The key to cooking steak

I have been trying to cook steak like they do in fancy shmancy restaurants for years. I wanted a steak that had none of that tough gray color. I wanted the outside to be nice and seared. I wanted the interior to be about 135° throughout. I wanted it to be reddish throughout. And I wanted it to be tender. I wanted it the cooking to truthfully reflect the quality of the meat. I have been failing in almost every category save the searing.

Until I stumbed upon a tip in a recent Cook's Illustrated: take your steaks out of the fridge and pop them into a 285° oven for 8 minutes. Then start cooking them as you would normally. This little nugget turns my steaks into exactly what I want. Perfect.