Fat, Juicy Steaks
You just can’t beat a steak but we all have our personal preferences on which cut is best and how well cooked it should be. I’ll give you my advice but I recognise you may disagree… One thing we’d probably all agree on though is that, just like with a roasting joint, a steak needs to be given time to rest before serving (not half an hour though - ten minutes will do.) There are as many ways to cook a steak as skin a cat but for most steaks, if you can perfect the following technique you’ll be well on your way to building a reputation as a culinary genius:
Season well. Really, really well, with sea salt and black pepper (neither should be too finely ground).
Use a stinking hot pan and no oil - if well seasoned, your steak won’t stick, instead it will form a beautiful flavoursome crust on the outside. If your pan isn’t hot enough, your steak may start to stew in its own juices instead - this is bad news.
Learn to test how well done it is by feel - as it cooks it gets firmer to the touch. A rare steak should still feel quite soft and yielding when you press it.
I should also have written: 0. Buy good meat! It should be from a traditional native breed, slow-grown (at least 30 months at slaughter), grass-fed and dry-aged (hung) for at least three weeks.
I tend to agree with Stéphane Reynaud in Rotis that there are three levels of cooking for beef steaks: blue, rare and medium, what exists beyond that is just over-cooked!
Another fascinating book with lots of great information and recipes is the book by the owners of the Hawksmoor restaurant in London, Hawksmoor at Home. (Particularly see what they have to say about what is the very best beef in the world.)
Fillet Steak
The king of steaks that comes from the most unused muscle in the animal, fillet steak is known for its extreme tenderness. Best served rare, or even blue, to accentuate its more delicate flavours, make sure you bring it out of the fridge well in advance of cooking as you don’t want it still chilled in the centre. As an exception to the no oil rule, a very lean fillet steak may need a light brushing with oil before seasoning (use a flavourless oil, never, ever use olive oil.) For a really extravagant gesture for very special people, try a whole filet mignon or chateaubriand, sealed then quickly pot-roasted with onions (use beef dripping), rested and then cut into thick slices.
Rib-eye Steak
The best steak for the barbecue, rib-eye is well-marbled with fat and super-tasty. It is thus better cooked medium rare to medium so that the fat lines have a chance to melt into the meat. Your barbecue should be so hot that holding your hand a few inches above the grill becomes painful in seconds. For special occasions, a large roasting joint from the fore-rib (the steaks still attached to the rib bones) is spectacular. We can do this joint for you, if you tell us the number of ribs - the weight will be about 1.5kg per rib, we reduce the price per kilo by 20% to account for the weight of bones. A single bone-in rib makes a very substantial steak (for two) called a Tomahawk.
Chuck-eye Steak
One might say this is the poor man’s rib-eye but in that case I’m happy to be a poor man. Chuck-eye looks a bit like rib-eye but a bit looser. It has all the flavour but, coming from the chuck (close to the fore-rib), is a little less tender. Chuck-eye is super flavoursome (the butcher’s favourite) and great value at around half the price of rib-eye. You’re unlikely to see this cut anywhere else as it can only come from a mature, grass-fed animal that has been dry-aged really well, otherwise it would be too tough and would go for stewing steak.
Sirloin Steak
Supposedly knighted by Henry VIII because he loved it so much, the noble sirloin is an adaptable cut. It makes a very fine and tasty steak. Leaner than rib-eye and more tender than rump, it is generally best served rare. Devons are so good at producing well marbled meat though that you may find a Ruby Red sirloin steak looks more like a rib-eye from a lesser breed. When you cook a sirloin steak, start by holding it with its fat coat down on the pan to get it to cook well through, without over-cooking the meat itself. We can also prepare sirloin as a bone-in “wing rib” joint (again we reduce the price per kilo to account for the weight of bones.)
Rump Steak
The steak your local pub loves to ruin. However, rump steak can be one of the tastiest steaks, especially when it’s from a slow-grown, grass-fed animal. Just don’t over-cook it, unless your jaw muscles need endurance training. If you have an oven-proof pan then giving it a few minutes in a hot oven can be a good way to finish it after an initial sealing. Don’t forget to rest it well before serving to avoid it becoming chewy. A large piece of rump can also make a beautiful roasting joint (it can be meltingly tender and juicy with slow cooking).
Flat Iron Steak
A steak that is popular in the US, well-marbled, tender and tasty. Along with the Daube, it comes out of the blade of the animal and seems to be great value - I suspect this is just because it is less well known than the others and so demand is lower.
Daube of Beef
Traditionally called Jew’s Fillet because it looks like fillet but is much cheaper (also Glasgow Fillet), we prefer this less derogatory name, which comes from its common use in the classic French dish Daube de Boeuf. Less than half the price of fillet or rib-eye, it’s well worth giving this cut a try fried or casseroled.
Bavette
Favourite of French bistros, bavette has quite a loose, open texture and plenty of flavour. There’s not much bavette in one animal though so you’ll have to be quick to get it!
Escalope
Thin steak slices. Season well and flash-fry for a couple of minutes each side then stick between two slices of bread with a bit of Dijon mustard - the perfect steak sandwich!