If it's going tough it's probably because you're inadvertently cooking it, not frying it. This usually happens because your heat is too low. You should hear a good constant sizzle while frying a steak. Same thing applies to hamburgers.
You can seal it off on a higher heat first then reduce the heat down if you like it well done. On the other hand, having it on a low-medium heat all the way through cooking is a pretty good way to ruin a steak.
This thread inspired me to get some real salt and investigate the local market's steak prices. £5.50/kg and it looks rather nice. I'm following the instructions on image related, I'll report back on how it goes.
This kind of psuedo-macho posturing boils my piss.
The whole "Man Card" thing does not belong in the kitchen. I once offered to make my mate breakfast when he was living in my spare room for a bit (kicked out the big bed at home) and I made him a lovely bruschetta with anchovies and drizzled in Garlic infused olive oil.
It tasted like Portugal on a plate. He quite literally said "What the fuck is this? You don't have any bacon?"
If his missus had made him it he would have eaten it and asked for seconds, I remember him saying how much he liked it when he had it on holiday.
Christ, I had no idea this still bothered me so much until I typed it out.
>>10397 I once spent hours cooking dinner only to have an ex denounce it as "faggy vegetarian food". This happened at least half a decade ago but I still feel bitter about it. That kind of graceless ingratitude is particularly barbing so I know how you feel.
I agree, it was old even when Maddox was starting out. But on the up side I now have a rather large, tasty and tender steak to eat. It does seem to be legitimately good advice.
>>10397 To be fair, trying something 'exotic' (and that does sound pretentious as fuck mate honestly) when on holiday and enjoying it is a different context to breakfast. Breakfast is supposed to be a reliable meal to start your day right - with plenty of carbs and protein. Especially if he was hungover, bacon sarnie and an extra large mug of Yorkshire tea is exactly what I want then. Otherwise he might have just been joking with you?
It would only be pretentious if I didn't really think it was an awesome breakfast, which it is. It is my favourite breakfast, if I woke up to that I'd purr like a Wookie. He wasn't hungover, but if he was it would have been doubly so because it would help replenish his salts (anchovies) and vitamins (tomato) as well as providing a concentrated source of energy (oil).
Served with a refreshing deglazer, on this occasion a large mug of tea, it is a fantastic start to the day.
He just didn't think I would make something like that for him because we are both manly blokes and you don't make nice food for your mates, apparently.
I called him an ungrateful bastard and pointed out that he never fucking shuts up about "That breakfast we had on holiday" and he ate it, said it was lovely, but it was the idea that I was crossing some hitherto unknown line in our friendship that annoyed me.
It sounds like he wasn't expecting you to put any effort in for him. I have mates like that. Some just see it as showing off, others think you're after a bum, others just don't want anchovies first thing in the morning. My stock response is "shut the fuck up and eat it, I know better than you"
It does seem like the sort of thing I'd cook for a bird I was trying to shag, mind, and the fact you're so precious about the whole thing isn't helping your case. It tasted like Portugal on a plate? Well la-di-dah, what do you think his cock tastes like?
That's a very poor guide. There's a few decent points but a lot of it is silly, like using olive oil to cook a steak or his aversion to table salt (really not going to make a difference taste or texture wise when you're searing the fuck out of it. In fact table salt will give a better crust)
And also he makes it look like you're supposed to cut the steak before resting it, which is exactly what you're not supposed to do.
It hadn't even occured to me that he might have thought it was a come on. We've been friends for over 20 years since we were about 5, it would feel like incest quite frankly.
He has never exhibited any fear of me knobing him in the past, but it's a theory.
>>10404 >shut the fuck up and eat it, I know better than you
You'd be finding your oh-so-perfect breakfast all over your face if you said that to me. You're implying that you know what someone else wants more than they do. You should really get a job in social services mate, or the Labour party. Cunt.
>>10410 Anyone who is rude enough to complain at free food, given in kindness, is a true cunt. You'll eat what's given to you and say thanks afterwards, you spoiled fucking ingrate.
>>10405 I used butter instead of oil as I didn't want my steak to taste of olive oil and my salt was a little too coarse so I ground it up with a pestle and mortar first.
Why don't you make a better instruction thing?
If you were that precious I wouldn't be interacting with you at all. I absolutely do know better than you, too. People like to think they know exactly what they want and like, but when it comes to food, they almost certainly don't.
These days I just throw my steak in a preheated Feorge Goreman. It's the best way to sear both sides at once and minimise the cooking time. (I do like mine on the blue side of rare)
I might just have some one of the crappy cheap ones, but I always find that my Gorgeman Frill tends to really try out both steaks and hamburgers, probably because of the way it's designed to drain fat away. I only really ever use it for sausages and chicken breasts with a bit of oil on then any more.
Enough ranting about ingrates, let's share our technique.
I start by salting and peppering the steak and leaving it at room temperature for half an hour. If it's an inch or more in thickness I'll give it a good hammering first. Sometimes I'll soak it in lemon juice to tenderise it too which is lovely if you slice up the steak afterwards and have on a rocket-based salad.
I use sunflower oil for its high smoke point and when the pan is screaming I chuck it in, usually for around 45 seconds on each side. Once it's nicely charred (griddle pans are essential here) I stick it in the grill to rest and keep warm while the chips cook for ten minutes at least. I deglaze the pan, usually with red wine and make any sauce I fancy out of it. My favourite is a cream, tarragon and horseradish mix.
There you have it. Cheflads, do please point out anything stupid I'm doing.
Sounds good to me, but don't be afraid to rest your meat away from any source of heat. Keeping it warm under the grill is likely drying it out just a little.
Key points for me are to make sure that the meat is at room temp before cooking, oil the meat (hurrr) and not the pan and use a cast iron griddle to cook it on.
I got one of those giles & posner sous vide/slow cooker things for my birthday. Have done a piece of topside in it (56 degrees for 24 hours, blowtorched the outside afterwards for maillard reaction tastys) ended up amazingly tender. Haven't got round to doing steak in it yet though.