A Big Mis-Steak?? Part2

A Strange Alien Ex-Lifeform...

And so to Saturday – Steak Day in the Old Fella’s household. Sinéad and I looking over the table at this large, pink, alien piece of muscle and fat sitting on a plate and sort of looking back at us. Sinéad looked at me – I looked at Sinéad - we looked at the steak. Could we do it? Could we actually eat this? Could we put so many years of bad memories behind us and actually eat this? “We’re having STEAK???” squealed Alice from behind us. Two things shot through my head instantaneously – 1) I’m not being beaten by my 11 year old daughter who loves beef and 2) how come my 11 year old loves beef when we don’t? Sinéad left the room….

The Menu

I decided to keep this simple. If we were going to do this we felt it was important to ensure we could taste the steak and not cover it up with something like a pepper sauce, at least for the first time. So we agreed on Rib Eye Steak, Salad, Spicy Potato Wedges and Homemade Dinner Rolls. Can I be really honest here and say, yes, we did have a packet of sausages in the fridge just in case.

After watching Series 1 Episode 1 of Good Eats “Steak your Claim” I had paid visit to the local butcher and chose a nice steak – good colour with some marbling about 1½ inches thick. If you are in Ireland check out Good Eats on YouTube as it isn’t broadcast on the Food Network here (what’s up with that?) The books are available on Amazon and I thoroughly recommend them.

At this point I turned to the wedges …This is so much nicer than any of the packets you buy in the supermarket (good for vegetarians too...)

Spicy Potato Wedges

3 to 4 mid to large firm potatoes (I used Roosters)

2-3 Tbls Vegetable oil

Spice Mix

1 Tbls Paprika

1 Tbls ground Coriander

1 Tsp Cumin Seeds (lightly crushed)

1 Tsp Turmeric

Pinch of Salt and grind of Pepper

I added a ¼ Tsp of Chipotle Chili Powder to give a kick – omit if you don’t like chili or use any standard chili powder if you prefer.

Preheat the oven to 200oc

Cut the potatoes into half, then quarters, then eighths. Parboil for 3 minutes in a large pot of boiling salted water. Drain well. Return to pot.

Add the oil and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle the Spice Mix over the Potatoes and mix well.

Spread out onto a baking sheet and bake for 35 to 40 minutes turning once until the wedges are golden, soft and fluffy.

So we fired up the cast iron pan and cooked the steak according to the instructions. Prepared the salad. Buttered the rolls. Put the wedges into a warmed dish. Plated. Looked. Looked again. Breathed deeply. Ate……

And it wasn’t terrible. We couldn’t believe it – a good steak properly prepared was …actually nice. And the biggest surprise was that the pinker meat in the middle was tenderer than the well done parts at the edges. The TV chefs actually know what they are doing – who knew? And yes – we will be eating it again. I might even try roast beef next……