Cooking Steaks at home

Haven't been posting in a while. Sorry for the long hiatus. I did a few BBQs that involved steaks and I had some folks asking this question, "How to cook a good steak at home?". Since its way past due for a new post. I thought I'd post something about how I do my steaks at home.

Cooking steak at home is not hard nor is it every complicated. It does take some practice however. Getting to know your Most of the work is done while choosing the steak. Choosing the right cut at the butcher's. A cut that is right for you and suits your preferences.

Typical Prime Cuts used for steaks are:
Sirloin
Striploin
Tenderloin
T-bone or Porterhouse
Ribeye
Skirt (Recently Gaining popularity)

General Rule of thumb, the more the muscle is used the stronger the flavour of the meat/cut.

After choosing the right cut, now you start to prepare the steak. There are different schools of thought  (eg Salt aging, cooking from frozen etc...) but I will not cover them all here. I will just cover the method I use the most.

1. Let the meat reach room temperature if you have the luxury of time. Should take about 30mins to an hour outside the fridge.

2. When ready to cook, pat the beef really dry with a paper towel. Then season both sides assertively with salt and pepper.

3. Next heat some cooking oil in heavy based saute pan or frying pan over high heat. Get it really hot. Then add in the beef. Lay the beef the a direction that is away from you, to prevent hot oil splattering on yourself. Immediately after the beef goes in, lower the heat to medium or medium high,

4. To get it medium rare, typically takes about 2-3 minutes per side. If you like a good sear, avoid flipping your beef back and forth. When on the second side, I typically like to finish of with a knob of butter, a few garlic cloves (lightly bruised with skin on)and some thyme. Baste the steak with the melted butter during the cooking.

5. Remove from the pan and let the beef rest for half the cooking time before serving.

For great sides to go with your steak, check out my recipes for:
Creamed Spinach
Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes

Hope this will help you create a great steak dinner at home.

Caramelized Onion Purée

Onion Purée, some would say it goes great with a lot of different foods and I will not disagree with that. Personally though, I love it with well seared beef or pork chops.

Seared Beef with Onion Purée

Caramelizing the onions bring out a sweet nutty flavour from the onions. This is a sweet and savoury side that I really like. Its really simple to make, but does take a little time to get done.

Here is what you'll need to serve 4.
2-3 large yellow onions - Thinly sliced or diced.
1/2 cup of beef stock
1/2 teaspoon mustard
2-3 tablespoons butter.

Steps:
1. In a medium large saucepan or deep-sided sauté plan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Then add in all the sliced onions. Stir well to incorporate the butter with all the onions. Stir frequently to help the onions brown at relatively the same rate and to prevent burning. Might be difficult in the beginning due to the quantity and size of your pan. The onions will shrink alot as they cook. Do this until the onions soften and get to a nice golden brown. Should take about 10-15 mins.

2. At this point add the beef stock a little bit at a time. Cook until all the liquids have greatly reduced. This step also serves to de-glaze the pan, incorporating the browned goodness from the base or sides of the plan. Continue stirring frequently until the onions reach a nice brown colour. Probably another 3-5 minutes or so.

3. Turn off the heat and put all the onions in the food processor and blend till smooth. Remove and place in a large bowl.

4. Add the mustard and remaining butter, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Can be served warm or cold.

Spicy Baked Eggs

The wife loves baked eggs in a tomato based sauce. So I decided to make this for breakfast one day. We both love little spicy kick in our food sometimes, (Actually its most of the time for me) so this is my spicy rendition of a great brunch dish. The trick is timing the bake, so as not to overcook the eggs.

Spicy Baked Eggs with sausage and garnished with basil

Here's what you'll need to serve 2.
4 Eggs - Cracked into 2 bowls. 2 eggs in each bowl.
1 400gm can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato puree.
1 small / medium yellow onion - diced
2 cloves garlic - minced/diced
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (Optional)
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/2 Red Capsicum - diced
2 sausages - cut into thick slices (I used spicy pork ones, but you can use your own preferred sausages)
Parmesan Cheese
handful Fresh Basil - sliced (For Garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste.

Steps:
1. Pre-heat your oven to grill/broil.

2. In a oven-safe frying pan, heat some oil over medium heat. When the oil is heated, fry the sausage chunks until they achieve nice browning on the surfaces. Remove sausages from the pan and set them aside, leaving the oil behind.

3. Next fry the diced capsicum in the pan for about a 2-3 minutes. Next add the onions, garlic, chilli flakes and smoked paprika. Fry for about 3-4 minutes, until the onions soften and the chillies give off their aroma. Then add the tomatoes and tomato puree and cook for about 5-10 minutes (cooking out the tartness from the tomatoes), stirring often. Taste as you go, adding salt and pepper as you like. Turn off the heat once you get the consistency and depth of flavor that you want. (I like my tomatoes really cooked out, so I sometimes cook them out a little longer)

3. Make a couple of little wells in the sauce with a spoon or ladle and pour the eggs in. Place the whole pan in the oven and grill for 6-10 minutes. (Depending on how runny you like your eggs).

4. Remove from the oven, garnish generously with basil and grated Parmesan. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil if you like. Serve immediately with crusty bread.

Hope you'll enjoy this coz we did :)

Pan Seared Salmon with Carrot mash and Leek Cream sauce.

I was at a nearby supermarket and the salmon fillets and leeks looked really good that day. I decided to use them both for dinner so I bought both, together with some cream and carrots and went home and made dinner.

Very enjoyable dinner. The leek infused sauce really brought the dish together. I thought the highlight was the crispy skin on the Salmon. Getting that skin nice and crispy is so crucial to the enjoyment factor of this meal.

Pan Seared Salmon with Carrot mash and Leek Cream

Here is what you'll need for 4 servings.
4 Salmon fillets - About 200 grams each.
200ml whipping cream
1 leek - sliced (White and light green parts only. Discard the dark green and leafy parts)
3-4 large carrots - peeled and cut into large chunks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2-3 sprigs of Italian Parsley - Leaves only, roughly chopped
1/4 Milk (For when the puree is too dry to blend)
Chopped chives for garnish (Optional)

Steps
For the Carrot Mash
1. Boil the carrots for about 40 mins in salted water, until they are soft enough for a fork to go through them easily. Strain and set aside. (alternatively, you could bake them wrapped in foil for about 45-60 minutes in an oven at 160 degrees Celsius).

2. Let them cool for a while then puree in a food processor or blender. To ease the blending use some milk if needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in 1 tablespoon of butter. Set aside.

Leek Cream Sauce
1. In a frying pan over medium heat, melt some butter. When butter starts to heat up and bubble, add in the leeks. Fry the leeks until they soften and start to give off a nutty aroma, just before they brown. Should take 3-5 minutes. Then add the cream and parsley. Turn of the heat when cream is heated up or boiling. Set aside.

For the Salmon Fillets:
1. Season the fillet with salt and pepper. Heat some oil over medium heat in a frying pan. When oil is heated up, lay in the salmon, skin side down. Cook for about 3 minutes and turn over and cook for about 1-2 minutes. You want the skin nice and crispy. Cooking times may vary based on the thickness of your fillets. If your skillet/pan is not big enough to cook 4 at the same time, you may need to cook in batches. When done, remove the fillets from pan and set aside.

Serve the Carrots and Salmon together and pour the sauce over the fish and carrot. Garnish with chives if using and serve immediately. 
Enjoy!

Creamed Spinach with Poached Egg

Creamed spinach is apparently a quintessential side dish to a steak meal. The wife and I had this at an upmarket steakhouse a while ago. We really liked it. The one we had was served with a sunny side up egg, which the waiter hacked to bits with a spoon at your table side.

The nearby Cold Storage was having a discount on baby spinach recently so we bought 2 packs. I really didn't feel like a salad that day (but then again I rarely do! ;P) so I thought I'd try my own rendition of creamed spinach. Both the wife and I found it rather enjoyable. The poached egg yolk added to the richness and bits of egg white gave the dish some textural variation.

Cream Spinach with Poached Egg

Here is what you'll need for 2
2 Packs Baby Spinach - About 180 grams or so.
1/2 white onion - finely diced
2 cloves garlic - minced
200ml whipping cream
1 knob of butter (about 1/2 tablespoon or so)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/4 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (Optional)
2 Poached eggs (optional)

1. Boil a large pot of salted water. (about 2 teaspoons of salt). When water comes to a boil, put all the spinach in. They take just seconds to wilt. When wilted, remove and strain the liquid. Set aside to cool.

2. Next mince the spinach with a knife on a chopping board. Or you can use a food processor if you want it really fine. I like mine with some bite, so I just used a knife to chop up the spinach.

3. In a frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Then sautee the onion and garlic till they turn soft. Add the cream and mix well. When the cream is heated up, turn off the heat and add the spinach and Parmesean (If using) and mix everything well together.

4. Serve in shallow bowls and top with poached eggs if desired. Serve warm.

Hope you'll like this.

Spicy Tagliatelle With Cherry Tomatoes, Basil and Bacon.

Haven't been cooking anything new in a while. Busy schedules and all. I felt like a spicy pasta dish (which is quite often) one evening and thought making use of the pack of leftover cherry tomatoes in the fridge. This is a variation of pasta dishes I posted here before. Its not too heavy or saucy, but lightly dressed in a sauce that is not too strong but still full of flavour. The sweetness of the tomatoes and the saltiness of the bacon go so well together.

This easy meal for 2 is put together in less than 30 minutes.

Spicy Tagliatelle With Cherry Tomatoes, Basil and Bacon.

Here is what you need for 2.

180 grams Tagliatelle pasta (Or your favourite long pasta)
100 grams streaky bacon - cut into small strips.
5-6 cloves of garlic - sliced
1/2 cup Chardonnay or dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock (Or use the salted water from cooking the pasta of stock is not available)
2-3 bird's eye chilli/chilli padi - sliced (leave these out for a non-spicy version)
12 Cherry tomatoes - Halved
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of fresh basil leaves - Sliced
Cooking oil (canola, light olive etc)
Extra virgin olive oil - for drizzling.

Steps:1. Cook pasta In a pot of salted boiling water for 2 minutes (Or according to package instructions). Strain and set aside. Add some olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together.

2. In a large saute pan, heat some cooking oil. When oil heated, fry the bacon strips until they almost turn crisp (4-5 minutes) then add in the garlic and tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. 

3. At this point deglaze by adding in the white wine and chicken stock. Scraping up the brown bits from the base with a wooden spoon or similar implement. Allow to simmer for about a couple of minutes or so.

4. Add the pasta into the pan and mix well. Turn off the heat. Add the chillies and basil. (You can save some for garnish) Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Dish onto pasta plates and garnish with some fresh basil and chillies. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately.

Hope you will like this. Enjoy!

Spicy Garlic Prawns with Corriander, Chorizo, Macadamia and Cherry Tomatoes

This is a rather common dish you'll encounter at many western restaurants. I recently had a variation of this dish at one of the local establishments which left me rather dissatisfied. It was really just some prawns on a hot plate with garlic oil and some chilli flakes. After the meal, I decided to make my own rendition of it. In fact I actually went and bought the prawns for this immediately after leaving the restaurant.

I added macadamia nuts, chorizo, tomatoes and corriander to give some additional flavour dimensions. The macadamia add a mild nutty flavour and textural contrast. Chorizo are savoury spicy sausages with some fat which makes it meld flavours very well with the whole dish. The tomatoes provide some sweetness and the corriander give the dish a fragrance which lifts the whole dish.

Excellent dish as an appetiser or a side to a main meal.

Spicy Garlic Prawns with Corriander, Chorizo, Macadamia and Cherry Tomatoes. 

Serves 2-4 people.

300 grams Large Grey Prawns - Shelled
50-70 grams Chorizo - Thinly sliced
8-12 macadamia nuts - Halved.
5-8 cherry tomatoes - Halved
6-8 cloves of garlic - Sliced/Chopped.
Handful of coriander - Roughly Chopped
2-3 teaspoons dried chilli flakes.

Olive oil for frying.

Your preferred bread.

1. Season the shrimp with some salt and pepper.

2. Lightly toast the macadamia nuts on a large dry pan over medium heat. Toast them just till they start have brown patches on the exterior. Be careful not to burn them. Remove them from the pan and set aside.

3. Wipe down the pan and then add a good amount of olive oil. (This forms the sauce). Roughly a quarter to a third of a cup. Heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil is heated add the Chorizo, garlic, chilli flakes and tomatoes. Cook for about a minute or so until the garlic just starts to brown and the Chorizo should start to crisp up. Careful not to let the garlic burn. (Or you can crisp up the Chorizo first in the oil together with the tomatoes, then set them aside when you fry the garlic with the chilli flakes. You can add the tomatoes and Chorizo at the end just before the corriander in step 4 below)

4. At this point and in the prawns. They just take like 10-20 seconds per side so turn them over as needed. When the prawns are almost cooked though turn off the heat and in the toasted macadamia nuts and coriander. Toss and mix well.

5. Serve immediately with crusty bread and a slice of lemon. The bread is awesome for mopping up the garlicky spicy sauce.

Enjoy!

Thai Influenced Egg Noodles with Minced Meat

This is a adaptation of the Thai Style lettuce wraps I posted previously. A really enjoyble spicy dish that I find myself making more often. The sauce base for the noodles is sweet, savoury, spicy and tangy at the same time with the crispy meat adding a nice crunch.

Egg Noodles with Stir-Fried Mince.

 Ingredients to serve 2
180 grams store bought egg noodles

Minced meat Stirfry
100 grams minced pork
100 grams minced beef
Dash of fish sauce
Juice of 1/2 a large lime
1 large chilli - sliced (optional)
4 cloves of garlic - chopped/sliced
2-3 stalks of spring onion - Sliced.
Handful of corriander leaves - roughly chopped
Feshly ground black pepper.
Cooking oil for frying.

Sauce for the noodles 

1 tablespoon Thai Fish sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soya sauce
2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 teaspoons brown sugar

Juice of 1 large lime
1 bird's eye chilli - sliced (optional)

Steps.
First prepare the mince meat.
1. Season the minced beef and pork with salt and pepper and mix well

2. Heat a large frying pan with some cooking oil over medium high heat. When oil is heated, fry the mince in the pan until the meat is brown and crispy. About 7-10 minutes. Remove mince from pan and place in bowl lined with a paper towel, to drain off excess oil. Turn off the heat.
Note: use a spoon of spatula and break up the mince as much as you can. Maximize the browned surface area. No Color = No flavor

3. Wipe the pan down, heat the pan over medium heat with a couple teaspoons of cooking oil. When oil is heated. add garlic and chillies.  Fry for 2 minutes and then add in the fried mince. Mix well, then add the lime juice and some fish sauce. Mix well and then turn off the heat and add in the spring onions and corriander (Reserve some for garnish). Set aside.

4. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and divide equally into two serving bowls or dishes.

5. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Then cook noodles according to package instructions and divide into the serving bowls. Mix well with the sauce.

6. Dish the mince on top on the noodles and garnish with spring onions and corriander. Enjoy!

Scrambled Eggs for Breakfast.

I had smoked salmon and button mushrooms in the fridge. I decided to try and use both for breakfast. This is what I came up with. Scrambled eggs on toast with 2 different toppings.

Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked Salmon

Here is what you'll need for breakfast for two.

4-5 eggs - beaten
1/4 cup of milk
2-3 shallots - sliced
2 cloves of garlic - sliced
6-8 slices of smoked salmon
150 grams white button or Swiss brown mushrooms. Stems trimmed and quartered.
Extra virgin olive oil
Butter
Chives - chopped (For garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Oil

Steps

First I started with the sautéed mushrooms. This is just a basic sauté.

1. In a sauté pan, heat some cooking oil over medium-high heat.  add in shallots and garlic. Fry for 2-3 minutes, until shallots soften then add in the mushrooms and fry for another 5 minutes or so, until the mushrooms start to brown and the released moisture is almost fully evaporated. Add in the butter and mix well and fry for about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and dish and set aside.

2. To make the scramble eggs, over a large sauté pan over VERY low heat, melt some butter. Then add in the eggs. Stir the egg mixture frequently with a wooden spoon or similar implement. (Choosing one that will not scratch the pan). Add the milk gradually during this time. The stirring is to scrape the cooked egg off the base of the pan and allowing the raw egg to cook. Stir frequently until you get a porridge like texture. Remove from pan and set aside.

3. Toast 4 slices your favourite bread then drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the toasted bread.

4. Lay about 4 slices of smoked salmon into two slices of the toast. (4 slices of salmon on each slice of bread) Preferbly get your toast is ready just before your eggs are done, that way you can scoop the eggs onto the toast immediately.

5. Spoon the eggs onto the toast slices. Even those without salmon. Spoon mushrooms onto those without salmon.

6. Garnish with chives and serve immediately.

Potato Salad

This is a simple and easy-to-do potato salad that packs flavour. Its great for pot luck gatherings and can be done a day in advance of the party.

One important note though, get the waxy skin potatoes as opposed to the rough skin kinds. Waxy potatoes have a lower starch content and will hold their shape better after cooking. They will retain more of a bite as opposed to the starchy variety. Among the potato varieties commonly found in our local markets, I use the "Bastragi Granola" or "New potatoes" (potatoes harvested young) for salads. The red potatoes are great as well. Basically, go for a potato that has a smooth slightly waxy exterior.

The most common starchy potato variety found here is the Russet etc. Starchy potatoes have a very rough exterior. They are great for fries, curries and baked whole. They have a higher starch content and has less of a bite when cooked. The russet potatoes are what I used for the crispy oven baked potatoes.

We do not get a large variety of potatoes being an Asian city state but I guess you are still able to find at least 1 type of waxy potato in the nearby market/supermarket.

Here is what you'll need for 4
500g potatoes.
4-6 Hard boiled eggs (optional) - quartered length-wise.
3 stalks spring onion - sliced
1/2 diced zucchini (optional)
1/2 smallish yellow onion - finely diced
1/2 Mayo (The Japanese mayo seems to garner a more positive response from my guests)
3-4 tablespoons Bacon Chips  - self made or store bought is fine. I do not recommend the artifical bacon chips though.
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Steps
1. Cook the potatoes. Place them in a pot with enough water to fully cover the potatoes. Cover and boil over the stove. When the water comes to a boil, lower heat and continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Take out one potato and check whether its done by poking a fork into the potato. If it goes in without alot of strength required, your potato is done. Leave it to cool to room temperature. About an hour or so. Cut the potatoes into large bite sized chunks and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl add in all the spring onion, diced onion, zucchini, bacon, a small pinch of salt, sugar and a generous hit of black pepper. Mix well. Then add in the mayo and mix everything together. Doing it this way helps to ensure a uniform distribution of ingredients. (hopefully preventing your guests getting a spoonful of onion!).

3. Add in the potatoes and eggs in the large bowl with the mayo. Mix well. Best served after chilling for at least an hour or 2.

4. Garnish with spring onion and bacon and serve.

Enjoy!

Pan Fried Fish Fillet and Red Pepper Sauce

This is a simple and healthy dish to put together at home. The hardest part about the dish is the sauce, which is really not that hard.

Fish Fillet with Red pepper sauce and asparagus.

The sauce is sweet and slightly spicy, which I feel goes great with the fish. Great as a carb free meal but I will recommend complimenting the dish with oven roasted potatoes if you are looking for a more substantial meal.

As any pan fried fish dish, be careful not to overcook the fish. There is no special reason I used asparagus here. I like asparagus and just happened to have them in the fridge. I used a halibut fillet but you can use any white fish fillet you prefer.

Ingredients for 2:

2 pieces of white fish fillet. About 150-200 grams each.

180 grams asparagus

1 average sized red capsicum - diced

Half a yellow onion - diced

1 clove of garlic - sliced

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 tablespoon of unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (regular sweet paprika is fine too)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Light olive oil/cooking oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Steps:

1. In a sauté pan, heat some cooking oil over medium heat. When oil is heated, add in the capsicum, onions and garlic. Fry until soft. About 5-7 minutes or so. Then add in the paprika and fry for another minute, for the paprika to release its aroma.

2. Then deglaze the pan with the white wine and remove from heat and set aside to let it cool.

3. Blanch the asparagus in boiling salted water for a minute and a half. Remove and shock in cold water to prevent them cooking further.

4. Season with salt and pepper. Toss with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Set aside.

5. Puree the sauteed capsicum in a blender or food processor. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

6. Season the fish with salt and pepper. In a saute pan, heat some cooking oil over medium high heat. When oil is heated, sear the fish fillets about a 1-2 minutes per side. Depending on the thickness of your fillet. 

7. Serve the fish with the asparagus and sauce immediately.  

Enjoy!

Beef and Asparagus Stir-fry

Great dish that can be done very quickly and goes great with any Asian meal.

Beef and Asparagus Stir-fry

The main thing to watch out for in this dish to not to overcook the both the meat and the veg. This walkthrough instructs that you cook the meat separately and then adding it back again, as a way to better control the cooking times and prevent overcooking.

Ingredients for 2:
200-300 grams beef (I used sirloin) - cut into chunks or thick strips
150-200 grams Asparagus - trimmed and cut to about 2 inch lengths
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon soya sauce
3 cloves garlic - sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
cooking oil

Steps:
1. Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat some cooking oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat. When oil is heated, sear the beef on all sides but keep it at medium rare. Remove from pan and set aside.

2. Reduce heat to medium or medium low. Add a little more cooking oil if needed. Then add in the garlic, asparagus and ginger. Fry for 2-3 minutes until the asparagus is almost cooked through. Then add the beef back in the pan and stir-fry for 30 seconds mixing well.

3. Add soya sauce and sesame oil and toss. You an turn off the heat at this point. Dish on the serving plate and serve immediately.