ranch ribeye (spinalis dorsi and all).

You may have even seen all the Oscar nominated films, but where does that leave you on the Academy Awards night? Most likely at home, in front of the TV, glass of cheap champagne in one hand, and anxiously munching on a bowl of peanuts.

Forget that. Why not upgrade your Oscar meal to an expertly cooked steak that you can gnaw on while Jon Stewart mercifully skewers another nervous Hollywood star/starlet.

It’s rather easy actually. Cooking the steak that is (leave the skewering to Mr. Stewart). While most steak aficionados prefer the blast-furnace method of searing meat on a white-hot cast iron pan, I sometimes go with the slow and careful, medium heat method. It’s much kinder to the smoke alarms not to mention your neighbors.