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

Mr. CooL ICE

Basically, next week I'm gonna be cooking for my new gf for the first time, and I want to make something to make a half-decent impression. After sussing out her food preferences, I know that a beef steak would be a good place to start. I know that she is used to her home cooking, which is stereotypical 'farmer' meals (she grew up on a farm), i.e. stews, potatoes, and all good food like that.

As for my own cooking skills: I consider myself to be able to cook proficiently for myself. The main meals I cook for myself range from a chicken-sauce-rice combo, spaghetti bolognese, mince beef curry dishes, pasta, and the odd lamb chop or steak. My speciality is pork with a chopped tomato-based sauce with onions, garlic, and a few random spices thrown in.

If I am to cook steaks, what will I cook to go with them? Boiled or baked potatoes? And what sauce could I cook up with them, and any tips for cooking them? She doesnt like tomato sauce based anything, afaik. Thanks in advance...

Mod Edit:

I've merged every thread I could find about steaks all into this one. If you're looking for your thread on steak, it's probably in here somewhere. Please feel free to continue asking questions on this thread.

-Faith.

county

baked pots sound good,maybe you could do a gratin potato,rosti potato.
why dont you try a bearnaise sauce,its different,but have the bisto ready just in case
http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/pages/c00180_rec02.asp

Blub2k4

You can do a baked potato filled with zatziki (sp?) pretty tasty stuff, either get a recipe online or grab it in tesco, the bigger ones have their own brand stuff.
Garlic butter is also excellent on top of the steak.
Do a small side salad of rocket with a vinaigrette.

Tree

cheddar mashed potatoes (grated cheddar mashed into spuds, how hard does it get)

fried onions and garlic butter

i love pepper sauce on steak

daiixi

Cook your speciality. Obviously it's tasty and you'll be comfortable cooking it.

babaduck

If you're cooking steak for your GF, find out in advance how she likes her meat cooked - some people like it rare (me) and some people like it grey and waay overcooked (husband)!!

If you want to save yourself grief, buy ready to cook gratin potato (Tesco Finest or M&S are great options) but transfer the spuds into your own oven dish and hide the foil tray... she'll be doubly impressed

Personally I love mushrooms & onions with my steak, or failing that, steamed M&S tenderstem broccoli

One final thing... if you're doing a sauce with the steak, serve it on the side just in case she doesn't like it. I hate pepper sauce and prefer to control how much of any sauce I have with meat, as it can overpower a perfectly gorgeous steak

And... good luck!!!!

boneless

If you want, you could stuff and roast the steaks and do roast spuds too... saves on the washing up!!!

I do a tomato and basil sauce to go with the stuffed steak; it can be a wee bit dry if you leave it in for too long.

Crubeens

Girls love creamy foods so I'd definitely recommend a creamy gratin-type popatoe dish - very easy to do - and maybe a mild creamy pepper sauce of blue cheese sauce

noby

I do a sort of poivre based sauce.
Press cracked peppercorns onto steaks.
Fry in butter. Remove steaks, add drop of brandy, and scrape the pan. Add cream and garlic and simmer. Pour in any juices collected from the plate with the steaks.

This works well with chicken/white wine too. And you can add mushrooms etc. if you like.
A creamy sauce and gratin might be a bit heavy going though, so you could just have boiled baby potatoes and some steamed veg to balance it a bit.

Tree

Crubeens wrote:

Girls love creamy foods so I'd definitely recommend a creamy gratin-type popatoe dish - very easy to do - and maybe a mild creamy pepper sauce of blue cheese sauce

we do indeed#!

Mr. CooL ICE

Thanks for the replies.

I think a potato gratin is probably the best solution; Ive helped make one before back home and (in my head) provides the needed side-serving that I was looking for. Think I'll cook one this evening just as practise and get some willing housemates to test it out!

bonkey

babaduck wrote:

If you want to save yourself grief, buy ready to cook gratin potato (Tesco Finest or M&S are great options) but transfer the spuds into your own oven dish and hide the foil tray... she'll be doubly impressed

BLASPHEMY!!!!!



How could you suggest such a thing in a cooking forum when its so easy to make?

Gratin is almost unquestionably the way to go (in summer, I'd choose differently, but its not summer yet), but I'd strongly suggest you make your own. Just be careful about adding too much garlic....she won't be too impressed if she's reeking the day after

Alternates, if you want to do something a bit different:

Traditional swiss Roesti (pronounced more like "rushty" than "roasty")

Baby spuds in Chilli and Orange Butter

Another cracker is simply to do nice boiled spuds, and then crumble a bit of feta over them. Can also mix in some oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, onions, and red peppers if y'like.

Personally I love mushrooms & onions with my steak, or failing that, steamed M&S tenderstem broccoli

Alternately, I'd tip a salad with home-made salad sauce....if you can get nice lettuce of some description (forget it if its the flavourless force-grown variety). Also very handy cause you can prepare it up to a day in advance, meaning there's one less dish to consider in your preparation timing.

One final thing... if you're doing a sauce with the steak, serve it on the side just in case she doesn't like it. I hate pepper sauce and prefer to control how much of any sauce I have with meat, as it can overpower a perfectly gorgeous steak

Agree completely.

Personally, I generally only take sauce on bad steak or one thats been way overcooked for my liking.

And... good luck!!!!

May I echo this sentiment

The Sweeper

Boil baby new pots, steam some veg over the pots, crush the tender pots and toss with butter, sea salt and chopped parsley.

It's very important, if you're cooking somebody a steak, to find out how they like it.

And I don't agree that potato gratin is easy - there's nothing worse than hard-in-the-middle gratin!! Though elsewhere on this board there is a good tip, from Shabadu I think, on how to make perfect gratin...

bonkey

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

And I don't agree that potato gratin is easy - there's nothing worse than hard-in-the-middle gratin!!

I didn't say its impossible to get wrong

I said its easy to get right....and it is.

About the only way you can really ar5e it up is to get your timing wrong, and start cooking your steak before checking that its ready. Given that gratin can reheat just fine, you can always cook it in advance, get it fully cooked, and then just keep it warm / reheat it at the end.

babaduck

And if you plan on making gratin more than just occasionally, spend the money on a Mandolin - I bought mine in Roches for about €18 last year. It whizzes through spuds for gratin or dauphinoise, leaving them all the exact same thickness. Brilliant for thin slices of absolutely anything tbh

Shabadu

There are many brilliant recipes here for you to try out OP- but my piece of advice is to prepare the meal for yourself once before you cook for her, even just the trimmings less the steak and sauce. It is signing your own death warrant to cook something you have never attempted before, or a new method, when entertaining. Murphy's law and all that. Good luck!

CJhaughey

If you can get Ribeye steaks you will find that they are juicy and tasty compared with Sirloin, a close second would be a good T-bone but they are a little harder to cook because of the bone.
I would keep it simple with nice thin skinned potatoes and perhaps some simple veg, Carrots cut in strips(julienned) and steamed,broccoli the same, and maybe a little cabbage chopped finely and sauteed with butter.
make a sauce if you want but if you have high quality ingredients and cook them well, they should speak for themselves.

Diamondmaker

T Bone is back and Oh so Good........has pushed fillet out to 2nd in my books at the minute!

Mr. CooL ICE

Just gave the gratin a try last night. It was nice, but was lacking flavour. I know for a fact that it needs nutmeg and black pepper, and perhaps more garlic (i used 2 cloves, but like my food very garlicky (sp?)), and i had forgotten to get cream in the shop and just used all milk instead. But most of all, it cooked very well, and for a first time Im happy. Just a case of learning as I go.

Alun

Did you season each layer as you built it up? As for the garlic, I just rub the inside of the dish with a cut clove rather than putting it in the dish. I like lots of garlic too, but in it's place

otron

Gratin with a steak? Not to my taste I have to say.

I would go with a fillet steak, from the butchers or M&S. Ideally cooked on a griddle pan so that you can get a good charring on parts of the outside without over doing the inside.

On the side I would do some Italian style roast potatoes: Cut the spuds up to bite sized chunks (roughly the same size now), and par-boil for 10-15 mins. Then put the spuds into a baking tray, sprinkle on some rosemary and pour a on little olive oil. Turn over with a spoon or somesuch so that the oil more or less coats the spuds, if the spud surface ruffles up a bit all the better. Roast in an oven at around 200c, for 30 mins lowering to ~160 for another 30 minutes. The good thing about this is that its very over-cook tolerant.

For veg I would either griddle some thin courgette slices or do a Mediterranean roast veg. For this you just cut up some sweet peppers (from M&S or elsewhere if you can find ‘em), plus some onions (red and/or normal) & small courgette slices. You mix this lot with olive oil and pepper and chuck into the oven for 30-45 mins. The onions come out a bit charred and the peppers are fantastic.

Mr. CooL ICE

Success! Thanks all

Yep, seasoned as i went through. I used ground nutmeg as opposed to grating whole, because our house lacks a goot grater :rolleyes:, and i put down a layer of potatoes, nutmeg and red and black pepper, followed by another layer, a tiny bit of pepper, poured in the milk, egg and cream mixture and sprinkled two chopped up cloves of garlic on top.

My reasoning for putting the garlic on top was so it would cook and leave the taste behind, but not stink the breath. Steaks turned out good too, both medium rare, with a tiny bit of soy sauce sprinkled on top after cooking for a little kick.

dbnavan

Ok I have 2 questions

How rare is safe to eat steak

How do you know its done, I used be able to judge the way I like it on the Gas but now frying on electric, finding it harder to judge, I like a little blood, and pink.

Smoggy

I believe you can eat steak without cooking ( although I wouldnt like to ).

The french when they cook it , do 30 secs either side and thats all.

You can tell how well a steak is done by prodding it , if it feels like the skin between your thumb and index its rare. If its like the skin below your thumb ( the fleshy bit ) it medium , anything else and you have spoilt it

By your description you like a medium steak, so base it on the fleshy bit of your thumb.

I cant give a timing , as it depends upon steak thickness etc. But I have a george forman and have 1cm think sirlions in for about 1 and a half minutes and they come out medium / rare.

Blub2k4

If the steak is fresh enough then it can be eaten tartare, that's raw. So as to your question as to how safe it is that depends on freshness.

With regard to how long you should cook for the tip as smoggy says has to do with using the firmness of the ball of your hand and your forehead.
Make an O with your thumb and index finger, now touch the muscle at the base of the thumb, that's rare, then thumb and the next finger that's rare-medium, next finger medium, next finger medium-well and then your the forehead is well done.
I'd say you want thumb and middle finger or ring finger, experiment.
The comparison is obviously made by touching the top of the steak and then the thumb muscle.
As far as I remember bleu is touching the muscle without making an O.

Alun

What's with the references to your forehead in the above?

Supercell

Alun wrote:

What's with the references to your forehead in the above?

I assume he means how it feels, not a bad little guide there

Alun

OK, it was bit unclear. I thought he meant you should place your thumb on your forehead and then feel the ball of your hand ... couldn't quite see the point of that

Anyway, a steak that feels as hard as my (or anyone's) forehead isn't classified as a steak any more as far as I'm concerned ...

Tree

i'd call it jerky

i just fry my steak until the onions are carmelised... not the best reference method but well cooked onions are important

wb

While we are on the topic,

How come every time I buy fillet steak, there are streaky fat bits in it (usually from tesco)

It is never like the steak you get eating out, which is tender, and easily cut. Where can I get really good non-fat-streaks steak?

thanks:)

county

wbailey wrote:

While we are on the topic,

How come every time I buy fillet steak, there are streaky fat bits in it (usually from tesco)
thats called marbelling and as long as theres not too much it,its grand