Making Steak Interesting...

[Chef Robert]

Anyone have any tips? My dad makes me cook lots of steak and all he ever wants on it is garlic and pepper. Anyone have any tips for making it more interesting?

[Chef Robert]

-.0

Nobody is saying anything...

[chrose]

Originally Posted by Chef Robert

Anyone have any tips for making it more interesting?

Serve it in the nude?
Actually I am in the school of let the steak shine. But you might consider one of my favorites and that is compound butters. I reviewed a great book you might like to check out on the subject. http://www.cheftalk.com/content/disp...=127&type=book

[Pete]

Robert, sometimes it takes more than a few hours to respond to someone's post. Many of us work in the industry and hang out on here when we are not at work, taking care of the family, doing chores, walking the dogs, etc. There are lots of ways to "jazz" up steaks, from sauces to crusts, to various toppings such as compound butters a chrose mentioned. For more on Grilling the Perfect Steak and for ideas for topping that steak, here is a 2 part article I wrote for Chef Talk. It should give a few ideas.

Part I
http://www.cheftalk.com/content/disp...?articleid=214

Part II (with links to topping recipes)

http://www.cheftalk.com/content/disp...5&type=article

Hope these help.

[Jock]

I tend to be a purist when it comes to steaks. A good, dry aged, well marbled piece of meat has its own unique flavor that the meat producer has gone to great lengths to create. Tarting it up with anything other than S&P is an adulteration.

The good stuff does tend to be a bit pricey though and for lesser cuts I like a red wine sauce and/or maybe some mushrooms.

Jock

[Pinot]

I agree with what Jock has said . The quality of the beef would be the best way to jazz it up.

The other thing I do on occasions is to add garlic , salt and pepper to melted butter and brush it on the steak while its resting (also important) That is after it is cooked and removed from the grill. I toss and coat the steak rather than serve this as a sauce.

I also do the same with olive oil and salt and pepper.

The other great thing to go with steak is horseradish. But it must be freshly grated. Grate as much as you like into sour cream (or goats yoghurt for the healthier inclined) and serve as a sauce.

Its is also important to cook the steak at room temperature. So remove it from the fridge a while before cooking. The steak should also be thoroughly dried with kitchen towel to avoid any chance of "stewing" . If the meat is vacum packed and here in Aus much of our high grade beef is. You may find a "stink" once you open the packet. I find its best to wash the meat in red wine and then thoroughly dry before cooking .

[Chef Robert]

Well I certainly hope I didn't sound pompous or ungrateful.

Thanks for the tips and such, I'll try and use them when my father buys more steak.

[lyneotto]

Robert,
Don't take any offense...but it was 1:20 in the morning!
Either we were all on our way home, at the bar, or asleep!
Smile, and enjoy being a carnivore!

L

[MikeLM]

Robert-
I certainly take Jock's point, but I usually don't get the Whole Foods' dry-aged strip, rib-eye, or tenderloin at $25/lb or so. If I do, I just go with salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. Like, once a year.

For most of my steaking, I go with a flank steak from the local Polish sausage-and-meat store at more like $6 per pound (it's still USDA Choice.) I like to put a slurryof Danish Blue cheese, LOTS of garlic, and olive oil, ground up in a mini-cuisinart, on the flank steak. Sprinkle generously with cayenne pepper, and let it ferment in the fridge for several hours, than onto a hot grill for about four minutes per side.

Unless your dad has a problem with cayenne, he should find it a different and interesting approach.

Mike

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I like steaks with a nice Chipotle butter. It's probably pretty fattening but MAN is it GOOD!

[felixe the dog]

Maybe this will help with the "presentation" of your steak.
Food for thought

http://www.hatsofmeat.com/

[MuskyHopeful]

Maybe that's what Archie Bunker had in mind.

Kevin

[felixe the dog]

Huh?
Who's Archie Bunker?

[castironchef]

I've got to agree with the "keep it simple" school of steak cookery.

However, I like to accompany my rare steak (the way they're cooked and the frequency with which I can eat them) with caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms with thyme and sherry. HMMM!!

[oldschool1982]

Originally Posted by castironchef

I've got to agree with the "keep it simple" school of steak cookery.

However, I like to accompany my rare steak (the way they're cooked and the frequency with which I can eat them) with caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms with thyme and sherry. HMMM!!

What time is dinner?

I wouldn't mind some good Maytag Bleu cheese or a Glace de viand either.