Back to the Beef

Back to beef, back to the basics. That’s how it feels for me. I love cutting meat; that creep’s me out sometimes though my intentions are for the simple pleasures of consumption and nothing sinister but I love cutting meat. That’s how I cook. I cut, chop, Julienne, cube, dice, mince everything myself, I hate things out of packets and I despise recipes that go something like 1 can whole tomatoes, 1 pack of frozen pastry and 2 boxes Stroganoff mix… what the F is that? Thankfully I still live in a world where things are more or less done from scratch, I don’t know where to buy frozen pastry and thank God for that lest I get tempted to slacken off! I admit to be a victim of terrible time management, so I have succumbed to garlic pastes and tomato puree but that’s how far it goes, I swear! In my defence, I only use these when I make homey lunch time curries like ‘matar paneer’ and ‘rajma’. That’s the cool part about north Indian home grub, the overwhelming masala-ness pretty much covers everything else in the dish, so go ahead and squeeze in that spoon of tangy, chemical-y ginger paste, no one will know. But when I am really cooking, cooking… then I need everything fresh, juicy, plumpy and the like. I love shopping for produce as much as I love shopping for shoes. I am not averse to fancy shmancy stuff like truffles and caviar, I have bought them to eat them and not experiment with them. Honestly, I should have left the caviar for pro’s to do …I couldn’t have it as is! The truffles however went off well, I have a ‘gucchhi pulao’ recipe that really worked out for me. I need to remember to share that, but before I do I need to get all this beef out-of-the-way.

So, I had cut around 5 steaks from the rump, nice, thick ones. I kept them about an inch thick and a little smaller than a side plate. I didn’t want to use the mallet on it, I wanted to tenderize them with marinade and time and not a beating. Andy wanted a simple recipe, one where he could really taste the meat, so I kept it super simple.

4 beef/lamb steaks, each should weigh around 200-225 grams, so that roughly a kilo of meat

Lots of fresh pods of garlic, like 10-12 of them, thinly sliced. Please master this, it’s excellent to stud meats like steaks and chops with sliver of garlic, they stick on the meat when you sear it and come out amazing.

2 tsp sugar, to caramelize on the steak and give me a nice seared colour, it also brings out the other flavours; I feel.
3-4 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, I like how the sweet cuts the tang.
3-4 tbsp of very coarse black pepper, if your mill dispenses a fine powder, then beat the peppercorns with a rolling-pin or mallet, do it in a napkin, so it won’t fly everywhere.
1-2 tsp salt, I like using sea salt.

Wash and dry the steaks, pat down with a mallet if you want, I kind of have a knack of how meat cooks vis-a-vis the pans and stove I have, so I don’t flatten them at all. Make the marinade in a bowl, taste it please… check the salt-sweet balance and pour over the steaks. Work the marinade into the meat, do this for like few minutes, you will be thankful when these suckers come out looking professional and tasting heavenly. Refrigerate for a day, do this, please, that’s the key. I use glass containers with covers for meats that need to sit in marinades, I don’t like the idea of the vinegar reacting with the plastic and I certainly don’t think zip lock bags can take the chemical balance of this marinade. Invest in some nice glassware bowls that have air tight lids, they are the best for food storage. Remember to shake this bowl a few times before cooking day arrives. On cooking day, heat a nice big skillet if you have or do my non stick pan ploy… I don’t hold back on fats, those are essential in making food taste good. I don’t like diet foods, I hate light meals (actually once in a while is ok) and I don’t believe in substituting. You want stuff to taste like the picture in your recipe book or like the steakhouse you ate at last; then slather the damn thing with fat, now! I use olive oil for this kind of naked steak, I love the way it burns off the ends, I love the way olive oil heats, you can see golden swirls forming across the surface and you know this is what your food needs. Good old olive loving! Then I pick off all the leftover garlic slivers from the marinade and stuff them into the sizzling steaks, I use tongs for this, I use tongs a lot. I actually use tongs in most places where I would otherwise use a metal/plastic spatula. Get tongs! Here too, cook one side only once; constantly turning the steaks will make them tough and overdone. These are relatively think steaks, so you need a sizzle of around 3-4 minutes per side on low fire. With a day of marination, even a total of 7 minutes on the fire are a bit much but I know very few people who like a medium rare steak, at least in India. Use the tongs to pick up the steaks and place them on plates; again don’t forget to pick up the burnt garlic bits for a final finish.

You can grill these steaks too, just keep a mix of melted butter and olive oil for brushing on when you slap it on the grill and keep some for basting too. Basting is essential for thick red meats, it keeps the steak tender and juicy.

I serve this meal with mashed potatoes, I love infusing the mash with a chiffonade of celery, really nice flavouring. I boil peas and sauté in butter for the kid and any other family member that would like to give health a chance, but husband is done with meat and potatoes …one possible carb add-on, bread. And he likes plain white commercial bread, so too bad if I made Focaccia. Or alternatively, I make a quick pasta salad, white onions, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, bow-tie pasta, dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt, pepper and a pinch of oregano.

So this is what we had the other day and I think we need to take a break from beef. I don’t want to freeze any of the leftover meat, so I am going to marinate the chunks I cut for a coconut pepper curry I learnt from a friend’s cook, back in Manipal, this was like 15 years back but we still love this curry to bits!