FoodBites RECIPE: FOOLPROOF Steak

PREP TIME: 10-15 MINS      COOKING TIME: 10-15 MINS

DISH TYPE: Main

INGREDIENTS:

• Steak – Best Ribeye (~300g, although this recipe can be applied to any cut)
• Knoor beef stock cube (Reasons why stated in the steps and afterword)
• Olive Oil
• Garlic (fresh, sliced or diced)
• Rosemary (fresh preferred)
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper (freshly ground)
• Cayenne Pepper Powder

FOODBITES SAYS:

STEAK. Honestly. Who doesn’t love steak?! (Except vegetarians, cows & weird people)

While some people think its the easiest cut to cook, others are the polar opposite. Between, cook times and the various combinations of seasonings available, steak can be a daunting task to cook. Especially if you’re cooking to impress!

We’ve chosen the simplest of ingredients to cook your steak to perfection! Here we aim to give you the recipe for a steak you can trust! Pleasing the most avid steak lover with ingredients that will bring out the flavours of a beautiful cut of Rib Eye. However you can select any cut of beef steak, though we recommend the higher quality and to look for a good amount of marbling. Marbling in cuts of beef is your best friend, because as the fat cooks out, it imparts juice and adds flavour to the meat while cooking. If you can get your hands on that, half your work is done!

We’ve even taken this recipe with us to sunny Barcelona, Spain! Just looking at these mouth-watering photos makes us want to go back! If only our local butcher was so plentiful!

Time to create a dish fit for steak-aholics.

VIDEO:

STEPS:

1.  Mix together spices Salt, black pepper, and Cayenne Pepper in a small bowl and set aside
2. Crush your garlic with the side of the knife or use a garlic press (1-2 cloves depending on how strong a garlicly taste you want)
3. Use blunt end of knife to bruise the rosemary, this helps in releasing the flavours
4. Now to throw in a controversial ingredient. A beef stock cube. So you’ve bought bought the best cut of beef money can buy, (or what your wallet allows), and now we ask you to prep a stock cue for it? WHY?! Well The stock cube packs ample flavour and ensures you don’t mess up on the important part, the seasoning. You need to mash up the stock cube into some oil until well mixed. No lumps please.
5. Spread the beef stock mixture across the steak and sprinkle over the spice mixture.
6.  Massage in! This is an all important step. Make sure you cover the whole steak and work in the oils and spices to ensure flavours are well incorporated and evenly spread.
7. Repeat on the other side, then leave to rest for a little while. Letting those flavours seep into the meat.
8. Once ready, put some oil in a pan on high heat, (if you want those grill lines, use a griddle pan) once the oil has heated up, chuck in the garlic and rosemary and any leftover spices. Work those ingredients across the pan to help flavour the oil
9. Add the steak once the garlic reaches a golden brown
10. Cook to your desired level (guide times below). There are people who say you mustn’t ever flip your steak back and forth. We have tried both methods, there really doesn’t seem to be any justification for this. The only difference we believe this makes, depending on your hob etc, is that it may help you get a more even cook on both sides. Keep in mind the second side will cook through a little faster than on the first side, since the internal temperature is now already warmer, it will take a little less time for the centre to cook through
11. While cooking, feel free to work the rosemary and garlic under the steak or brush atop to add extra kick. But don’t forget to remove them from the pan if they seem like they are starting to burn. This recipe doesn’t warrant burnt flavours, unless you do!
12. Remove the steak from the pan & leave to rest for a moment or two
13. Bite in and enjoy!

Caution; Cook times will depend on the weight, thickness and the size of steak you have and may vary depending on your hob and pans, so the times suggested may need to be amended accordingly. We aren’t Blue rare people, but we do like ours a blushing medium rare, so we’ve given cook times for our preferred rarity. Alternatively, use a meat thermometer, to check that the internal temperature of your steak reaches, ~60C for medium and well done ~70C. To use the probe, push into the centre of meat at the thickest part while avoiding any bones and wait for 20 seconds before taking the reading. You also refer to our handy little guide below:

Other top tips include, bringing your meat out to room temperature this helps your meat to cook evenly. We like to sear our meat to the perfect brown, with char marks if possible. To do this, you need a griddle pan – searing hot.

Once the cooking time is up, rest, rest, rest your meat before slicing & serving.  This will result in beautiful cuts for presentation and Instagram style photos – which we are still getting the hang of!

You’ll notice a divide in the steak above. It is perfectly normal, but this happens when there is a line of fat running through the steak which gets cooked out resulting in the separation of the meat.

AFTERWORD:

The spices we’ve chosen for this particular recipe are the ones we recommend if you want to make a steak with extra beefy flavour. A delicious meaty accompaniment to  fresh greens, mash or chips! Yum!

We have recommended you use the Knorr brand of stock cube for one simple reason, (Step 4 the mixing of the stock cube with the oil) we have found easiest with the Knoor branded stock cubes. This is by no means a sponsored post. We have just found it to be significantly easier and quicker to mix together the stock cube and oil without being left with large clumps and lumps. If you are really lazy, just get the liquid version and rub it all over instead of mixing a cube with oil. If you know of any other brands of stock cube that work just as well or better, please let us know!

If you’re feeling adventurous, change up this recipe however you like. Maybe you like this with an extra kick? We recommend using dried chilli flakes or even adding some fresh chillies to lightly fry in the pan along side the steak. This recipe is hungry for variations and is just the fool proof basis for a delicious flavourful steak!

Another pro-chef-y tip would be to utilise all that wonderful char in the steak pan once you’re done cooking. By using a bit of butter, liquid stock or even just water to deglaze the pan this will incorporate extra special flavours into a sauce!

Let us know if you tried out this simple recipe and how it worked for you! Maybe you did something different or have some suggestions for us, we’d be happy to hear back!

Leave a comment below and follow us for more recipes and reviews.

Enjoy your FoodBites!