(OT) HELP! Urgent! (steak recipes requested)

Soak them for an hour in terayaki sauce, then barbeque. I like fillets this way.

The absolute best thing is to get a whole prime beef tenderloin, rub with salt and butter, and bake at 450F until a meat thermometer says rare.

Or make a Wellington.

John

Oh, thanks for that idea.

I tried making my own teriyaki sauce just the other day (variation of a recipe I found on the web). My version went something like (off the top of my head) 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup mirin, 4 tbsp. sugar, all heated to boiling in a saucepan. Also tossed in a tsp. of cornstarch, but the mix didn't thicken as I expected. (Maybe I had to add a little water...?)

I'm sure sake can be substituted for the mirin, with an increase in the sugar, but I haven't tried this yet.

Butter... interesting idea! Thanks.

Thanks...

Michael

(1) Good meat needs no sauce.

(2) Set meat out of refrigerator to warm up to room temperature _at_least_4_hours_prior_ to grilling, to ensure that a warm pink center is attained without burning the outer surface.

...Jim Thompson

Good meat needs no sauce.

I prefer a Rarington myself ;-)

...Jim Thompson

I tried mine directly out of the freezer, but "marinated" it in a salt water bath for a few hours (in a plastic sealable bag), to thaw the steak more quickly (and without burning bits of it by thawing in the microwave).

Bad idea?

Someone (in a math post?) mentioned something about seeing differential equations everywhere... I was tempted to try and calculate the time required for the steak center to be thawed... then I thought, naah.

Michael

I've thawed chicken like that, but I never freeze beef.

Typically I go buy my filet or strip or rib eye about noon and then just leave it on the kitchen counter until evening. Then I take it outside and grill it on the "barby".

Then serve on a "sizzle platter" to keep it warm. Baked potato on the side ;-)

...Jim Thompson

I like to soak them overnight in a good marinade. If you buy cheap cuts, use a slow cooker and cook them with chopped raw onion and meat tenderizer. You can buy steak seasoning.

Ok, NOW I'm getting hungry!

Don't freeze steaks. It makes them tougher. Do let them reach room temperature. Don't put sauce on them before cooking, but some garlic powder, rosemary, and butter or other oils can add flavor. Cook over very hot coals, or a high grill. Be careful to not overcook (my usual problem!)

Be careful with salt. It tends to dry out the meat if you use ordinary table salt. Maybe kosher, but I don't cook with any salt at all. Add it at the table.

Charlie

That is really a roast, not a steak. I do this with london broil. I also make into a pot roase sometimes with potatoes and baby carrots.

Charlie

Adolph's Meat Tenderizer. Follow instructions.

A marinade is simple - I've used a cup of Soy Sauce, with a couple tablespoons of black pepper corns and some chopped/minced/diced onion, with whatever spices you like - maybe a little sage, maybe some basil, depending on what flavor you like.

I've been thinking of using some heavy red wine for a marinade, and maybe some mustard and garlic.

Just throw anything in that you think would taste good, and soak the steak overnight; if the meat isn't covered, then turn it over and soak it for another day or night.

Then I do it in the broiler, and it's like eating ambrosia. :-)

Good Eating! Rich

Not necessarily, if you know the trick. Microwave it for less than a minute - don't let it cook, just thaw - then cover the thawed parts with aluminum foil - yes, it's OK to put aluminum foil in the microwave as long as there's something wet there to absorb the energy - and then warm it up a little more - if more of the meat looks like it's about to cook, then cover the bigger area with foil, and so on. I've done this with burger, and it seems to work fine.

Everything is differential equations, one way or another - but cooking isn't really an intellectual pursuit - it's much more earthy and real.

Just do what tastes good!

Cheers! Rich

Do you bake your potatoes in the microwave or a conventional oven? Or in foil, in the coals?

Thanks, Rich

Yep, thus my comment "I never freeze beef".

Salt. All I do with salt: Rub potato with olive oil, then rub with Kosher salt, then bake... or even nuke. "Baked" potatoes do just fine in the microwave.

...Jim Thompson

And baby onions... sometimes even some cabbage.

I'm getting hungry. I think I'll go warm up some of the homemade Albondigas soup my wife made a few days ago ;-)

...Jim Thompson

I don't like anything on a steak, if its anything decent. Maybe black pepper. I sometimes use Mr's Dash for many things, including my world famous barbecue sauce.

greg

Mix up a concoction of oregano and basil finely crushed between your sweaty hands or finely minced if fresh, garlic salt (or garlic powder or fresh garlic and some salt), fresh ground black pepper. I also use marjoram and thyme. Better if you can get your herbs fresh from the garden.

Get a nice rib-eye steak (I like black angus if I want to splurge) and liberally coat above ingredients on both sides of the steak. Let the coated steak(s) sit in the fridge for 5 to 12 hours.

Over a BBQ (don't waste your time cooking this in an oven or pan!) grill steaks and periodically throw in sprigs of green rosemary into the side of the coals. The burning rosemary will impart a nice smoke flavor. Best as a rare steak (still bleeding). If you cook medium or more burnt, save money and buy the cheapest toughest steak as it is only fit for the dog.

Enjoy with home-made spatzle, some grill-cooked veggies on a skewer and a red wine.

Charlie Edmondson wrote: ...

Long ago, down Jim Thompson's way, I used to enjoy steaks at Little Abner's (when they still didn't have a printed menu, and the only two things they served were the one pound steak dinner or the two pound steak dinner), where they cooked them over a HOT mesquite fire outside, where you could see what they were doing. Watching them, I learned to turn the steak over the hot fire (coals) frequently. Mine always seem to turn out better when I do that, rather than just turning them once. YMMV, as they say, but it works for me.

Cheers, Tom

Doesn't need it, but it tastes good anyhow. And there's no reason at all to buy bad meat, like the crud the supermarkets sell. If you're not paying $15-20 a pound for steak, you're probably getting beef-flavored cardboard.

We often do teriyaki beef and teriyaki salmon together, since Mo isn't into big hunks of red meat.

Joint around here does Hamburger Wellington for lunch, quite tasty.

John

Sounds good.

...Jim Thompson