Pan Seared Ribeye with Garlic-Butter Zip Sauce

The first time I ever had "zip" sauce on my steak was at a restaurant in Ferndale, MI called Como's.  I had no idea what zip sauce was, and I was a bit nervous about having something on top of my steak besides salt.  I really just like the taste of the meat itself and I rarely like marinated meat.  My husband convinced me that I would like it.  When I got my steak I saw this melted substance on top, dipped my finger in it and realized that it was just butter. Hmm, good, I liked it.  The next time I had butter on my steak was several years later when I made food network magazine's Steakhouse Supper.  We liked it but we thought we would omit the tarragon next time.  Since this steak was going to be for Chuck's birthday dinner I decided to make a simple zip sauce including only herbs that I know we like.  I knew I was going to pan sear the steak but I wasn't sure if I should put a simple rub on on the steaks and refrigerate them, or just sprinkle with spices and go for it.  After all, I put rub on prime rib and leave it in the refrigerator for a couple of days. I could have sworn I read something about salting red meat, but when I looked in The Best Meat Recipes: From the Editors of Cook's Illustrated but I couldn't find anything.  Then I googled "salting beef before cooking," and found this post from Steamy Kitchen. Alas, I found my answer AND confirmed my thoughts on zip sauce.  Thanks Steamy Kitchen!

UPDATE 5/30/13: I've since learned you don't need to salt this cut of meat because it has such great marbling. Meaning, that all the fat keeps the meat moist and flavorful as it is cooking and it is a tender cut of meat already. However, I do still salt the meat and follow the process outlined below.

Pan Seared Ribeye with Garlic-Butter Zip Sauce

For the Garlic-Butter Zip Sauce

3/4 stick butter softened (I just didn't want too much left over)

2 cloves of garlic, pressed

1 handful of parsley leaves, minced

1) Mix all of the ingredients until smooth and blended.

2) Place butter mixture on a sheet of cellophane and roll into a 1 inch roll.  Place in the refrigerator to chill.

For the Ribeye

1 inch thick ribeyes

Kosher salt

fresh cracked pepper

granulated garlic

1) For every inch of steak leave the steak out at room temperature salted liberally, both sides, with kosher salt.  

2) Pre heat frying pan on a medium heat. Rinse and thoroughly pat dry the steaks with paper towels  which is important to get a good sear.  Sprinkle one side of steaks with cracked pepper and granulated garlic.

3)  Place the steak spiced side down in the pan. Sprinkle other side with more pepper and garlic. Sear side one for 5 minutes.  Flip steaks and sear the second side for another 5 minutes.

5) Remove from pan and place on a cutting board, top with a tablespoon sized pat of garlic butter, cover with tin foil and let rest for a few minutes.  Note: Goes great with Steakhouse Baked Potato