The Lemon Fool

Inspired by this thread I have bought sirloin steaks (Morrisons 2 for £7) and rump steaks (Sainsburys Taste the Difference). I also have some good mince for burgers. This long Easter weekend I will be eating mostly beef. I already have the flavoured butter ready (garlic, parsley, thyme, rosemary). I just need to buy cream and spinach for the best steak side dish ever: creamed spinach (nutmeg...). Then some thin fries with my special spice mix (smoked paprika, cayenne, cumin, oregano).

Yes, I have starved myself lately in order to lose this tyre around my waist.

JMN2 wrote:Then some thin fries with my special spice mix (smoked paprika, cayenne, cumin, oregano).

Just tried this mix on some onion rings. Went a bit heavy on the cayenne: pacy!

saechunu wrote:

JMN2 wrote:Then some thin fries with my special spice mix (smoked paprika, cayenne, cumin, oregano).

Just tried this mix on some onion rings. Went a bit heavy on the cayenne: pacy!

I also have the salt in the mix and go heavy on the smoked paprika powder, the Spanish stuff. Gives a nice smoky flavour, I sprinkle the mix on the fries before they go into the oven. I also use this mix in those 70's oven bags, with root vegetables, mushrooms, chicken.

Back to the topic: Anyone tried dry aging steaks at home?

Rump steak bonanza! Two for £7 at Morrisons in Consett. Flavoured butter, thin frites. Pure bliss.

---not very socialdemocratic that the rich and posh people in leafy Surrey pay the same price for their food items - should have a northern special discount up here.

JMN2 wrote:
Back to the topic: Anyone tried dry aging steaks at home?

Not tried it but I have read that it is not practical since you need to hang the steaks in large chunks uncut in a very specific humidity and temperature.

John

I think the answer is 2-part; dependent on 'how likely are the venue to be able to cook this cut appropriately?'
It's not only the qualities and limitations of the cut, but how the chef navigates through that to reach the peak-potential end-product from each various cut. I think that's why some typically cheaper cuts can be massacred, and why some people default to 'fillet etc' as they're desperate to not risk getting something that hasn't been massacred by the kitchen. So if you know a quality steak place, then notching down 'the grade' (I actually think it's a more personal thing than that, but that seems to be general perception) can be worth it, as you can hope for being in safe hands what ever the cut.

I see it as a trade-off, generalising, 'finer' but least flavour + most expensive, to the reverse of that = fillet, > sirloin > rib-eye, and so on.
But go to a good place with an able chef and it's entirely possible he/she is able to plate up a well prep'd and very satisfying rib-eye.

Ribeye for me -nice thick cut cooked quick.
great with chips and good on toasted ciabatta with melted camembert and tomato salad

One thing I will sometimes do, which none of you have mentioned ,is that I will sometimes sit a steak on edge (generally two balanced against each other) to sizzle the edging fat to a nice crisp. Then finish off in the normal way. This is assuming pan fried.

regards, dspp

dspp wrote:One thing I will sometimes do, which none of you have mentioned ,is that I will sometimes sit a steak on edge (generally two balanced against each other) to sizzle the edging fat to a nice crisp. Then finish off in the normal way. This is assuming pan fried.

regards, dspp

I do that, using a pair of chopsticks to hold the steak vertical

AleisterCrowley wrote:

dspp wrote:One thing I will sometimes do, which none of you have mentioned ,is that I will sometimes sit a steak on edge (generally two balanced against each other) to sizzle the edging fat to a nice crisp. Then finish off in the normal way. This is assuming pan fried.

regards, dspp

I do that, using a pair of chopsticks to hold the steak vertical

Me too! I have a ridged cast iron skillet and I can balance the steak on the fat edge between two ridges.

John

Yep, I've got a Le Creuset cast iron ridged skillet for steaks (which I got cheap, of course...)
Works very well

AleisterCrowley wrote:Yep, I've got a Le Creuset cast iron ridged skillet for steaks (which I got cheap, of course...)
Works very well

Sub £10 I assume...

~ £25, which is good for Le Creuset

JMN2 wrote:

AleisterCrowley wrote:Yep, I've got a Le Creuset cast iron ridged skillet for steaks (which I got cheap, of course...)
Works very well

Sub £10 I assume...

I think I better create a new sub-topic titled 'Kitchenware deals' to post what I have in mind...
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=7365

AleisterCrowley wrote:Yep, I've got a Le Creuset cast iron ridged skillet for steaks (which I got cheap, of course...)
Works very well

Mine is just very heavy raw cast iron of the type you need to season very well before using and just gets better with age.

John

Flavoured butters, a blast from the past! Today I will make Bordelaise steak butter. I have an onion and small bottle of wine, soften the chopped onion in butter on a pan, add wine and let it cook and wine to reduce almost to nothing, end up with very red onions. Mix these in softened butter, some pepper, salt if needed, garlic. For those moments when you can't be ar*ed to make a sauce for your steak.

JMN2 wrote:Flavoured butters, a blast from the past! Today I will make Bordelaise steak butter. I have an onion and small bottle of wine, soften the chopped onion in butter on a pan, add wine and let it cook and wine to reduce almost to nothing, end up with very red onions. Mix these in softened butter, some pepper, salt if needed, garlic. For those moments when you can't be ar*ed to make a sauce for your steak.

Tried that with pork chops but now is the true test, two sirloin steaks almost too far gone, pepper, salt, rosemary, olive oil. Then the flavoured butter and french fries with ketchup on top because I am a philistine.

As my week-end started early with a liquid lunch after some ball-busting flooring work I had my reduced price 75p house salad with some caesar dressing, then a £3 sirloin steak, pepper and salt, all from Morrisons. Simple and did the job.