I was knocking together a quick dinner tonight just for Bullet and myself. Two steaks.
It was going to be simple comfort food: steak and mashed potatoes made with real butter and loads of pepper. A few carrots and some garlic mushrooms.
But then I thought, why not make some sauce to go with it? I have that whipped cream left over from the weekend, when nobody wanted dessert or coffee, so let's fling it into the pan. This accounts for the bubbles in the pictures, in case you were wondering.
So let's fry the steaks, whatever way you prefer them.
Take them out of the pan and let them rest in the usual way. As they relax, they'll release juices that you can add back later.
Now you have the pan with some juices on it. We'll use this to make the sauce.
De-glaze this with vinegar. Some people prefer wine vinegar. Others prefer cider vinegar, or balsamic.
Personally, I like the robust feel of malt vinegar.
Stir it all around until everything has been dissolved and suspended in the vinegar. Then add your cream. This cream has been whipped, which accounts for the bubbles, but that's just because I had it in the fridge.
The sauce will thicken and darken.
Add the juices from the rested steaks.
Now crush some peppercorns and add them to the pan.
And serve.
It's 00:30 I'm on a diet and I'm fucking starving, I think I have a set of those plates though..
Bock seems very good. I shall try it tomorrow. I shall be gentle with the pepper.
Well done. Please let us know what you think.
I recommend the lightest twist of the pepper mill. You can always add more to taste.
Musy try that.The packet sauce always tastes chalky.
Pepper the stake and there will be enough on the pan. I use a drop of wine to melt the residue, but spud Potato. I find that the griddle is not so good you really do not get enough caramelisation to make the sauce.
Vincent — That's another way to make a cream sauce, though I don't know what you mean by "spud potato".
I tried this this evening it was really very good!
Simple to make and much better than a packet.
Thanks a million, I'm trying the curry during the week.
Excellent!! That packet stuff is only nonsense. Full of salt and artificial flavourings.
Keep on with the real food. You'll enjoy it and it's cheaper and healthier.
Malt vinegar or wine, much of a muchness or potato spud
Vincent — What's potato spud?
Bock I tried it last evening and it was superb! Well done By your command more of the same.
I think Vincent means " Six of one ,half dozen of the other".
I love this sauce. Another variant uses a drop of whiskey. Nom nom.
baby, I'm impressed!
now that's the way to do it!
Just tried it and it was superb. I had a slightly different method, but I think your's shades it … the returning of the juices was something I never considered before … gives the sauce a nice kick.
Now, any tips on how to judge when the steak is cooked to your liking, I usually err on the side of caution and lob it back in the pan if underdone, which is fine when cooking for myself and the missus but the knife cuts used to inpect it don't look great when I'm entertaining (not that that happens too often)
Knife cuts aren't the answer. They let all the moisture out of the meat and turn it to cardboard.
You must go by the firmness of the steak.
You should always oil the steak, not the pan, and you should make sure to sear it on both faces and along the edge. Make sure the steak is at room temperature before searing it. Take it out of the fridge an hour before cooking.
Rare steak has the consistency of flesh and droplets of reddish juice at the surface.
When it's medium-rare, the meat springs back when you touch it with your finger.
Medium steak is qute firm to the touch with pinkish juice.
Well-done meat feels quite stiff with brown juices.
Steak continues to cook after you remove it from the pan, so I'd cook it to one level down from the degree of cooking you want. Let it rest for five minutes or so to let the juices redistribute and return it to the pan for a few seconds each side before serving.
as a [very general] rule of thumb, I use this method cos I can never remember by touching the steak and I do be afraid of making a balls of it, the method below gets it right (most) of the time:
press your thumb and index finger together on your right hand. With the left, touch the fleshy "ball" of your thumb, that is what a rare steak feels like.
For medium rare, it's index and second finger. Medium is index, second and third. Anything after that is well done (inedible as far as I'm concerned!) Above is based on thick cuts (1 inch or >) of rib-eye, striploin or fillet that have been hammered a little bit with your fist, not a hammer.
For tougher stuff like plain rib, round or sirloin, I would use the same rule of "thumb" but unless you've been able to age the meat for a few days, I would use a meat hammer it until it's twice its original size and only half as thick. Some purists might want to string me up for that but it works really well and gets you a fantastically soft steak once its been stood for 5 minutes after cooking. It will shrink during cooking anyway.
Agree with Bock that the steak should come off a grade before what you want. And always make sure it the pan is smoking hot before you put it on.
Thanks men for the info …
Bocks measure is better than the finger test, as it does not matter how thick the cut.
I can't believe all I'm learning here. A bit late in life but, even now that the family is gone, I'm worthy of a nice meal by myself. That sauce is pure delight. Thanks a million!
You surprise nicely BOCK. Your cooking lessons are quite the thing really. Well done you.
[...] and it's phenomenally tasty. One of my favourite bloggers, Bock the Robber, has a very easy pepper sauce recipe on his site, and it worked a [...]
Fab recipie but you could have given a heads up on the vineger i nearly choked to death from the fumes and as for the poor dog i never seen him run out the door as fast!
ps. a tip for cooking steak leave it out at room temp for an hour before cooking so if u like it rare or med the middle of it wont be cold