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

mildews

DBIreland wrote: »

If I'm wrong apologies for my ignorance but isn't striploin just a T-Bone without the bone?
Also, is it still possible to purchase T-Bones? Weren't they taken off the merket around the time of the mad cow disease problems? Due to the T-Bone containing parts of the spinal column?

I am a rib-eye fan myself, loads of taste and reasonable value too.

T-Bone is back on the market, although it was taken off (as you rightly said) during the early mad cow scares. Due to better traceability and the removal of the spinal cord during slaughter. It is perfectly safe to eat and well worth the extra few quid.

But the only way to eat T-Bone, Sirloin and Fillet is.......
................................ and I know the Vegetarians may be a little upset but!

BLUE Just rip off its horns and wipe its A*se

Mellor

Having tried Steak tartare (sp and blue), they are as good as people (the french) make out,
I much rather having it slightly warm, just outside rare

Minder

Sirloin cooked rare - The steak must be thick enough to allow the outside to sear and get crusty without cooking the meat to well done through the steak.

Who said coffee? Never heard of coffee, but I have heard of using three different liquids to bathe the meat between cooking. Soy, wine vinegar & red wine. The steak is washed in each liquid and patted dry before going back on the griddle. It produced a lovely crust.

RE*AC*TOR

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

Its hard to get that perfect sear / crust without on. I put the pan on high heat for 20 mins before I put the steak on. Coast the steak lightly in oil and season liberally with salt. Then 30 seconds a side on the hob, and 2 minutes a side in a 180 degree oven. Obviously needs to be adjusted for thicker / thinner steaks.

Also on the sirloin vs fillet arguement - sirloin wins hands down. Fillet is from the middle of the back and its the least worked muscle in the body - hence the tenderness. However, there is also very little fat, very little connective tissue - hence the lack of flavour.

Minder

RE*AC*TOR wrote: »

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

Its hard to get that perfect sear / crust without on. I put the pan on high heat for 20 mins before I put the steak on. Coast the steak lightly in oil and season liberally with salt. Then 30 seconds a side on the hob, and 2 minutes a side in a 180 degree oven. Obviously needs to be adjusted for thicker / thinner steaks.

Also on the sirloin vs fillet arguement - sirloin wins hands down. Fillet is from the middle of the back and its the least worked muscle in the body - hence the tenderness. However, there is also very little fat, very little connective tissue - hence the lack of flavour.

+1, although I don't bother with the oven. Just cooked on the griddle. It will have to be steak tomorrow.

Squiggle

mildews wrote: »

.

But the only way to eat T-Bone, Sirloin and Fillet is.......
................................ and I know the Vegetarians may be a little upset but!

BLUE Just rip off its horns and wipe its A*se

I think that's a load of bullocks:D - the way to eat it is the way you like it cooked which ,for me, is medium well. Just because some like the taste of animal blood doesn't mean we all do.

MREGAN

No Striploin and sirloin are the same thing just depending what end of the Loin you are buying and the way it is boned out. They are called striploins as they are strips of sirloin. The loin runs along the bone and at the end it opens out into the rump. This is normally separated by the butchers and boned out. Anyone selling rump as Sirloin shouldnt call them selves a butcher. At the opposite end to the rump you get the rib meat where your rib steaks and ribeye comes from. Rib eye is the centre of the rib meat with the outer fattier layer removed. The eye of the rib meat hence the name ribeye. Hope this is clear and you will sleep better knowing it.

Striploin, Sirloin, boneless T-Bone ????

What does your butcher call it?? Because most supermarkets sell Rump steak and call it Sirloin.

My understanding is that SIRloin comes from Bullocks (yes that is the correct spelling) and STRIPloin is the same cut of meat but from an older Dairy Cow.

I agree with you on the type of pan. Makes a big difference. I have a cast Iron Griddle pan that gets heated dry till it is smoking the steak is coated in oil and set on. Then flipped onto the area of the pan that hasnt been touched as this is the hottest part. If you flip it to the place the first side was done it has lost some of its heat.

a cast iron frying pan

As for what I finally went for last night:

Mashed creamed potatoes with chopped streaky bacon and red onion blended through. Some fried onions with peas. I made a home made pepper sauce with pepper corns, cracked pepper and chilli flakes. The chilli flakes added a hot tang that went down well. The steak cooked Rare with a lovely griddle effect. Now for tonights menu

mildews

Squiggle wrote: »

Just because some like the taste of animal blood doesn't mean we all do.

Its NOT blood.:p Its the Myoglobin that gives muscle tissue its red colour. Blood is nice though, esp. in a good black pudding.

mildews

Mellor wrote: »

Having tried Steak tartare (sp and blue), they are as good as people (the french) make out,
I much rather having it slightly warm, just outside rare

Mellor, you da man.............

Mr.Boots

MREGAN wrote: »

I am buying the best of the best. I dont care what you say sirloin has more taste than fillet.

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

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.