Technique / Recipe: How to cut a steak for a sandwich! (this cut will even chop up a tin can! Look!)

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

(read in a cheesy, shopping channel presenter voice - you **will** buy this fantastic product!)
(Please note this is NOT an advertisement, there is nothing for sale here!!)

Steak sandwich. Nice bread, nice steak, a touch of butter, maybe a little mayo and some fresh ripe sliced tomatoes! Total and utter bliss! Specially on a summer's day in the garden with a cold beer, when you're hungry, having spent the day getting the party ready. Am I right?

Sit down, cold beer beside you, paper plate wobbling on your knee with some potato salad, tortilla chips, corn on the cob, maybe a piece of quiche and a little salad and a burnt sausage (rude not to). But what's on the plate is of no interest in comparison to the prize - the steak sandwich!! : )

Maybe if you're lucky you'll get that first bite out, chew away on that succulent meaty sandwich, you might even get that second bite of pleasure, little dribble of mayonnaise on your chin there, juices making the bread a little sticky? Of course they are what makes a really good steak sandwich.

But you know that sooner or later that steak sandwich is going to betray you: you'll take a bite and it wont come clean off, and you'll end up with a tomato sandwich in your hands, and a big chunk of beef dangling awkwardly from your chops! Quickly looking over your exposed steak eagle-eyeing the garden make sure nobody's witnessed the clumsiness, and a quick re-assembly job!!

Well, never again! With ferdie's tried and tested special sandwich steak cut, you'll be able to enjoy every bite of you sandwich with out fear!

It's a new, revolutionary method that works every time to give you guaranteed results, over and over again. Never again will you feel the embarrassment of pulling your steak out of your sandwich and almost dropping your quiche, never again will you have to suffer those knowing looks at your own BBQ, because with ferdie's special cut your steak will give it up to you every time go in for a bite!

Practise it in the comfort of your own home while no-one else is looking in the winter months, now half price!

We'll even throw in a duck cut, a meat readiness test - the thumb technique! and this proven meat hammering technique for free!

ingredients (make 2 sarnies)
2 tbsp mayo (mayo recipe)
2 ripe buffalo tomatoes (cut into slices)
4 slices of thick cut fresh loaf
2 2cm thick (at least) slices of your favourite cut of steak (ribeye for me!)
    (or could be 1 sirloin 1 ribeye or 1 rump 1 sirloin, etc, etc)

apparatus
1 sharp knife

method

Slice the bread ready for sandwiches, butter one side lightly, and put mayo on the other.

Lay the tomatoes onto the side with the mayo and place the other butter side slice awaiting steak!!

This is the circular part of a rib-eye steak, perfect for a BBQ / "burger"

Cut into the steak in parallel lines about 1cm apart cutting just over half way through the steak.

Slice the steak one way then flip it. And turn through 90 degrees, you can see where the cuts meet.

Turn the steak over, turning it through 90 degrees and do the same again, the cuts should be perpendicular to previous cuts.
 

I've flipped it over so you can see the cuts are only in one direction on each side! But are at 90 degrees to each other.

Be careful not to cut too far or it'll fall apart before it gets to the BBQ let alone your mouth!!

Season the steak, oil it and place on the BBQ or a hot, heavy based pan, turning once.
Place steak on the buttered slice of bread, let it melt the butter, then close the two sides together and serve!

Repeat for each sandwich : ) very happy days!

a couple of tips:
Note the steak will cook A LOT FASTER than an uncut steak which you can check using finger technique!
If you're using a pan, deglaze it with a touch of white wine and pour the juice over the steak before closing!
Because of the way the steak is sliced, it will take up a marinade a lot better. I like to leave mine over night covered in blended red pepper. The red pepper can be removed before cooking and fried with a little cream in the pan to make a great sauce!!
Use any marinade you like! Red pepper is my favourite! Simple, tasty!

Take a whole red pepper, rough dice and blend with 50ml of extra virgin olive oil

Dip steak into it.

Dip it in ALL the way!!

Leave it in the fridge for at least 2 hours to marinate. Then take it out and bring it to room temperature, and throw it on to a BBQ or a smoking heavy based pan! It will cook very quickly because of the cut, don't dwell!

If you're using a pan, deglaze it with a little white wine and add the remaining pepper marinade and a little cream to make a simple veloute! SAUCE!!

Serve with a little salad and devour, no problems!!!

Real or Fake? . . . and How to cook a steak!

Technique: Cooking Steak

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

Before I say anything don't forget it's our 1st Birthday Party on the 31st Aug, let us know if you fancy joining the party!! back to the post . . . check the photo below!!

Hereford is well know for its cattle - 'bos taurus' to the scientifically minded - the Hereford breed originating in Herefordshire in 1742!

Recent traditions (this century) would have farmers bring their livestock into the centre of Hereford on a Wednesday (market day) to sell their livestock. I remember the market as a busy, noisy place with a host of animal noises and the constant background rhythm of the auctioneer rattling off unintelligible numbers, seemingly without pause for breath. (which might explain why the auctioneer always had a bright red, verging on purple, face!)  There was also, as one might expect, a wide variety of food places, fishmongers, and, of course butchers, I loved it!

It transpires that there used to be a china shop on the High St in Hereford which was only a few hundred yards from the old cattle market. I remember going to the market to see the animals as a young child - I'm telling you when you're 3ft tall a fully grown hairy tusked pig is terrifying! With slobber hanging off its tusks these bristly beasties can let loose a blood curdling cry, I'm avoiding saying 'squeal' because that really doesn't do it justice!! Anyway, I digress. It turns out that every now and then a bull would get loose and hot hoof it up Blackfriars St. and along Widemarsh St. to the centre of town!! Some how, I just can't imagine the 1970's Herefordians legging it down the street like a frenzied Pamplonan! More likely to get a raised eyebrow from one of the farmers eating a bag of chips! Just to prove a point here's a photograph of one of the escapee bulls posing in said china shop!!!

I love this photo, it's so Monty Pythonesque, what a fantastic expression our would be Graham Chapman has on his face. (I swear it's him!! Open the link in a different window and compare!!!!)

So, the question is:  Is the bull real, or a fake?? Leave your comments at the bottom I'd love to know what you think!!

Well, with such a worthy beef heritage it would be criminal not to know how to cook a steak!! Here's how!! : )

ingredients (serves 1)
for the steak

1 ribeye steak (or whichever cut you prefer)

extra virgin olive oil

pinch of salt

for the sauce/garnish

extra virgin olive oil or single cream

method

Leave steak out so that it's at room temperature, warmer still if possible, better up to 35C.

When picking your steak, look for steak that's well marbled, that is, has thin flecks of fat running through the meat. These will render as the steak is cooked, enriching the flavour of the meat! My favourite cuts are hanger steak and rib eye, and if I'm honest I wouldn't turn my nose up at a bone-in, fore rib either!! (for pay day anyway!!)

Get you pan hot so that it would be smoking if it had oil in it, season and oil the steak and put it in the pan.

Once you have a nice golden crust formed, turn the steak and cook the other side. Once it's ready remove it from the pan and put on a warm plate to rest.

Deglaze the pan with a touch of water (100ml) or white wine and once half has evaporated add a tbsp of extra virgin olive or single cream, add the juice from your rested steak, mix and pour this cracking sauce over it!!

Serve immediately!!

rare

wait a minute, how do I know when it's ready?

Couple of options here, you can probe it with a temp probe: 45C for rare, 55C for medium  and 65C for well done!

or

You can give it a prod and see how cooked it is by how much the meat resists, this comes with experience but a good guide is to compare how it feels with how the base of your thumb feels when

medium-rare

your thumb is touching the tip of one of your fingers:

 If you want your steak closer to medium-well than medium, turn it more often and cook on a lower heat!

schools of thought on oiling!

1. Oil & season your steak, not your pan:

    Advantage: creates less smoke

    Disadvantage: Can't flambé, less satisfactory deglaze

2. Oil your pan and season your steak:

    Advantage: You can flambé your steak to add a nice smoked flavour, better sauce

    Disadvantage: Turn your extractor on because it's a smoky old business!! ; )

medium-well

knackered! err . .  I mean well done

I did the blue rare a touch over on the right hand side!! Pay attention!!

You need to be cooking with gas to flambé!!

thinking ahead

Don't forget, cook the steak last!! Once it's rested you want it on the table ready to eat as soon as possible!!

So get those chips, or baps (bread rolls), or salad, or whatever you're having with it (see suggestions below) ready ahead of time!!

what could go wrong?

I like my steak rare, but if I cook it so it comes out rare it's always cold by the time I sit down to eat it!! Bring it up to room temperature before you cook it. If you cook it straight from the fridge the centre will almost certainly be cold, and the thicker the steak the worse the problem! I pre-heat my grill, then turn it off, then put the steaks in there to warm up a little more before I cook them. Also, don't forget to serve on hot plates - obvious, I know, but also essential!

I set my hair on fire flambéing my steak!! Stick to school of thought 1!

links

Interesting read "Why you should have your steak rare" by Dr Quincy, with whom I wholeheartedly agree!

now that looks like a real bull

You can see the reflection in the eye! But I don't think this is the same bull, it doesn't have the studs in the nose band for a start!! But the nose on that first bull does look real!!!

variations

Steaks that will happily be cooked like this: Rump, Sirloin, Fillet, Hanger(recommend medium-rare), Forerib, Ribeye amongst others!

Steak and chips with a twist:

Hanger Steak - Medium Rare

Marbled forerib

Flash Seared Fillet Steak w/ Roast Baby Peppers & White Tomato Emultion

Recipe: Herefordshire Beef Pho w/ Brandy de Jerez Digestif

by Simon Fernandez of ferdiesfoodlab

First day's rest for the festive season! Wake up in the morning, slowly, don't have anything to do today. I love that feeling - holiday! - without a care in the world, no responsibilities to deal with and a bit of cash to spend on a good time! Yeay! What to do? Potter about, make a coffee and call friend, "you fancy hanging out?", "yip : )", "cool, I'll come get you, we can do a little shopping for dinner". "You had breakfast yet?" "No? OK we can grab that too". Quick look in the fridge and larder, what have we got? Some oxtail, onions, lemons, ginger, lemon grass, chillies, bottle of Prosecco : ) hmmm and idea begins to form involving slow cooking oxtail. A little piece of fillet steak, some noodles and some coriander will be all I need.

Unbeknown to me, there were secret elements that had been bought for our consumption, so we picked up a poppy and sesame seed baguette from Des Lys Boulangerie which is a cracking spot by the way, and a few other little bits for our dinner and Champagne brunch!

By this point we were starving. Luckily, almost before I'd managed to start browning the oxtail, a rather lovely combo dip of truffle oil and 25 year old balsamic reserve found its way onto the table with a very enticing, seeded French stick. After a little toning down of the truffle flavour to make it a little subtler the combo was a cracking start that went very well with a glass of Prosecco. Aperitif darling? Why I don't mind if I doo!

Bits on the griddle done, oxtail for the pho on the bubble, I got on with brunch but I found myself being distracted by another festive treat: a little brandy de Jerez!!!!

How could I not indeed!! "Rude not to!! Would you like one?" I inquire, to be greeted by a charming smile and a decisive "I think I'm going to have to try some, quality control you understand." A few giggles later and breakfast was on the table, sorry, err . . brunch was on the table and our oriental dinner was bubbling away nicely on the stove, as we settled in for a movie!

I have to say that a strong coffee with a touch of Jerez brandy makes for a fabulous digestif.

The pho that we had later was close to the original but the response it got: "surprising fusion of flavours and freshness it all went together so well!!" and the fact that it had disappeared are good enough signs to me that it's a keeper!!

note for the purists: I put this post up because folks complained they couldn't get half the ingredients where they lived! This recipe is basically as close as you can get to a Pho with plain old supermarket ingredients. If you can make it in Hereford you can make it anywhere!!! It's missing a few of the light fragrant notes from the specialist leaves namely the Thai basil, but the fine Herefordshire steak more than makes up for that!!

Here's how I made it . . . .

ingredients (serves 4)
for the pho
1 oxtail (cut into slices)
1L chicken stock
300g finest Hereford fillet steak
1 red onion / 4 shallots (finely chopped)
2 birdseye chillies (deseeded)
3 star anise
1 lemon (halved)
1 large piece ginger (3 thumbs - halved)
2 onions (halved)
200g pak choi
30g rock sugar (optional)
600g noodles (I like the flat rice vermicelli (ribbon noodles) - but you can use what ever you want)

for the garnish / accompaniment
10g fresh coriander (torn)
2 bird's eye chillies (sliced rounds)
dash of fish sauce
2 spring onions (julienne)
1 lime (quartered)
2 handfuls of bean sprouts
fish sauce

equipment
griddle pan
4 large soup bowls

 

method
In the broth pot, add a little oil and brown the finely chopped red onions / shallots, and star anise. Whenever you want particular spice flavours to come through more in a dish they should be added first: the roasting will bring  the flavours out more prominently 'Thanks Atul Kochhar for that tip', it's made a great difference to a lot of my food over the years!
Next, put the lemon, ginger, onions, and lemon grass on a griddle pan and char them until they have dark lines running across them, this will give you extra depth of flavour.

They need to be browner than this much browner!!

Brown the oxtails in a pan to get that Maillard reaction going. Once brown all over add them to the broth pot, deglaze the pan with a little chicken stock and add it to the broth pot. Add the griddle contents to the broth pot and deglaze that too, adding to sauce to the pot -  loads of flavour.

Add enough chicken stock to the pot to cover the meat by at least an inch (2.5cm), and at least a tablespoon of fish sauce, then bring it to the boil and allow it to simmer for 3-4 hours, keeping it topped up with stock. If you'd like a lighter, more traditional broth add water and sugar to loosen the broth; if you'd like a more wintery broth simply add stock.

thinking ahead
The broth can be made in the morning and reheated for dinner when you need it, the veg, beansprouts, pak chi, coriander etc are always added at the last minute so they don't spoil.

what could go wrong?
My broth isn't clear!! Well that depends on your point of view. I like my oxtail browned before it goes in so it has more flavour, if you're a clear broth only sort, then you can boil the meats that are to be braised for 15min, then rinse them under cold water and continue with the recipe.

to serve
Bring the broth to a simmer.
Cook the fillet steak to the doneness you like (I like mine closer to rare than medium), rest it for about 4mins and then cut it into fine slices. Add the pak choi to the broth, let it warm through while the steak rests.

Warm the bowls and share out the noodles, fill generously with oxtail and broth and dress with slices of fillet steak. Serve with a side plate of the garnishes and accompaniments so that people can season to their taste.

variations
Pho varies from place to place and the ingredients certainly aren't restricted to oxtail for the slow braising. Cuts such as flank, brisket, and rib (cooked bone-in and sliced later) can all be used, and for the rare beef, sirloin, hanger (onglet), and rump can all be used hanger is my personal favourite it's so tasty! You can also make Pho with chicken - happy days for those who don't eat red meat! I garnish mine with crispy chicken skins - nice!

Enjoy!!