We are lucky enough to get the best of the best when it comes to aged beef. Butcher Shop and Grill here is a South African chain and they sell aged beef over the counter. Eye fillet is generally pretty blah but Butcher Shop aged eye fillet is something else. Meltingly tender, incredibly flavourful and utterly addictive.
I have a technique (which I don't know why more people don't do actually) of lightly salting meat I will be pan cooking and leaving it uncovered in the fridge for the day or overnight. It essentially draws moisture from the protein but only on the exposed pieces. Therefore I find that when I go to roast, grill etc the surface area is now nice and dry and a crust forms easily with very little splatter. I use this technique for chicken with the skin on too. It allows the skin to dry out and crisp up easily in the oven.
OK so anyway Andy cooked the steak. Cooked it to rare - medium rare perfection. Turning it every 30 secs in a good pan on a decent heat creates a beautiful crust and loads of caramelised blood flavour. Yum.
I made a cauliflower puree with umami flavours in mind. I added a little bit of raw garlic, some parmesan and a touch of MSG. I KNOW.... it's not the thing to do but I disagree with that consensus. MSG is a great flavour enhancer and will do you absolutely no harm. I mean billions of people eat loads of the stuff. They seem fine. I like MSG.
The cauliflower puree was topped with crisp cooked cauliflower pieces. The steak is resting on top of a baked portobello mushroom. I topped it off with some truffle oil (yes that beast of a thing that gets a big bad wrap but again I LIKE IT and can't get truffles so all you truffle oil snobs can snob away.
Viola! Simple steak deliciousness.
I have a technique (which I don't know why more people don't do actually) of lightly salting meat I will be pan cooking and leaving it uncovered in the fridge for the day or overnight. It essentially draws moisture from the protein but only on the exposed pieces. Therefore I find that when I go to roast, grill etc the surface area is now nice and dry and a crust forms easily with very little splatter. I use this technique for chicken with the skin on too. It allows the skin to dry out and crisp up easily in the oven.
OK so anyway Andy cooked the steak. Cooked it to rare - medium rare perfection. Turning it every 30 secs in a good pan on a decent heat creates a beautiful crust and loads of caramelised blood flavour. Yum.
I made a cauliflower puree with umami flavours in mind. I added a little bit of raw garlic, some parmesan and a touch of MSG. I KNOW.... it's not the thing to do but I disagree with that consensus. MSG is a great flavour enhancer and will do you absolutely no harm. I mean billions of people eat loads of the stuff. They seem fine. I like MSG.
The cauliflower puree was topped with crisp cooked cauliflower pieces. The steak is resting on top of a baked portobello mushroom. I topped it off with some truffle oil (yes that beast of a thing that gets a big bad wrap but again I LIKE IT and can't get truffles so all you truffle oil snobs can snob away.
Viola! Simple steak deliciousness.
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