How to cook steak like a pro!
From an early age, one of my absolute all-time-hands-down favourite meals has been steak!
Partly, perhaps because we are lucky enough at home in the depths of the countryside to have inherited a great blooming marvelous deal with our local farmer, Jackie, a 3 toothed, politics loving, crazy Devonshire farmer who “rents” our field from us in return for a cow in the freezer every 6 months or so, some apple juice from his orchard and a tonne of logs whenever he chops a tree. Pretty sweet deal.
However, this has given me a forever naivety of the lavishness and cost of buying decent British beef, as our Devon Ruby Reds were always provided in plentiful amounts of all cuts – mince, roasting joints, top side, ribs, and, importantly, steak! I guess the only downside to this was that bless him, Jackie used to name all the new born calves after each of our family in turn.
It’s a tough lesson to learn when you watch the little baby calf “Alice” grow up into a pretty wonderful full sized cow, who also happened to be exceedingly naughty and often jumped the fences into neighbouring fields.
Typical huh?
That is, until the farmer gets fed up at chasing her across Devonshire countryside and proudly tells us the next batch from the butcher is the aforementioned namesake. Marginally sadistic, but boy did Alice taste good.
Fresh, organic, practically hand-reared beef from the back garden is particularly satisfying, especially when now not living at home so frequently makes my eyeballs pop out on sticks when browsing the meat aisles in the supermarket. HOW MUCH FOR STEAK?!
Still, I highly recommend getting your meat from a local butcher. Not only does it usually mean that it’s more local, they can often tell you precisely the best way to cook it, you’re supporting the local economy AND it’s often cheaper! Only issue I had was that apparently feather blade cut of steak is difficult to get hold of as it often goes into mince, so I “settled” for sirloin. Oh woe is me…
Cooking steak I’ve always considered to be an utter art. The rarer side of medium rare is my fav, and it’s actually a lot easier to get a decent steak than you think, it’s all about the timing. Good meat doesn’t need overpowering sauces to drown it out, but accompanied by some triple cooked wedges, herb and garlic mushrooms and pesto mushrooms and nomnomnomnomnom.
Best. Meal. Ever.
Or, y’know, if you don’t trust yourself with a delicious chunk o’ beef, head to the experts at Barbecoa for a mouthwatering meal out instead?
I’m not including a recipe, this infographic does exactly that job for me, and it’s a fan-dabby-dosey one to follow, trust me on this one!
*This post is in collaboration with a brand, but all steak deliciousness was my own*
