Steak - how to cook and what to have with it {Mega Merge!}

Threads merged.

tHB

Volovo wrote: »

I will always buy the striploin unless I am treating myself to a fillet steak on the odd Sunday I never by ribeye or t bone

Why do you never buy rib eye or t-bone?

Seaneh wrote: »

Problem with that is, it will still be cold in the middle.

The oven method is a better way to cook blue because it means the heat is constant throughout the meat.

Black and Blue would be where it's preped as blue and then seared very quickly on a very hot griddle/pan to caramelisation.

If you are cooking a 'blue' steak or ordering one in a restaurant, it should never be cold in the middle.

The steak should be removed from the fridge and allowed to come to room temperature before cooking.

That's intended. Blue steak isn't supposed to be warm in the middle. Room temp is correct. Some places might serve it warm based on demand, but thats up to the chef really. Blue steak is closer to cold dishes like steak tartare, carpaccio etc imo

Pixie-Fairy wrote: »

my dad bought me 3 small pieces of steak for during the week for college
i think they are fillet steaks

he bought some yesterday morning and i had some with homemade sweet potato wedges

i want to do something different with them this time..
ill use one for the usual steak veg and wedges
but i dont really know what to do with the other two

anyone have any suggestions?

Steak with baked mushrooms, fried onions and pepper sauce
Steak with sweet and sour roast veggies and whiskey sauce (or what ever sauce you like)
Surf and Turf with fries

Basically;
steak + Veg of choice + Sauce of choice + side of choice = nyom nyom nyom

If I'm cooking one I'd give it about 3 minutes per side on a hot pan, then rest for a couple of minutes. That'd be for a steak about 3/4 inch to 1 inch thick I'd say, adjust the cooking time if it's much thicker or thinner!

Merged with latest Steak thread.

Chillin117 - all the info you need on cookn g steak is in this thread.

tHB

We have steaks usually about once-a-week and here's how do mine: my favourite are Aldi sirloins - the ones aged 28 days

Finely chop chilli, garlic and ginger. Smear into the steaks. Put in a bowl and add a dash of red wine & a dash of Soy sauce. Cover in cling film and put into the fridge for 3 or 4 hours.

30 Mins before cooking, take the steaks out of the fridge

Time to Cook:

Wipe away the marinade mixture from the steaks & pat dry with paper towel
Rub a little oil into each steak
Put the frying pan on the highest heat (no oil)
When the smoke is visibly rising from the pan add the steaks and leave alone!
After about 3-4 minutes, flip the steaks, turn the heat down and cover the pan with a lid
Fry for another 3 minutes or so
Remove the steaks to a chopping board and leave to rest for 10 minutes
Whilst resting, add a glass of red wine to the frying pan and on a high heat, cook until well-reduced.
Take the frying pan off the heat and add a good knob of butter. When fully melted in, add to a ramekin dish with a spoon for pour over the steak

That's it!
Loire.

Flappy Head wrote: »

Hi I am interested to hear other folks' prep for steak. What I do is put a little olive oil on a dinner plate and coat the steak very very lightly. Then put plenty of salt and pepper on and put into the hottest possible dry pan. I have heard about not salting before frying but is this an old wives tale??

I dont use any oil, should cook in it's own fat. If I use anything it would be a wee nib of butter, but that's for taste. Gives it a richer taste. I know plenty do recommend olive oil but it's not for me.

Key is a really heavy pan, cast iron and much much heavier base than a normal pan.

I took a class in a cookery school here (Gato Dumas, Buenos Aires) and the chef told us that salting the meat before cooking causes it to expel liquid. He used butter too, not oil, but again personal taste I think. The key is to look at the cut, (i hate the word steak as it does not describe the cut of meat at all! ...in Argentina it's clearer what you are getting from the name of the cut and there's no messing about with it), if there is a lot of fat in the meat (tasty!) you might not want to go nuts and lob more fat in the pan, if it's a leaner cut it might help to use some oil or butter.

Depends on the thickness, but you want the pan hot. I tend to fry on one side, turn, salt the cooked side, turn, salt the other side and finish v (half the time of the initial fry, more or less). No point talking in specifics around the times as it depends on the cut of meat. You'll want to judge based on tender the meat is to the push of a spoon or thumb.

Of course, the ultimate way to cook it is over a wood fired grill (asado) in the open air!

i usually salt the steak heavily about a day before eating and place it on a wire rack in the fridge overnight.
Leave it out for a couple of hours before cooking.

Lightly oil the steak with a an oil with a high smoke point like vegetable. Something generally tasteless. Butter will definitely burn, usually just used in restaurants to finish a steak.

Cooking in a searing hot cast iron pan for about four mins max depending on thickness but in Ireland steak is usually not that thick unless you specify from your butcher.

Rest for about 3 mins and melt some butter over the top if you like.

Another option but it's pricey is to rest it fully submerged in a butter bath. Saw a restaurant do that before.

Back on topic...

There is an interesting article here on salting:

http://amazingribs.com/recipes/rubs_pastes_marinades_and_brines/dry_brining.html

What it basically says is that salting will draw out moisture, which will dissolve the salt, then get reabsorbed by the meat, pulling the salt inside the steak. This flavourises and tenderises the meat. I've been doing it since I read the article and I swear by it.

So here's my pan method:
1. Ribeye or striploin - 1.25 to 1.5 inch thick. I buy whole ribeyes and cut to size. Much as I love Aldi Specially Selected steaks, they aren't thick enough
2. Remove from fridge an hour before hand
3. Salt both sides of steak (on a rack of possible). Use rock salt. No pepper on steak
4. Red hot cast iron pan. I like to use a griddle pan for char marks
5. Oil the steak with Peanut (Groundnut) oil. This is important - Olive has way too low a smoke point.
6. Steak in pan. 1 minute each side, then flip again and rotate 60deg to get cross hatching marks from griddle. Another minute each side (2 mins a side total). Maybe an extra 30 sec a side for a thicker steak
7. On second pass lob a knob of butter and baste top of steak.
8. Rest on a warm plate
9. While resting, deglaze pan with a shot of whiskey
10. Allow whiskey to reduce by half and add a shot (~50ml) of cream
11. Add pepper to sauce. Lots of. Taste and add a little salt if necessary.
12. Any juices that have left the steak while resting go back into the pan.
13. When cream has reduced it will be lovely and thick. Pour over steak.

Except, I bought a Sous Vide machine in Lidl before Christmas. It changes everything. Now I cut my steaks, Salt and vacuum pack, then into the freezer. When I want a steak that evening I set the machine to 52 degrees (which actually equates to 56 deg based on thermocouple probe thermometer). Take steak from freezer and place in Sous Vide. When I'm ready to eat I take the perfectly medium rare steak out and sear in a red hot pan for 1 minute each side. Then make sauce as above. The result is perfect edge to edge medium rare every time.