cooking the perfect steak?
- Thread starter HughJass
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Get a perfect steak. An organic, thick sirloin cut.
Many people opt for fillet but sirloin and t-bone have more flavour.
Look for a cut with even marbling of fat throughout the flesh. When cooking, the fat will baste the meat throughout.
Cooking: Depends how you like it. I personally like medium on the bone and medium-rare fillet.
Fry it in groundnut oil on medium heat.
Numerous ways to serve it. Mines is a little unorthodox - I like a Chinese style Szechuan sauce that's thickened slightly and has the sweeter edge of Hoi Sin sauce. I pan fry shiitake mushrooms, peas and thick slices of onion for 2-3 minutes in a wok on very high heat, then add about a cup of the sauce (preheated) for 30 seconds, and more near the end (depending how much you like).
Served with golden crispy chips!
And for some 80s nostalgia a flower cut tomato which when I attempt it looks more like a tomato that's been mutilated by a shotgun. :whistle:
Many people opt for fillet but sirloin and t-bone have more flavour.
Look for a cut with even marbling of fat throughout the flesh. When cooking, the fat will baste the meat throughout.
Cooking: Depends how you like it. I personally like medium on the bone and medium-rare fillet.
Fry it in groundnut oil on medium heat.
Numerous ways to serve it. Mines is a little unorthodox - I like a Chinese style Szechuan sauce that's thickened slightly and has the sweeter edge of Hoi Sin sauce. I pan fry shiitake mushrooms, peas and thick slices of onion for 2-3 minutes in a wok on very high heat, then add about a cup of the sauce (preheated) for 30 seconds, and more near the end (depending how much you like).
Served with golden crispy chips!
And for some 80s nostalgia a flower cut tomato which when I attempt it looks more like a tomato that's been mutilated by a shotgun. :whistle:
The Gardener
Senior Member
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- 25
Broiling works great. Just make sure you use a COVERED drippings pan to lay the steak on. The kind that has a flat broiling surface, with holes in it that allow the drippings to drip into the covered pan beneath.
I once used an open drippings pan with a rack on it to lay the meat on, and after a few minutes the drippings in the open pan beneath the rack caught on fire! Talk about smoke and making a mess!
If you don't repeat that mistake, I wouldn't say that broiling causes a mess. Yes, the meat will splatter a bit, and I would suggest you leave a window open because the broiling does create quite a hearty scent. But, it's nothing all that hard to mitigate.
I once used an open drippings pan with a rack on it to lay the meat on, and after a few minutes the drippings in the open pan beneath the rack caught on fire! Talk about smoke and making a mess!
If you don't repeat that mistake, I wouldn't say that broiling causes a mess. Yes, the meat will splatter a bit, and I would suggest you leave a window open because the broiling does create quite a hearty scent. But, it's nothing all that hard to mitigate.
The Gardener
Senior Member
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No need to grease the broiling pan. Beef will create enough rendered fat underneath the cut of the meat to prevent any sticking.
I do use a broiler pan that has a somewhat non-stick coating on it. It helps with the cleanup, sometimes the rendered juices in the pan can cause staining, but its pretty much only a cosmetic thing. Actually, some say that a pan with scorched rendering stains on it is a "seasoned" pan, and that is supposedly a good thing. I'm not sure if there is any truth to it, or if its just kitchen mythology. Now that I think about it, Asian wok cooking is supposedly better if done on a "seasoned" wok. Who knows.
I do use a broiler pan that has a somewhat non-stick coating on it. It helps with the cleanup, sometimes the rendered juices in the pan can cause staining, but its pretty much only a cosmetic thing. Actually, some say that a pan with scorched rendering stains on it is a "seasoned" pan, and that is supposedly a good thing. I'm not sure if there is any truth to it, or if its just kitchen mythology. Now that I think about it, Asian wok cooking is supposedly better if done on a "seasoned" wok. Who knows.
Aplunk1
Senior Member
- Reaction score
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Maybe it's just me, but I don't feel like Mexican cuisine prepares steak very good. Don't get me wrong--carne asada is tasty in a burrito, chopped up, and filled with a throng of cheeses and salsa. But by itself, carne asada isn't very good.
I had steak at a French restaurant over the weekend, and it was tops. American and French cuisine got steak down to an art, in my opinion. The Italians have great veal dishes, but steak isn't one of their best ones.
Just my $.02!
I had steak at a French restaurant over the weekend, and it was tops. American and French cuisine got steak down to an art, in my opinion. The Italians have great veal dishes, but steak isn't one of their best ones.
Just my $.02!
The Gardener
Senior Member
- Reaction score
- 25
Approximately the same cooking times as you would use on a hot BBQ grill. I prefer thicker cuts of meat, try to get them an inch to an inch and a half thick (2.5-3.7 cm). I broil mine about 6-7 minutes, turn, then another 6-7 minutes, and it generally results in a medium finish, which is what I prefer for most meat cuts. I'd put a filet mignon in for less time because I prefer them medium rare... but, then again, I would rarely put a filet mignon onto the grill or broiler. I prefer to pan fry them in butter, where I can control the heat and doneness a lot more accurately, and where I can get a better sear on the meat to trap in more liquid, as the filets don't have much fat marbeling in them. And, filets don't have a lot of flavor, so I think they are best accompanied by a pan sauce derived from the liquids in pan frying. Actually, if you want something unspeakably, outrageously good, serve a filet with a nice Bearnaise sauce. F*cking bomb. It's hard on the arteries, but as they say, all things in moderation.aussieavodart said:
I LOVE Mexican cuisines, but I totally agree, Aplunk. I hate to suggest stereotypes here, but what is it with the Mexicans seemingly always wanting their beef cooked well done? I know there are a few classic "Mexican" beef dishes; carne asada, steak picado, and chile colorado, and of them only the carne asada is barbecued. Steak picado and chile colorado are both braised in tomato based liquids.
Now, I know there are many kinds of Mexican cuisine, but from my experiences actually IN Mexico, I'm not convinced that beef is even part of the "real" Mexican cuisine. It seemed to me that Mexican cuisine really revolved around pork, chicken, and fish. Native Mexican "barbacoa", to the best of my knowledge, was really a dish made with goat meat, and not beef. The only thing that the Mexicans seemed to barbecue was fish and shrimp. And the Mexicans do this VERY well, espcecially down in the Yucatan with the various citrus and achiote spiced marinades... fricking delicious. And even with the pork, it seemed to me that most of the "barbecued" pork down there was done in a covered spit, or in an underground spit.
bigentries
Established Member
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- 73
Mexican cuisine lacks beef dishes in some regions do to the access of poor cuts in the gulf, south and central Mexico.
However North Mexican food is full of beef dishes, you'll have a hard time going to any big northern city and don't find that most of the dishes revolve around beef.
While many people in the North eastern states (Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas) would find it insulting to deny the "mexicanity" of carne asada as it is a central point in the identity of the region, I agree that so called "Mexican cuisine" (a fusion between pre-hispanic and modern cuisine) lacks a defining steak dish.
However North Mexican food is full of beef dishes, you'll have a hard time going to any big northern city and don't find that most of the dishes revolve around beef.
While many people in the North eastern states (Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas) would find it insulting to deny the "mexicanity" of carne asada as it is a central point in the identity of the region, I agree that so called "Mexican cuisine" (a fusion between pre-hispanic and modern cuisine) lacks a defining steak dish.