Cooked some delicious and easy to make sides with my steak last night. Mushrooms with thyme + green beans with garlic.



Served with a homemade horseradish sauce.

Looks pretty f good. What cut of meat is that? Looks like the grain is running lengthwise, is it part of a tenderloin?

When I make green beans w garlic I parboil the beans then finish them briefly in a scorching hot wok with garlic for under a minute - just enough to give them a bit of wok smoke flavor - and do a tiny splash of red wine vinegar on them at the end.

Recipe for the sauce, Roy? Look delicious.

Roy,

At first I thought that looked really good. But then I saw JasonInDallas post that it looks pretty good, so most likely it sucks.

Thanks all.

JID,

The cut of meat is eye fillet. Seared in pan, finished in oven, left to rest.

The sauce was really simple. I didn't use exact measurements but it was some jarred horseradish cream (freshly grated is obv better but I couldn't get my hands on any), a little bit of creme fraiche, super small amount of olive oil, the juice from half a lemon and salt+pepper. I found it in a Jamie Oliver book so if you google his name + horseradish sauce you can probably find the exact amounts used.

I boiled the beens for like 2-3 minutes, drained them and put them in iced water for a few minutes then drained again and left them until ready to eat. Then it was literally 1 minute in a fry pan with some olive oil and garlic (i used the same pan as my mushrooms so it had some of those juices leftover). yum yums

just cooked a nice, heavily salted steak using alton brown's video as my guide (salt, sear, bake for a few mins). it was excellent

Did your meal consist of two steaks, scallops and wine from a plastic cup?

Veggies are for pansies anyways.

Steak looks raw in middle. I would've left in oven for a little more.

yep, the other piece is back in the oven for that picture. that said, I thought the rarer steak was better. Both were delicious, though

wine is in a solo cup

That is a man's meal if ever there was one. A rare steak, scallops, and wine out of a solo cup. Nicely done.

i can feel my arteries clogging

Your definition of raw needs work. That is NOT raw.

I had a tasty porterhouse today, that tenderloin side is so good, somehow it's better than a filet.

quick question: after i wash the salt off the steak and dry it off, do i need to season it so that it gets a nice sear/crust?

just did the "cover the steak in as much kosher salt as possible/leave for an hour/wash steak clean/dry/cook in blazing hot cast iron skillet".

best sear ever. incredibly tender.

but extremely salty. gonna have to ease up a tad on the salt part even though that link earlier in the thread said to cover steak with so much salt that you can't see the red of the steak.

I've been eating steak my whole life, and as it happens my father was a chef - here are some tips that are useful in cooking steak:


TRIMMING FAT/SINEW:

It is important to trim off sinewy fat and "gristle" before cooking, otherwise the fat/sinewy shrinks, and forces juices out of the steak, resulting in a dryer and tougher steak.

This does not apply to the softer "marbling" fat, and you want to see a lot of marbling in the meat.


PRE-COOKING (MARINADES OR SEASONINGS):

The salt trick mentioned earlier in this thread is a good one, though I don't think I'd do that with a tenderloin/filet minion, or even a New York. On the other hand, a tougher cut like a flatiron or sirloin will do well with that treatment.

Wishbone italian dressing was a favorite marinade around my home when growing up - it's oil and vinegar with a lot of spices - soak the meat covering both sides overnight, or for at least an hour.

These days, my preferred prep for a new york or a tenderloin is:

1) Trim and remove ALL sinew, and trim off the majority of the external fat, leaving just a slim sliver of fat around the edges.

2) Roll the steak in salt, fresh ground pepper, fresh ground rosemary, and olive oil. Allow to sit in this mixture at room temperature for about half an hour.

3) Remove the steak from the oil, and let it drip off but do NOT rinse it or wipe it off.

4) Drop the steak onto a hot pan or grill on one side for about 20 to 30 seconds, then flip. This sears one side while we cook the other - depending on thickness, let it cook for about 3 minutes, then flip again to finish cooking the seared side for another 2-3 minutes or so.


POST COOKING (Sauces):

Life is in the sauce - but please don't use A-1 sauce. Please. Stop. Stop now. Thank you.

My three favorite sauces are:

• Brandy Peppercorn sauce
• Béarnaise sauce
• Bordelaise sauce

Of these the peppercorn sauce is easiest to make:

Ingredients:

• Half a shallot
• A clove or two of garlic
• A couple tablespoons of black peppercorns
• A shot or two of cognac/brandy (whisky or bourbon is okay as well).
• Half cup of heavy cream
• A tablespoon of butter

Crush/crack the peppercorns in a mortar/pestle. Dice the shallot and garlic up very fine, or use a garlic press. Then saute in a pan with the butter, and once golden add the peppercorns, cognac and cream. Simmer until thick, then pour over the cooked steaks.

As an option, if you cooked the meat in a pan, add the drippings to the sauce, or add a beef bullion cube.


Cheers,


AB

That's gonna get made by me one of these days, thanks AB.

The microwave is just another tool - I find it is very useful any time where you would otherwise use a double boiler, or a steamer.

For instance, in melting chocolate (normally done in a double boiler) a microwave works really well, as it does for steaming veggies, or boiling water.

Making clarified butter (again, usually done in a double boiler) is also done easily in a microwave.


AB

Got a bone-in filet from Carmichael's in Chicago tonight. I'm not a big filet guy, but it was exceptional.

At the table next to me someone was asking their waitress about the bone-in filet, and she said "yeah, the bone makes it taste much better. i'm not sure why, maybe it's just mental, but i always think it tastes better." ffs lady, you're a waitress at a steak house, how about learning a thing or two about steak.

Here's a question for you guys. I got it medium rare, and they cooked it on the rarer side, which was great. But I have about half of it left, and I'm wondering what the best way to reheat it is. Any tips?

try it cold before you reaheat it imo.

You could do a ghetto sous-vide. Get a pot of water, bring it to 120 or so, have your steak in a plastic bag and dump it in. Wait ten minutes and check the temp.

honestly given how good steak sandwiches are, i can't really understand doing much else with steak leftovers.

toasted white bread + mayo + salt + sliced steak = perfection, basically.

i thought leaving meat in vinegar/high acidity things was a no-no for more than like 30 minutes? doesn't it break down the meat and then the color gets all f'd up and the texture becomes kind of stringy

Haha, citanul, I almost mentioned in my post about why I had left overs, because I felt like a girl, especially considering it was a filet. My gf actually got the filet, I had crab legs, so I only had a few bites of the steak.