Steak

Baked fried pan grilled jerk chicken wings in buffalo barbecue sauce

Posted by Gary

Mmm…chicken wings in America are really good.

Photograph of Chicken Wings baked fried and chargrilled jerk seasoned wings tossed in buffalo barbecue sauce

I’m in Washington, D.C. for work at the moment. I was recently chatting with an American friend on Twitter about barbecue food and she mentioned chicken wings. I love chicken wings. As much as I am a ‘thigh man’, chicken wings are fantastic. The meat is always tender and sweet and it’s relatively easy to get the skin to be nice and crispy.

I thought I would take the opportunity while I am in the USA to try some barbecue chicken wings.

I ordered some from the room service menu. They arrived hot and smelled really good.

Unfortunately, the room lighting was poor. I had all the incandescent lamps on and in a dark room the yellow cast was very pronounced.

The wings were good. The skin was crispy, salty and sweet with a little tang. The meat was moist, tender and soft enough to be sucked off the bone. The serving size was also generous. I forgot to add the blue cheese sauce into the photograph. My friend asked if I had some. Indeed I did.

I’d happily eat these again.

I also ate a nice ribeye steak with the bone in last night.

Ribeye steak I’m developing a real liking for Mac and cheese with my main meals 

I went to another place with colleagues and enjoyed a nice pork chop with Brussels sprouts cooked with bacon and a side of Mac and cheese. That was really nice.

I spent a little time at the Capitol building and got to sit in and watch a couple of senators make speeches on national security.

Abraham Lincoln looks sad
Abraham Lincoln looks sad
Geographical centre of Washington, D.C.
Geographical centre of Washington, D.C.

How to cook a steak like Heston Blumenthal

Posted by Gary

Regular readers know I like steak and some of you know that I’ve cooked steak like Heston before. Now that I’m back on a low carb kick I’ve been dreaming of a nice steak dinner since picking up a piece of ribeye from Coles on the weekend.

I began preparing the steak this morning as I was making breakfast. I unwrapped the meat and laid it on a rack and then on a plate and put it back in the refrigerator to dry out a little.

This is Heston explaining his steak cooking method

When I arrived home after work I pulled the steak out and placed it on the kitchen bench to let it get to room temperature (which in Canberra today wasn’t much different to the temperature inside my refrigerator).

 

This is my steak after it had been drying in the refrigerator

Ribeye steak out of the refrigerator waiting to be cooked and eaten.
Ribeye steak out of the refrigerator waiting to be cooked and eaten.
How to cook a steak like Heston Blumenthal
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Ribeye fillet steak
  • Fennel
  • Parsley
  • Bok choi stalk
  • Red onion
  • Lime juice
  • Mayonnaise
Instructions
  1. In the morning before leaving for work unwrap the steak and put it on a rack on a plate and put it back in the refrigerator
  2. When you get home after work pull the steak out and put it on the kitchen bench to equilibrate to room temperature
  3. Cut the fennel, parsley and red onion into thin slices and squeeze the juice from half a lime
  4. Put the salad together
  5. Slice the stalk of some bok choi and set aside
  6. Get a frypan really hot and add some grape seed oil plus a bit of butter
  7. When the pan is smoking hot put the steak in the frypan
  8. Count slowly to fifteen and turn
  9. Repeat this for a total of 3 minutes
  10. When the steak is cooked put it aside in a warm place and let it rest for 10 full minutes
  11. While the frypan is still hot add the bok choi stalk slices and fry off
  12. After 10 minutes resting plate it all up
  13. Shoot a photograph
  14. Eat the meal
  15. Wash the dishes
  16. Write the recipe
  17. Blog (verb)

This is the steak and fennel salad plated up

Steak and fennel salad after the meat has been rested for 10 minutes.
Steak and fennel salad after the meat has been rested for 10 minutes.

Here is my breakfast this morning. Streaky bacon cooked in a benchtop oven and served with a fried egg.

Pay day bacon and egg
Pay day bacon and egg

So how do you like to cook steak?

Porterhouse Steak Heston Style

Posted by Gary

The Porterhouse steak Heston style is the second Heston style dish I’ve done today. For breakfast I made scrambled eggs Heston style 

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Here’s a video of Heston on MasterChef Australia describing his cooking technique.

 

 

Unfortunately, Heston doesn’t complete the TimTam Slam in this video. 

So tonight I used a Porterhouse steak which is a little unusual for me because I prefer rib fillet. Given the cost of living, the cost of meat and the need to budget more carefully I went with Porterhouse steak.

To accompany my porterhouse steak I had an avocado that I coated with pepper and chilli flakes. I also prepared a simple fennel salad with red onion, parsley and capers.

Porterhouse Steak Heston Style
 
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • Porterhouse steak
  • Avocado
  • Fennel
  • Parsley
  • Red onion
  • Capers
  • Pepper
  • Salt
  • Chilli flakes
  • Lemon juice
Instructions
  1. The night before place the steak on a rack and on a plate and put into the refrigerator. This helps the steak dry out.
  2. Allow the steak to get to room temperature.
  3. Just before cooking rib in some oil and a little salt.
  4. In a smoking hot pan sear the steak and keep flipping every 15 seconds for a total of four minutes.
  5. Seal the edges, especially the fat.
  6. Allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes.
  7. Half an avocado and cover in lemon juice and then coat with cracked pepper and chilli flakes
  8. Prepare the fennel salad with fennel, parsley, red onion, capers and lemon juice.
  9. Slice the steak and put onto a plate, add the salad and then the avocado.
  10. Shoot a photograph.
  11. Eat the dish.
  12. Wash the dishes.
  13. Write the recipe.
  14. Blog (verb)
 

 

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I drained the lemon juice out of the fennel salad by straining in a coffee filter paper.

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You can see the steak is rare in the middle and nicely coloured on the outside. The fat could have been rendered better but it was fine (I like animal fat).

So how do you like to cook your steak? 

Chifley’s Bar and Grill in the Hotel Kurrajong

Posted by Gary

It’s Thursday evening and Bron and I go to dinner at Chifley’s Bar and Grill in the Hotel Kurrajong. The restaurant was named after Ben Chifley (Australia’s sixteenth prime minister) and the restaurant specialises in beef and locally sourced produce.

As we arrive at about 7 pm we notice the courtyard with many of the tables occupied with local Canberrans enjoying an after work drink. The clue to knowing they are local Canberrans is that many of them are still wearing lanyards bearing Australian Government identification tags (and they’re also dressed in business attire).

Chifley's Bar and Grill on Urbanspoon

On confirming our reservation we’re shown to a table near the kitchen and the function rooms. It’s a relatively quiet night in the restaurant so we effectively get a waiter to ourselves. The service is very good. Our waiter is knowledgeable about the menu and very helpful. He attends to us fairly regularly through the evening asking if we’re okay and checking that the food is meeting our expectations.

For an entrée I went for the crispy sardine fillets (with salsa rossa).

Grilled sardines at Chifley's Bar and Grill in Hotel Kurrajong
Grilled sardines

The sardines were crispy and tasty. This is the first time I’ve eaten sardines that weren’t from a tin in oil. I could definitely eat a bigger plate of these.

For a main meal dish I went for steak, after all Chifley’s Bar and Grill is all about the premium steaks it serves and I ordered the  Sher wagyu fi Scotch fillet with a marbling score of 5+. I asked for horseradish aioli and the steaks came with celeriac purée.

Sher Wagyu Fi Scotch fillet +5 at Chifley's Bar and Grill at Hotel Kurrajong
Sher Wagyu Fi Scotch fillet +5 with celeriac purée and horseradish aioli

When I got my piece of steak I thought I’d died and gone to food heaven. I’ve never enjoyed steak so much. 

We also got some pommes frites which were delightful.

For dessert I had the vanilla panna cotta. It was nice.

Vanilla panna cotta at Chifley's Bar and Grill at Hotel Kurrajong
Vanilla panna cotta

I’m very happy to recommend Chifley’s Bar and Grill. The steak is amazing. I would like to become a regular steak eater here.

 

Steak and vegetables

Posted by Gary

Mum and Dad rarely eat steak now. It’s too expensive and they’re careful of their teeth. They both have a lot of dental work and they prefer not to chew anything tough. I promised a juicy and tender steak  

I explained to Mum the theory behind Heston Blumenthal’s technique for perfect steak and the importance of resting the meat to get a perfect rare to medium rare steak. I also took the advantage of buying some Scotch rib eye fillet which makes a tender steak pretty well guaranteed unless you neglect it. Mum and Dad love their vegetables so we also had some boiled spuds (potatoes for you refined readers), sweet potato, snow peas, asparagus and sweet corn on the cob.

Scotch rib fillet steak after sitting out to dry and getting to room temperature. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/2.2, 1/40sec, ISO 250
Scotch rib fillet steak after sitting out to dry and getting to room temperature. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/2.2, 1/40sec, ISO 250
Spuds ready to boil in the saucepan. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/10sec, ISO 320
Spuds ready to boil in the saucepan. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/10sec, ISO 320
Scotch rib fillet steak resting and letting the wonderful juices keep the meaty goodness all tender. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/10sec, ISO 1250
Scotch rib fillet steak resting and letting the wonderful juices keep the meaty goodness all tender. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/10sec, ISO 1250
Saturday dinner. Scotch rib fillet with spuds, sweet potato, snow peas, asparagus and corn. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/10sec, ISO 2000
Saturday dinner. Scotch rib fillet with spuds, sweet potato, snow peas, asparagus and corn. SONY ILCE-7S with E 35mm F1.8 OSS at 35mm and f/5.6, 1/10sec, ISO 2000

Mum and Dad were pretty happy and enjoyed the meal.