Steak au Poivre

I had my first steak (that I can remember) when I was in my mid 20's.  I was a vegetarian for four years when I was younger and then didn't eat any red meat for another ten years. That aside, steak was never a big thing in my house when I was growing up.  I can't recall a single time when steak was served as I sat munching my veggie alternative.  Anyway, it took a few years but eventually Weepix managed to show me why such a simple meal is viewed with such reverence.

Tonight we have a couple of inch thick sirloin steaks from Isola farm (via Feather and Bone).  The beef comes from grass fed Chianina cows and is hung for five weeks before sale to improve the flavour.  It's not a cheap steak but you sure as hell know where the extra money went when you taste it.  I'd rather eat one of these every six months than a poorer quality steak on a weekly basis.  No contest.

More often than not I just cook my steak and eat it, maybe with some mustard or horseradish but often with nothing at all.  Sometimes I fancy something a bit fancier and I'll get some beef stock out the freezer and make a red wine or green peppercorn sauce.  This recipe (if you can call it that) is somewhere between the two.
  • Steaks - fillet is traditional but I prefer cuts with a bit more fat.
  • White and black peppercorns (I only have black just now)
  • Salt
  • Butter
  • Brandy
Word of warning - this can get a little smoky so turn on the extractor and/or open the windows.

Lightly crack a couple of tablespoons of peppercorns in a mortar, just so they split apart a bit you don't need to pulverise them.  Sieve the pepper to get rid of the powdery fines and tip half the cracked corns onto a plate with some flakes of salt.  Lay the steaks on top and then sprinkle the rest of the cracked pepper over the top with another pinch of salt.  When it looks like you've got too much pepper on there then you're about good to go.  Get a pan good and hot and add a couple of spoons of sunflower oil.  For steaks an inch think I do them for about two minutes on each side and they come out rare but not cold in the middle.  Remove from the pan and put them on a warmed plate.  If you've bothered to spend cash on decent steak then cooking it past medium is pointless.  If you want well done steak then save yourself some cash and just buy the cheap stuff.  

While the steaks rest a little add about 30g (two decent lumps) of butter to the pan and let it melt and froth, scraping all the tasty black bits as you go.  A minute is more than enough.  Now add a good slug of brandy and give the pan a final scrape.  Take the pan from the heat and then return the steaks to the brandy and butter, turning them to get a good coating.  Plate up the steaks with a crispy skinned baked potato and pour over the rest of the buttery sauce.  If you're throwing caution to the wind you can put some sour cream on the potato but it doesn't really need it and it means you have to run twice as far the next day.  A few lettuce leaves on the side are also pretty good.....especially when they get covered in the butter and brandy.

Grab a decent bottle of cab or shiraz to go with it and you're sorted.

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Tagged Meat Quick Dinner Recipe

Rack of Lamb

Generally speaking, I'm not an impatient person.  I can happily bide my time.  I'm content enjoying the anticipation whilst the good things in life meander toward me.  I usually save up rather than bash the credit card.  I drive like an old man because I'm never in that much of a rush to get anywhere.  I'm learning to play the banjo and I've allowed myself ten years to become competent.  No sense rushing these things.

And then there is resting roasted meat, which is where I go from patient to pacing and anxious. I don't want to wait even longer, I want to eat it now!

Often times I've spent days or even weeks planning that roast and hours preparing it.  The smells coming from the kitchen are driving me mad and it looks glorious!  Finally, it's done.  And now I have to wait another twenty minutes before I can tuck in?  It seems.....well, to be honest, it seems mental and more than a little masochistic.  Hard as it may be, it is a worthwhile exercise and here's why.

As you heat meat the proteins in the cells begin to denature and squeeze out some of the water molecules that separate them.  This denaturing process starts to happen at about 50 degrees C, which is the equivalent of rare.  Continue up to 65 degrees C and the denaturing turns to coagulation and you lose a lot more moisture. So, as you cook you lose moisture, it's unavoidable and necessary assuming you want the outside of the meat to be brown and tasty (Maillard reaction).  Generally speaking after cooking you'll end up with a piece of meat that is hot and dry on the outside and cooler and moist in the middle.  As the meat rests it continues to cook a little, which means that moisture continues to be forced out albeit at a slower pace.  The net result is that some of the moisture in the centre makes it's way toward the outside and the meat seems less dry due to the more even distribution.

Steaks and chops can benefit from a minute or two, large roast ribs of beef or a turkey can easily rest for an hour.

What got me thinking about all this was a simple rack of lamb.  This recipe isn't really much of a recipe at all as all you have to do is slather a basic marinade on a rack of lamb and cook it for 18-20 minutes at 200 degrees C (or on the bbq).  It's good enough to serve up at the poshest dinner parties (where all will declare you genius!) and yet quick enough to make on a Wednesday night after a long day at work.  

Don't let the anchovy put you off.  The end result does not taste at all fishy and anchovy and lamb have an affinity that, in my opinion, can't really be beaten.
  • Rack of lamb (half a rack, four cutlets, per person is generous)
  • 10-12 anchovy fillets chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  • some thyme and/or rosemary chopped
  • a splash of Worcestershire sauce
  • a splash of olive oil
Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a cup or bowl until you have a thick paste and slather it over the rack of lamb.  It will be sloppy and make a bit of a mess so do it on a plate or board.  You can let it stand for as long as you want or cook it straight away.  I cook mine for about 18 minutes at 200 degrees C......let it rest for a few minutes......and serve it rare.  Often times I have it with mashed potatoes or roasted squash, but it's great and a bit lighter with just a green salad.

I'm not sure exactly what it is that does it, but this dish makes all seem right with the world.  You get four (or more) little individual servings of meat on the bone, each one the perfect size.  The sweetness of the lamb and the salty, savoury marinade are just sensational together.  The marinade burns a bit in places and forms a partial crust over the lamb, which is tender and juicy.  Maybe the flavour and texture contrast is the secret?  I don't know for sure but's one of by favourite meals.

The Wine

Pepper Tree 14 Shores Merlot 2008 - $29.50 from the vineyard

Strawberries and rhubarb (little bit of red pepper maybe) on the nose with a little vanilla and oak.  The strawberry was surprisingly pronounced for a merlot.  We got thyme as well but that's possibly due to the thyme in the lamb marinade.   A light and silky mouth feel and the fruit really carries through.  Decent length on the finish and gentle tannins as you'd expect.

We bought a lot of this last time we were at the vineyard and that was the last one.  We'll be buying more.

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Tagged Meat Quick Dinner Recipe Wine

Jamaican Curry Goat

I'm sitting eating one of my all time favourite dishes; left over curry from the night before.  It's one of life's great treats.  I have many happy memories of my later teenage years, waking up with a hangover and finding left over take away Indian food in the fridge.  Take it from me there is no better hangover breakfast.

The curry in question is one prepared using the goat from last weeks meat delivery.   I spent a productive couple of hours last week butchering the whole goat shoulder that had arrived.  As I've never done this before it was a process of trial and error that turned out to be extremely interesting.  Any food related activity that includes the words 'now take your hacksaw' is going to prove a worthy diversion.  Follow the bones with the knife to get as much meat off as possible and then hack up the shoulder and leg bone into decent sized chunks; it's fairly intuitive.  Some of the bony segments didn't have much meat on them, but they's provide loads of flavour.  Well, having gone to the bother of sourcing meat from a goat that had lived a happy life the last thing I wanted to do was waste anything.

After trawling the internet for a few hours there seemed to be about a hundred different 'authentic' recipes for Jamaican Curry Goat.  The common elements seemed to be; scotch bonnets chillies, onions and garlic and Jamaican curry powder.....which itself has about a hundred variations.  This is a bit of a problem.  I'm not shy when it comes to trying out new recipes and seeing what happens, but, as I said above, the entire point of paying more attention to where my meat comes from is lost if I end up making a pile of inedible slop.  To try and prevent this I decided to go with a recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.  Now I know that this is likely to result in a non-authentic Jamaican Curry Goat, but I trust that his recipes will at least result in something tasty.  It also means I have a reason to continue scouring for a genuine recipe in obscure cook books and online, which is something I love doing.

I changed a few things from Hugh's recipe to take account of the common elements of other recipes and make use of what I had.

The Means

  • 1.4kg goat shoulder or leg (scrag end, chops and/or shoulder meat) - you could use lamb or mutton, but I'd recommend you try the goat.
  • 3 large tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped - these seem to be a controversial inclusion 
  • 3 garlic cloves, bashed, then roughly chopped
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 2  birdseye chillies, deseeded and finely chopped - I couldn't find Scotch Bonnets anywhere.  I think their omission may be a Curry Goat cardinal sin!
  • a few good sprigs of thyme (or 1 tsp dried thyme)
  • a good bunch of coriander (leaves and roots)
  • 2 tbsp HP sauce (optional but very authentic) - Can't see how this is authentic, but in it went.
  • Good glug of peanut oil
  • salt
Jamaican curry powder
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tbsp black peppercorns
  • 12 cardamom pods
  • tbsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp ground turmeric
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
The Method

1. To prepare the curry blend, dry-roast the first 5 spices by tossing them for a couple of minutes in a hot, dry frying pan, then pound in a pestle and mortar or grind in a coffee or spice grinder. Mix with the ginger and turmeric.

2. Cut the goat into good-sized chunks (I prefer 2–3cm thick chunky slices to even cubes; think in terms of 3–4 pieces per person), trimming off only the really excessive fat.

3. In a large bowl (big enough to take the meat), combine 2 level tbsp of the freshly ground spice mix with the tomatoes, garlic, onions and chillies. Strip the thyme leaves off their stalks, bruise with a knife blade and add to the bowl. Finely chop the roots and stalks of the coriander (set aside the leaves for adding to the curry at the end) and add them, too.  Add the HP sauce if you like.

4. Add the meat to the marinade, rubbing the marinade in well with your fingers. You should spend a bit of time over this, working the spices into the meat and enjoying the smell that rises from the bowl. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

5. Remove the meat from the seasoning, knocking off any loose bits of onion or tomato (these will be fried separately later). In a large pan, fry the meat in the butter until it is nicely browned. You’ll need to do this in at least 2 batches.

6. Transfer to a large casserole (in the Caribbean they’d use a cast iron Dutch pot). Then fry the seasoning that you’ve just taken the meat out of – everything that’s left in the bowl – until the onions are softened. Add to the meat in the pot.

7. Deglaze the pan with a little water and add these juices, along with enough extra water just to cover the meat. Add a scant teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil, then turn it down to the gentlest possible simmer. Transfer to a very low oven (about 120°c/Gas Mark ½), if you like, or cook on the hob, until the meat is very tender.

8. It will need at least 2, more like 3, hours. Serve sprinkled with the chopped coriander leaves, accompanied by plain boiled rice and fried plantains, plus mango chutney or other Jamaican pickles.

This dish is worth cooking for the smell alone.  As soon as those fenugreek seeds hit the pan the whole house smells wonderful.  All in all the whole preparation took about an hour.  It a good dish if you have a few folk coming round as the marinade is best prepared the day before and left over night.

After about an hour of gentle simmering I was getting a bit concerned as it was tasting entirely too watery.  Have faith though.  By the end of hour two the meat was falling off the bone, the sauce had thickened and the flavours were just incredible.  Any bone sections that were still sporting meat were left in while the other sections were discarded prior to serving.  

Served up with Afghan bread, white rice, mango and lime chutney and lime pickle (I could eat this by itself anyway) it had a nice building heat that wasn't overwhelming.  The goat itself is spectacular for curry.  It's not as full flavoured as lamb but absorbs all the spices just as well as lamb does and is incredibly tender.  A couple of cold beers and some good chat with friends rounded things off nicely.  Sorry Mr Goat, but you just became a fixture on the menu.

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Tagged Meat Recipe
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