Personally, I like to think of beef as a low maintenance, hearty, honest type of meat, equivalent to the BBC, a Volkswagen hatchback or a stripy armchair. When you're buying a fillet of beef or a steak, you want to look for a couple of thing to maximise your chances of obtaining a prime cut of beef. Firstly, ethics again: hormone and antibiotic fed, grass fed, organic if possible - look out for labels such as Freedom Foods, Tractor Mark, LEAF on packets. Buying ethical steaks isn't just better purely because of morality and a guilt free dinner, but it is basically in your own best interests because happy cows=happy meat is proven - in fact, chemical analysis of muscle tissue has been done, and if an animal is regularly stressed or frightened by their conditions through being forcefully moved with prods and dogs, because of blood rush to the muscles altering acid levels, your meat will be tougher and it can often affect flavour and texture.
However buying ethically produced beef guarantees not a perfect steak per se. Darker meat means quality hanging- means more enzyme activity- means more tender. If the steak is marbled (little specks of fat on the meat), chances are it'll be even juicier. If you happen to be at the butchers and have the opportunity to check out the beef being cut, and it stands upright rather than flopping - it'll shrink less. All it takes is literally less than half a minute to cast your eye over the meat, because yes the way you cook it will determine how good it tastes, but like anything, you don't really want to fall at the first hurdle.
Now a little tip about getting the 'done-ness' of meat right. As you've probably come across before, different people like their steaks in different ways (and can be quite particular about it!) For instance, my dad (who I cooked this steak for) is a guy who has his "well done and nothing less." You could use a meat thermometer, but many are averse to this particular method as they claim it drains excess juices from the steak, plus most people don't even own a meat thermometer. So there is an easy technique to check the degrees of done-ness to your steak and one that has been a little overdone on celebrity cooking shows (no pun intended) but works nonetheless.
WELL DONE - Press your thumb and little finger together and gently touch the fleshy area between your thumb and wrist. This is how your steak should feel.
MEDIUM - Press your ring finger and thumb together and gently touch the fleshy area between your thumb and wrist.
MEDIUM RARE - Press your middle finger and thumb together and gently touch the fleshy area between your thumb and wrist.
RARE - Press your index finger and thumb together and gently touch the fleshy area between your thumb and wrist.
Well, it's definitely now recipe-time! Plate up some good, honest food after a day of hard labour on the combine harvester or trawling Topshop (not in a combine harvester obviously, that would be weird).
ROASTED STEAK WITH TOMATO AND TARRAGON DRESSING AND NEW POTATOES:
adapted from Gordon Ramsay's Healthy Appetite
This recipe serves six. To serve any more or less, you'll have to adapt the quantities.
For the dressing, you'll need a homemade tomato sauce to be made initially. Skin and chop 500g plum tomatoes - (to skin, I plunged the tomatoes into a saucepan of boiling water from the kettle. When you take them out again and gently prick the skin with the tip of a sharp knife, they will peel off easily). Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and gently sweat 1 chopped sweet onion with 2 chopped garlic cloves until soft. Crush 1/2 tsp fennel and 1/2 tsp coriander seeds and add to the pan. Season. Cook for a minute or so, then add the tomatoes, 300ml tomato juice or water, 50g soft light brown sugar, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar with a splash of red wine and a few basil sprigs. Simmer gently for 25-30 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and pulpy. Whiz in food processor and then pass through a sieve into a bowl for a smooth, silky sauce. Leave to cool.
To make the dressing, cut 500g plum tomatoes (yes more) in half and squeeze them, discarding the seeds. Chop the flesh and put in a bowl with 5 tbsps of the already made tomato sauce, 2 tbsps Worcestershire sauce, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard, few dashes of Tabasco sauce, juice of a lemon, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 shallots (peeled and finely chopped) and seasoning. Mix well. Cover with clingfilm and chill until ready to serve.
Heat the oven to 200 degrees c and preheat a roasting pan. Trim any fat or sinew from a fillet of beef or steak (I used a ribeye steak) and season all over with salt and pepper. Heat a nonstick frying pan with a couple of dashes of olive oil. When very hot, add the beef and sear for 11/2 - 2 minutes on each side until evenly browned. Lightly oil the hot roasting pan and transfer the beef to it. Roast for around 20-25 minutes for medium rare, but keep an eye on your beef until it's how you like it. As soon as you put the beef in, start boiling your new potatoes in salted water if you're having them. Transfer to a warm plate and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Serve the beef warm and sliced thickly. Stir a handful of chopped tarragon and a handful of chopped flat leaf parsley into the tomato dressing and spoon over the beef. Accompany with rocket and new potatoes.
KITCHEN SONG OF THE DAY: David Bowie, Starman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRcPA7Fzebw
BEEF CONTINUED:
Following my exploits in steak experimentation, I came across the need to attempt to find the perfect partner for beef. As beef is so versatile and universally relished (excepting by Hindus, Buddhists and vegetarians, mmm forget I said anything), I decided to include it as the meat for the main course of a community 3 course dinner I am organising, in the form of rissoles - which are basically how the posh get away with ordering 'a burger'. However, the recipe, though admittedly of the Victorian era, simply calls for 'herbs'. So I subjected a few of my most willing volunteers to a blind taste test, in order to corroborate my ideas in the half an hour hunt for beef's best friend.
1. TARRAGON - (ran away with it) - Well as initially suspected (in the least smug way possible) when teamed with the tomato dressing accompanying the steak (above), tarragon and beef is a winning combination. Tarragon, or artemisia dracunculus as nobody calls it, has notes of aniseed and vanilla, and is most famously united with steak in the French sauce Béarnaise, reputed offspring of the Hollandaise. Also known for being spectacular with sea bass, salmon and trout.
2. THYME - (a not entirely close second) - In the grand world of beef, the most likely known associate of thyme is a roasted beef tenderloin coupled with garlic and lemon peel, which also goes fantastically with beef. Try them all together in a casserole.
Although not a brilliantly convincing bronze in the rissole race, basil is known to be an unstoppable beef sidekick in Asian beef stews with a powerful chili punch. To be honest, they were fairly good together here, but Thai beef stirfries and noodles would be an ultimately more supreme basil collaboration.
AND THOSE WHO MISSED THE PODIUM ...
Dill and Mixed Herbs -
In the end, I have to say, the slightly bitter tones in dill are probably better suited to lamb, fish with lemon or a creamy sauce and poultry. Though don't completely write off the combination, it is often seen in stroganoff and beef dips. As for mixed herbs, they're fine for when you're on the go, but fresh is always best - and just as cheap, (80p for a bag of fresh herbs, 95p for a jar of dried herbs).
Below is the recipe for Mrs Beeton's beef rissoles, with the plus being that they're unbelievably easy, go fantastically with roast potatoes and thick gravy and are healthier than popping to McDonalds (do people pop to McDonalds?)... as you know what goes into them.
MRS BEETON'S BEEF RISSOLES:
To make 15
Mix 1lb or 453g lean minced beef (I usually get mine from the butchers) with 3/4 lb or 340g bread crumbs (pretty much a loaf of white sliced bread cut up small and bladed in a blender), salt and pepper, a small handful of chopped tarragon (or by all means conduct your own hugely exciting herb experiments) and the grated peel of a lemon. When well mixed, make a well in the centre and crack a large egg into the middle, as this will bind your rissoles. Combine. Flour your hands and pat the mixture into small burgers, before frying them both sides in olive oil, until they are a rich brown probably 2-3 minutes each side. Then put them in the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degrees. Before eating, cut one in half and make sure they are absolutely cooked through. If they aren't, stick them back in. You shouldn't soley pan fry the rissoles if you don't have a meat thermometer, because although it can look brown inside, it may not have been hot enough to kill the
e-coli.
Serve with roast potatoes, gravy and green vegetables.
