Beef steak - general principles and methods of cooking
A classic steak is a portion of beef meat with a thickness of about 3 cm, roasted on both sides. Steaks can have different degrees of roasting, the main of which is Rare degree (with blood, the finished steak has an internal temperature of 45 ° C to 50 ° C), Medium degree (average degree of roasting, steak temperature ranges from 55 ° C to 60 ° C) and the degree of Well-done (deep-fried steak with a temperature of 65 ° C to 70 ° C).
Ideally, the readiness of a steak of varying degrees of roasting is determined using a culinary thermometer, however, in our everyday home reality, this method is used extremely rarely, determining the readiness of a dish, as they say, by sight.
When choosing the degree of heat treatment of a steak, you need to remember that with strong roasting the meat loses its juice and becomes dry and tough. However, even Rare lovers like to eat Rarek meat. The most popular all over the world is the medium steak, which has a uniform brown color, but when pressed, it exudes pink juice.
The most common steak side dishes are grilled vegetables or fresh vegetable salads.
Beef steak - food preparation
For the preparation of this beef steak, the pulp of beef without veins and bones from the “intercostal” part is necessary, and this should ideally be “fresh” meat, then the dish will be juicy and fragrant. Such meat should be cut into pieces having a thickness of about 3 cm.
If you still cook steak from meat that has been frozen (for example, by purchasing a portion of beef prepared for steak), thaw it as far as possible in the main compartment of the refrigerator. It will take a lot of time, but in this way it will best retain its properties. You can speed up the defrosting process by placing the meat directly in the package in cold water. But do not defrost the steak in the microwave, even in the defrosting mode, as its upper layers will begin to prepare, and the middle will be still cold. As a result, evenly fry such a steak will already be problematic. And even more so you should not defrost the meat, immersing its warm water. Another important tip for novice cooks: selective meat, which is usually used to make steak, is not beaten, otherwise it will lose not only its structure, but all its juices.
In addition to meat, for cooking steak, you must stock up with any (preferably olive) vegetable oil and a set of spices or herbs. Salted steaks are only ready, already before serving.
Beef steak - preparation of dishes
To prepare the steak frying pan is needed. Ideally, this could be a special grill pan; however, in an ordinary cast-iron frying pan, which is likely to be found in every kitchen, you can also cook quite a decent steak. A knife is also required to make a steak. Again, there is a special knife for steak, but in principle, any one that can cut a piece of beef into beautiful and even pieces for a steak about 3 cm wide is suitable. In order to turn the steak over frying, it is necessary to have cooking tongs.
Beef steak - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Beef steak on butter
Very simple at first glance recipe. By choosing the right meat, cutting it right into steaks and frying for the time you need, you will get a delicious steak, which you will sincerely feel sorry for vegetarians.
Ingredients:
800 gr. beef;
50 gr. butter;
to taste salt and ground black pepper.
Cooking Method:
1. After washing and drying the beef tenderloin with a paper towel, cut it into several steaks with a thickness of about 3 cm.
2. Put the pan on a high heat and melt the butter.
3. Peking steaks on one side, put them on the pan with this side.
4. Then, pepper the second side, turn the meat over. Frying time is determined by the degree of "roast" meat, which you prefer. If it is enough for you to fry slightly outside and very little - inside, you should fry for up to 3 minutes on each side; if you want to get meat well roasted on the outside and pink inside, the roasting time on each side is about 4 minutes; To get fried crust and complete readiness of the meat inside it should be fried for about 5 minutes on each side. Salt before serving.
Recipe 2: Steak in the oven
The meat cooked in the oven is softer, and the crust obtained by roasting the meat in a pan prevents the juices from flowing out of it. That is why such meat, especially if it is seasoned with herbs, is so tender and fragrant.
Ingredients:
1 kg of beef;
4 tbsp. l olive oil;
salt and pepper to taste;
herbs (thyme, rosemary).
Cooking Method:
1. After washing and drying the beef tenderloin with a paper towel, cut it into pieces with a thickness of about 3 cm (about 4 pieces should turn out).
2. In order not to pour olive oil into the pan, pickle the steaks in oil with herbs for an hour, and then send them to a well heated (up to 250 degrees) pan and fry for about 2 minutes on each side to get a crust.
3. Then put the fried steaks in the oven, preheated to 170 degrees, and bring them to the desired degree of readiness for 10-15 minutes.
Recipe 3: Beef Steak with Red Sauce
Steaks with red sauce - a real gift for gourmets. If you like to experiment, try serving ordinary beef steaks with red sauce with grape juice, red wine and pepper, and you will get a delicious dish that will exceed all your expectations.
Ingredients:
1 kg of beef steaks;
3 tbsp. l flour;
2 tbsp. l butter;
1.5 cups broth;
0.3 glass of red wine;
0.3 cups of black currant juice;
2 tsp. red pepper;
to taste salt and ground black pepper.
Cooking Method:
1. After rubbing steaks with pepper, fry them on both sides for about 3 minutes each.
2. We shift them to the cast-iron dishes and bake for about 15 minutes in a well-heated oven.
3. Prepare the sauce: melt the butter in a frying pan, fry the flour on it to golden brown, then pour the broth into it and, stirring constantly, bring everything to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes. Then pour currant juice, wine and add red pepper, bring to a boil and turn it off. Serve steaks with this sauce and potatoes.
Beef steak - tips from experienced chefs
Cut meat on steaks should be across the fibers, for uniform penetration of heat into the thickness of the meat during cooking.
If you fry steaks on coals, where the temperature is much higher than in the pan, you should first fry the steak on both sides for about half a minute to form a crust that prevents the juices from flowing out of the meat, and continue to roast the loan, alternately turning the steak on one side on the other.
It is necessary to heat the pan for cooking the steak over high heat, but it is impossible to allow the oil to smoke, since in such a pan the steak, burning from the outside, will remain moist from the inside and hard. It is believed that the pan is warmed to the desired temperature, if a hiss is heard when laying steaks on it.
After frying, give the steak a “rest” for about 10 minutes (after removing the meat from the heat, just let it sit). Then it will be much softer, since the juices that have risen up during frying can be evenly distributed throughout the piece.
The readiness of the steak is checked by pressing a finger on it. The steak with blood should be soft; well cooked - hard, and a medium steak steak should be some kind of “middle ground”.
