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

MREGAN

Just out of interest.....Where do you buy your meat? (the best of the best)

From the abattoir. We have a family butchers and hand pick all our own beef. The animals come from all over so we take the best pick. We buy them just the day after they are killed. Then hang them ourselves for 3 weeks to mature. Makes all the difference hanging the beef for 2-3 weeks.

Minder

I was out for a meal one evening with a crew from work. I brought up the subject of Wagyu beef. I am always amazed at the total bullocks that some people will spout in the belief that it is truth. Wagyu cattle are genetically predisposd to intense marbling in the meat - making it very flavoursome and tender and so very expensive.

There is a mythology about the diet the cattle are fed. One eejet at the table tells me that the animals are force fed chocolate to such an extent that the meat tastes like chocolate. When I made light of this allegation, he got a bit upset - he actually believed that the beef tastes like chocolate!! (For the avoidance of doubt, Wagyu beef tastes a lot like --- beef.)

The Hill Billy

MREGAN wrote: »

I always have chips and pepper sauce or beans and fried onions. What else is nice to have with steak?

Back to your original question...

I love a well-aged sirloin cooked medium rare. My absolute favourite accompaniment to this is mashed potatoes served with chopped scallions & tomatoes that have been fried in the pan after the steak. All topped off with gravy made from the juices of the pan. Seasoned with sea-salt & ground white pepper.

* salivates Homer-style *

Mr Magnolia

I'm just after eating but ^that^ post made me hungry again

Cast iron griddle pan here too.

The Hill Billy

And the kid inside me makes a 'volcano' out of the mashed spuds & pours all the scallions, tomatoes & most of the gravy into the 'crater'. A splash of gravy then over the steak.

bonkey

One of my faves from a local restaurant...

Thick cut of Simmental-beef sirloin steak, seared for a second or so on each side, served on a hot (i.e. sizzling) stone so it cooks at my place at the table.

The beef is amongst the best I've ever eaten - Simmental beef, reared organically in the Simmental...which means in summer its up the mountains, feeding on all those nice alpine grasses and flowers n stuff. Locally reared, locally butchered, hung to perfection.

When the cut isn't too thin, I start with steak so rare you couldn't even call it blue, and finish with the last pieces just reaching medium.

They typically serve it with sauce cafe de Paris, but supply other sauces on request. I avoid all of that - steak this good needs at most a bit of salt and pepper.

Fantabioso.

For cooking steak at home.....BBQ is the only thing that has the temps to do it really right. Failing that...a heavy griddle is the next best thing.

CodeMonkey

DBIreland wrote: »

If I'm wrong apologies for my ignorance but isn't striploin just a T-Bone without the bone?

Think olaola was wrong there. As explained to me by the waiter in Mortons when I was one of their restaurants in Phillidephia, the large side of the porterhouse (what americans call t-bone) is sirloin but the small side is fillet. I had the 24oz porterhouse steak and it was the best steak I've ever had. There was a scary looking 48oz porterhouse on the mean too.

The steaks in Mortons are cooked in a 1800 degrees grill oven which is near impossible to do at home. I think Shanahans basically tries to do it the same way but it's so over priced I've never bothered going there for dinner.

I normally eat aged sirloin or fillet and I just fry them in a bit of oil until both sides are browned and then finish it in the oven. I like them medium-weldone with just salt & pepper with no sauce or I make onion gravy with the juices in the pan.

I eat my steaks with: homemade potatoe wedges, champ (mash with scallions), buttered carrots, baby spinach (stir-fried with garlic), stem broccoli (stir fried with garlic and chili flakes), baked sweet potatoe, mange tout, french beans, asparagus etc.

The Sweeper

Just an observation: I was talking to an apprentice chef over here who works in an restaurant that does steaks and pizzas. He says they colour all their steaks on the griddle and finish them in the pizza oven, but he says it's down to time. They can get more steaks finished to order more quickly if they use the oven.

WECpoker

ntlbell wrote: »

I wouldn't give sirloin to a dog.

My Dog gets half the sirloin every time :rolleyes:

Sparks

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

One thing that has yet to be mentioned on this thread is.... a cast iron frying pan.

+1 that man. The cast iron is absolutely necessary or the pan won't keep the temperature you want during the searing. No point in paying lots of money for steak and then not cooking it right. Have a cast iron griddle pan that always gets used for steak, unless it's steak au poivre, because it's a pain to do a pan sauce from a griddle pan.
Steak au poivre is damn nice, and the aged ribeye that Locks serve with pommes frites and bearnaise sauce is fabulous, but the aged fillet that you can get from the butchers in Fallon & Byrnes is my favorite at the moment.
Thing is, I don't really think you can barbecue fillet - ribeye or sirloin, yes, but fillet's just seems a bit too delicate.

truecrippler

Fillet Steak, Chips, fried onion and Mushroom.
Pepper sauce over the steak.

ntlbell

can anyone reccomend and easy to make sauce for fillet steak.

Must have's jack daniels and cream...:)

Ponster

Sorry, I've never made a whiskey sauce but Google is full of 'em and tis once seems simple...

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/231339

noby

I do something similar to Ponster's link, usually with brandy, but without the broth. Just use your JD instead. Any extra juices that come out of the steaks while they are resting should also be tipped into the sauce.

Minder

What the epicurious recipe doesn't say is beware when adding any alcohol to the pan - it can ignite very easily and you get to enjoy your lovely steak dinner minus your eyebrows.

Grannies and eggs and so on, but better said than unsaid, I feel.

breadmonkey

Say you like your steak medium; how can you achieve this without cutting it open to check (which I think is a bit naff anyway as it ruins the appearance and the meat continues to cook a bit even after you take it off so it can often be misleading)?

I've heard various vague reports claiming that if you push a knife (the flat face) into the meat and observe the response you can tell.

Anyone?

Also, while I'm here:
a) Just some black pepper, olive oil & lemon juice (or similar)

or

b) Go to town with an inventive marinade?

The Sweeper

breadmonkey:

Hold up your left hand.
Touch your thumb and index finger together, in the universal sign for OK.
With your right hand, poke the fleshy part at the base of your thumb - the heel of your hand. It'll feel quite squidgy. This is what rare steak feels like.

Now touch the tip of your thumb to your middle finger. Poke the squidgy bit. Firmer, still a little give. That's medium.

Finally, touch the tip of your thumb to your ring finger. The quidgy bit will be very firm. That's well done.

Lay the flat of a knife against your raw steak. Feel how much give it has. You want half that much give for a medium steak. Timing depends on the thickness of your steak. I also find it helps if you allow the steak to come to room temperature before dropping it on the hot pan.

Basic steak: heat a griddle pan. Oil the steak, not the pan. Season the room-temperature steak. Drop it on the pan. A 2cm thick sirloin, I'd give it two and a half minutes on each side, then let it sit on a warm plate with a tinfoil hat for five minutes to rest - so 10 mins total.

Serve with chunky wedges and a greek salad of red onion, black olives, feta cheese, tomatoes and cucumber.

muckety

If you have a good meat supplier you shouldn't need to add flavour to the meat via marinades etc. We sometimes add a slice of flavoured butter (herb, garlic or whatever). I would second the above serving suggestion - rocket salad also goes particularly well!

bonkey

breadmonkey wrote: »

Say you like your steak medium; how can you achieve this without cutting it open to check (which I think is a bit naff anyway as it ruins the appearance and the meat continues to cook a bit even after you take it off so it can often be misleading)?

I've heard various vague reports claiming that if you push a knife (the flat face) into the meat and observe the response you can tell.

Anyone?

What MAJD said. There's other touchy-feely techniques out there too. Bear in mind that all of these techniques are rough guidelines that assume a fairly-average-build of person, and assume a fairly consistent quality of steak.

Personally, I just cook 'by feel'. I know my cooker (and my BBQ/grill), and I can generally get things right.

a) Just some black pepper, olive oil & lemon juice (or similar)
or
b) Go to town with an inventive marinade?

If I add anything, it'll be a bit of salt and pepper, and that's it. I don't go for marinading steak unless I'm going to do skewers of strips or something. I generally don't go for sauces on my steak either. (I should admit to having a variety of salts such as smoked, himalayan, fleur-de-sel, fleur-del-sel with added smoked chilli, and so forth, which I will use to vary the flavour a bit).

Generally, I don't use oil for steak at all, but if you want to use it, then as MAJD said, brush the meat with it...don't add it to the pan.

Also...there seems to be a bit of a Holy War in terms of whether the salt and/or pepper should be added before or after cooking. I'm with MAJD, and season first. Some chefs insist that the salt will draw out liquid, and/or that the pepper will burn...so you'll always find people who insist that either salt, or pepper, or both, should only be added after cooking.

Mr Magnolia

bonkey wrote: »

Also...there seems to be a bit of a Holy War in terms of whether the salt and/or pepper should be added before or after cooking. I'm with MAJD, and season first. Some chefs insist that the salt will draw out liquid, and/or that the pepper will burn...so you'll always find people who insist that either salt, or pepper, or both, should only be added after cooking.

I seal the meat on a very hot pan, reduce the heat and then season. The majority of chefs do seem to season before going near the pan, I could never understand why.

bonkey

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

I seal the meat on a very hot pan, reduce the heat and then season. The majority of chefs do seem to season before going near the pan, I could never understand why.

I could be completely wrong on this one, but my understanding is as follows...

If you season, then sear, the seasoning gets sealed into the meat, and cooks into it. the downsides here are that the pepper can/will burn, and that the salt can/will draw out liquid before you start cooking.

If you sear, then season, the seasoning gets sealed outside, and while it will flavour the outside, its little different to not seasoning whilst cooking, and simply adding salt/pepper at the end.

Mr Magnolia

bonkey wrote: »

I could be completely wrong on this one, but my understanding is as follows...

If you season, then sear, the seasoning gets sealed into the meat, and cooks into it. the downsides here are that the pepper can/will burn, and that the salt can/will draw out liquid before you start cooking.

It does go some way to explaining the argument though. The pepper definitely burns if you season before sealing imo. The salt drawing out the juices is not something I could argue though it is generally accepted that this happens.

If you sear, then season, the seasoning gets sealed outside, and while it will flavour the outside, its little different to not seasoning whilst cooking, and simply adding salt/pepper at the end.

I understand where you're coming from. I'd still argue that sealing doesn't completely seal the meat from outside influences and that the meat still benefits greatly from the seasoning while still cooking.

The Hill Billy

I've no opinion either way, but as long as some salt & pepper hit my tongue along with the steak & I get the benefit of any seasoning I'm happy. I generally season again once I dish up.

Faith

I got a big, juicy-looking, sirloin steak and I want to make the most of it! I'm looking for any and all suggestions of what to have with it to maximise it's greatness? (Forget about the low-carb thing, it doesn't matter for this meal!)

Mr Magnolia

Put it on a griddle pan. Serve with mushrooms cooked in a little butter, fried onions, halved vine tomatos cooked in the pan with the steak, peas, good chips + beer = winner!

I'm friggin salivating like a lunatic here.

Simple things are the best sometimes. I only eat this occasionally as I enjoy it so much I don't want to over-eat it and spoil it.

The Sweeper

Chop garlic and rosemary and mix with a tablespoon of good olive oil and a shake of pepper. Sit the steak in this for an hour. Then salt it and fling it on a hot griddle for two minutes each side.

Serve it with a baked potato and a greek salad.

RE*AC*TOR

Buy a cast iron frying pan.

Depends on the thickness, but if about 1.5 inches thick here's what i'd do...

Get your oven up to full clatter (250 C i guess). Put the pan in.

Have your steak at room temp (gives it the best chance of the inside getting cooked before the outside is over cooked).

When the oven is at full clatter, take out the pan and put it on full blast on your hob (give it about 5-10mins on the hob before putting on the steak) .

Coat the steak (both sides) with a little oil (not extra virgin olive - something neutral with a high smoke point - so sunflower or corn oil will do). A generous sprinkling of salt. And a grinding of pepper.

Place the steak in the middle of the pan, don't move it for 30 seconds.
Then turn the steak onto an unused piece of the pan (will be hotter) with a thongs for a further 30 seconds.

Put the pan into the oven for 2 minutes.
Then turn the steak and into the oven for another 2 minutes.

For an inch and a half steak - that will bring you to about medium rare / medium.

Anyway remove from the oven cover loosely with foil or baking paper and rest on an upturned plate / bowl for 2 minutes.

The Hill Billy

Cook steak as you like. Put it aside to rest in a warm place.
In same pan that you fried the steak - add some olive oil & on a high heat fry a bunch of chopped scallions (whites & greens) for 2/3 mins. Then add a diced tomato & fry for a further 2/3 mins. Pour in 1/2 pint beef stock & allow to reduce by half. Season well.

Make a 'volcano' out of mashed potato. Pour the scallion/tomato gravy into the 'crater' & serve with the steak.

catho_monster

Fry it, real hot pan. Well seasoned.

Then top with this:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_27571,00.html

Serve with homemade oven cooked wedges.

Life is good

olaola

BBQ it!

And serve with creamed corn, potato gratin and bearnaise sauce.

HAHM!

Scawgeen

Steak, Onions, two or three medium sized Golden Wonders (Steamed in their jackets) and Gravy.

Fry Steak in Olive Oil
Remove fom pan
Fry onions in same oil
Remove from pan
Strain off excess fat and make gravy with whatever juices are left.

Serve yourself and enjoy!

Faith

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Chop garlic and rosemary and mix with a tablespoon of good olive oil and a shake of pepper. Sit the steak in this for an hour.

catho_monster wrote: »

Fry it, real hot pan. Well seasoned.

Then top with this:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_27571,00.html

Serve with homemade oven cooked wedges.

Life is good

I did both of those, and it was yummy! I kind of messed up the Bearnaise sauce, but it was still good. I meant to do the fried tomatoes too, but I forgot . I followed it up with strawberries and cream.

Now I feel so full I could burst!

Mr Magnolia

Once you enjoyed it!

fatal

After reading this thread,I will be buying a nice big juicy steak tomorrow *licks his lips*

daosulli

quick an easy idea from Ramsay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzrofOTI5o8

spectre

I'm going shopping for a new steak pan later today and would like to hear from people who know what they're talking about.

At the moment I'm using a reasonable frying pan but I'm not so sure that it's able for the super-high temperatures needed to cook a good steak. Also I find that the face of the steak burns unless I keep it moving on the pan. I'm not sure how to overcome this, is it a matter of buying a pan with those built in grooves? Also, I cook on an electric hob.

How much do I need to spend and where can I buy?

Very grateful for any advice

olaola

I think you're looking for a griddle. I'd say cast iron are probably the way to go for longevity. I bought this (see below) - which I love, as it's easy to store because there is no long handle. And when they are cast iron, they are heavy and cumbersome.

Sparks

Seconded on the cast iron. Thing is, if you get one with ridges, you can't make a pan sauce (well, not as easily), so things like steak au poivre are out. But then, if you do get one with ridges, you get those lovely caramelised stripes and the steak just tastes a little better.
Hmmm.

Ah, perfect - get two

(Actually, if you can get one cast iron frying pan without ridges and one BBQ grill, that's the best of both worlds).

i71jskz5xu42pb

Thirdededed on Cast Iron. The heavier the better as heavier pans do not cool down too much when you first put the meat on.

If it is cast iron you should be able to buy ready seasoned.

Kitchen Complements off Grafton Street is where I got mine. Not too expensive if I remember correctly (although it was the only inexpensive thing in Kitchen Complements at the time). Arnotts, etc would also stock. There's a Le Creuset place in the Kildare Village outlet place if you are looking for a bargain and it's handy.

Sparks

Winter Fancy Caricature wrote: »

Kitchen Complements off Grafton Street

I always thought they were horrendously expensive.
Oddly, Brown Thomas's kitchenware department isn't too bad for some things (knives and le creuset).
But anywhere you can get a bargain is the better idea. Especially if it's without ridges.

P. Breathnach

I'd vote for as heavy a cast iron pan as you can manage, because as soon as you put the meat on, the pan can lose heat. That is particularly important if you like steak that is rare inside but nicely scorched on the outside. I prefer one without ridges because I like making sauce with the juices.

The Sweeper

On cast iron I'd go for non-branded. So just a plain bog standard cast iron pan or griddle. The griddle squares often have a stainless steel handle that'll fold in for easy storage.

I paid a tenner for my cast iron griddle (about 10" square with a folding steel handle) and twelve quid for my cast iron frying pan (12" round with a cast iron handle).

On the griddle, 10" square is officially a crap size and shape for a cast iron griddle. It's too small and you end up cooking servings of whatever one at a time to achieve best effect. You don't want to crowd steaks onto a pan - they'll reduce the heat of the pan too quickly. If I was buying again, I'd go for either a round, ridged pan in 12" or 14" or a rectangular ridged pan - one of the ones that'll fit on either a fish burner or two rings on the hob.

As an aside, the 12" cast iron frying pan is a winner for doing naan breads - I put it over the wok burner, drop the shaped, raw naan dough into the hot pan to get the singed effect, and put the whole shebang, pan and all, into an oven pre-heated to the highest setting. Finally because I'm cooking on gas I can achieve the bubbled effect by toasting the naan with a tongs over the wok burner.

If I was going for something a bit different, like enamel over cast iron, I'd go for a well-known and guaranteed brand like le creuset, but with plain cast iron I wouldn't bother spending the extra cash, I'd work more on getting a useful size and shape of pan.

Eviledna

I saw a very nice cast iron griddle in TKMAXX in the blanch at the weekend. €12 and it was solid!

spectre

Thanks for the replies. I was looking at a cast Iron grill pan in Clery's this evening. It was made by le creuset and cost nearly 100 euro. Hopefuly I can do better than that elsewhere.

Minder

spectre wrote: »

At the moment I'm using a reasonable frying pan but I'm not so sure that it's able for the super-high temperatures needed to cook a good steak. Also I find that the face of the steak burns unless I keep it moving on the pan.

Your pan doesn't get to the superhigh tempertures but still manages to burn the steak.

Anyway, some good cheap cast iron pans available here

spectre

Minder wrote: »

Your pan doesn't get to the superhigh tempertures but still manages to burn the steak.

Anyway, some good cheap cast iron pans available here

You misunderstand, my pan gets sufficiently hot but the heat has destroyed the non-stick coating I'm afraid.

Thanks for the link though, prices seem very reasonable.

fourmations

I got skillet style cast iron pans in homestore&more
perfect for steaks, less than 20quid if i remember correctly

there is always nisbets.ie if you need a few bits

ciao

4

balon

You definitely want a good cast iron skillet. Get one at least 12 inches wide and 2-3 inches deep without ridges. Season it properly yourself and never wash it with soap and overtime your non stick coating will become tough as old boots.

You can use use it for so many things - just don't cook too many tomato based dishes in the early days before the coating develops as the acidity can break down the coating

I've had mine over 10 years and it's been my best kitchen purchase. 100 quid is not a lot if it lasts you a lifetime

Tinytony

Hi,

I'm going to be having Sirlion this evening (and no don't tell me get fillet etc, I AM HAVING SIRLION ) but like to do something a little different with it.

Would normally have mash potatoes and serve with some fried onion and red pepper, and a drop of pepper sauce on the side. But this can get a little boring.

Any suggestions for something a bit more inventive to try? I looked through some old threads and somebody mentioned a sauce involving shallots and tomatoes, have never really made my own sauces before so just wondering how to go about it? Or any other good suggestions to accompany the steak!

The Hill Billy

I wouldn't dream of telling you to go for a fillet (tasteless pap if you ask me).

Check out this thread for some ideas.