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Question of the Day: Which is the most hair-raising South African mountain pass you've driven?
Debbie
Banned
Butter, salt, white pepper.
Nothing more needed!
Nothing more needed!
lived666
Executive Member
Fillet steak?
All you need is the fillet and a piping hot grill, any sauce will just **** it up!
Free range of course though, very important the cow had a happy time in the meadows before the bolt in the head bit!
All you need is the fillet and a piping hot grill, any sauce will just **** it up!
Free range of course though, very important the cow had a happy time in the meadows before the bolt in the head bit!
spiderz
Honorary Master
If it's a really good steak, Chilli aromat and nothing else.
stoke
Honorary Master
The fillet must be about 3/4 inch thick.
Get that rocky sea salt that you uze a grinder with, and grind a lot into a container and blow the small well-ground salt away, keeping the bigger pieces.
Smack the raw meat into the salt and the flip it and do it again, the meat should have chunks of salt embedded into it.
Now ... prepare a fire and wait for the coals to be smoking white, spread the coals nicely, (hand test coal temperature should be 8 seconds max) lower the grill 10mm away from the coals, and - before the grill gets too hot, put the meat on.
Watch the side of the meat, you will see the cooked section changing colour, rising towards the middle of the meat, you decide when to turn the meat based on the height of the cooked colour as it rises.
I like 1/2 of the meat in the middle to still be red, so I flip the meat when 1/4 of the one side has changed colour, but you decide. Never let it go past 45% of the way though, that will just ruin the meat.
Now, flip and do the same to the other side, watching the side of the meat.
Done.
You can also embed black or green pepper kernel's into the meat for some taste variation. And there's always the opportunity to embed some garlic.
There's a spice called chilli and garlic blend in a grinder, now, that adds a touch of HAWT to the meat, not at all overpowering, but .. just enough to make you notice.
Get that rocky sea salt that you uze a grinder with, and grind a lot into a container and blow the small well-ground salt away, keeping the bigger pieces.
Smack the raw meat into the salt and the flip it and do it again, the meat should have chunks of salt embedded into it.
Now ... prepare a fire and wait for the coals to be smoking white, spread the coals nicely, (hand test coal temperature should be 8 seconds max) lower the grill 10mm away from the coals, and - before the grill gets too hot, put the meat on.
Watch the side of the meat, you will see the cooked section changing colour, rising towards the middle of the meat, you decide when to turn the meat based on the height of the cooked colour as it rises.
I like 1/2 of the meat in the middle to still be red, so I flip the meat when 1/4 of the one side has changed colour, but you decide. Never let it go past 45% of the way though, that will just ruin the meat.
Now, flip and do the same to the other side, watching the side of the meat.
Done.
You can also embed black or green pepper kernel's into the meat for some taste variation. And there's always the opportunity to embed some garlic.
There's a spice called chilli and garlic blend in a grinder, now, that adds a touch of HAWT to the meat, not at all overpowering, but .. just enough to make you notice.
Problem with fillet is you have to marinade it overnight because I find it hardly takes on marinade flavours due to the thickness of the steaks (travesty to cut them thin like the Italians). I would prefer a dry rub instead with lost of sugar. For those of you who dont know, sugar reacts with the amino acids in the meat and adds plenty flavour and colour, on top of the caramelization.
Here are my rules when cooking steak with a marinade:
Dont forget the fish sauce - packed full of umami to bring out the flavour of red meat. And always marinade your meat in the fridge. I also add wine to my marinades as it is full of flavour and also helps to dissolve fat (for the health conscious).
Brining a steak before marinading is also a great way to help the meat absorb the marinade afterwards. Has something to do with the proteins breaking down IIRC. But if you brine or add salt beforehand, do not add acidic substances to your marinade.
My favourite marinade if you have the time to leave it for a while, is just thyme, onions, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce/fish sauce, little bit of Soy sauce (not much as it goes against the acid/salt rule
), red wine, grapeseed oil (as it has a high smoke point for cooking on hot coals), touch of mustard. The onions help to thicken the marinade, but I sometimes need a little cornflour as well.
Bwana, have you tried the egg wash method before? I havent and am keen to find out the results.
Here are my rules when cooking steak with a marinade:
Dont forget the fish sauce - packed full of umami to bring out the flavour of red meat. And always marinade your meat in the fridge. I also add wine to my marinades as it is full of flavour and also helps to dissolve fat (for the health conscious).
Brining a steak before marinading is also a great way to help the meat absorb the marinade afterwards. Has something to do with the proteins breaking down IIRC. But if you brine or add salt beforehand, do not add acidic substances to your marinade.
My favourite marinade if you have the time to leave it for a while, is just thyme, onions, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce/fish sauce, little bit of Soy sauce (not much as it goes against the acid/salt rule
), red wine, grapeseed oil (as it has a high smoke point for cooking on hot coals), touch of mustard. The onions help to thicken the marinade, but I sometimes need a little cornflour as well.Bwana, have you tried the egg wash method before? I havent and am keen to find out the results.
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I generally prefer a dry rub but there wasn't enough time for it. The marinade I used works pretty well for fillet and doesn't require/benefit from prolonged marination.
Egg wash - cant say I've tried that.
Egg wash - cant say I've tried that.
What!?
Butter? You will need oil as well due to the high heat. If you havent needed oil yet, then you arent cooking it at a high enough heat. Either cook it quickly, or really slowly - the traditional in between method makes it tough...
Freshy-ZN
Executive Member
Marinating fillet should be a capital offence!
Salt. pepper and oil (preferably olive) is all that is needed. Anything else ruins it.
Salt. pepper and oil (preferably olive) is all that is needed. Anything else ruins it.
grind through a course grinder
Debbie
Banned
Oh man, my wife has this way of marinading steak with jack daniels and some other secret stuffs.
At first I was peefed off at the dropping level of my jack daniels, till I tasted that piece of heaven, all is forgiven now, she has her own bottle to cook with
At first I was peefed off at the dropping level of my jack daniels, till I tasted that piece of heaven, all is forgiven now, she has her own bottle to cook with
Mephisto_Helix
Resident Postwhore
hmm, I've heard that JD makes a wicked partner with steaks ........... maybe I'll try a creamy JD sauce and fillet at month end 
I make a couple bourbon sauces (I prefer Wild Turkey
) including a really sticky bbq sauce. Grill your fillet, using some olive oil, coarse ground black pepper and salt to taste. Then take 50/50 measures of honey and English mustard and mix it together with some lemon pepper, use it as a glaze on the final stages of grilling. You can also prepare your steak the usual way (oil,pepper,salt) then place some blue mould cheese and preserved green fig on top and enjoy. Fillet is generally not the tastiest cut of meat, so you need to spice it up a bit.