There is a new fancy shmancy restaurant technique out there. In some high end restaurants, your are prepared with a heated stone on which to cook your steak. The heat from the stone, acts as an oven, with the result of a delicious steak. You can do this yourself and feel fancy! The perfect excuse for bringing out your inner caveman/woman? Camping!

To prepare Steak a La Rock is quite simple. Start with a flat stone. Clean this stone very well, using a brush and as little water as possible or with a towel soaked in salt water. Let this stone dry out completely. Wet stones can explode in your fire. The rock should be 3-4 inches thick, and about 12 inches of surface. Oil is not needed for preparing the stone, and can actually cause fire flare-ups.

Prepare your campfire and stick the clean, dry rock in the coals. Allow rock to heat very well. Using tongs, or other safe method of removal, pull the stone from the fire. To check the rock to make sure it is hot enough, drop a single drop of water on the rock. If the water disappears immediately, the rock is ready.

Season a room temperature steak (I recommend a NY strip steak) with salt and pepper, or other seasoning as desired. If you have used the salt water method to clean your stone, do not add additional salt unless needed later on. Place the steak on the preheated rock. Allow steak to cook for 5-15 minutes for a medium to medium well done steak on each side. Cook an additional amount of time (five minutes) for more well done meat. To ensure safe meat practices, always check meat with a meat thermometer.

Just shove that rock back in the fire to clean off any residue, this is especially important if you are camping in bear country!

For sides to accompany your steak, try some yummy foil packed veggies!