Cooking the Perfect Steak

Now cooking a slab of meat is not hard, what is hard about it is cooking it perfectly. To me cooking a steak is like cooking a piece meat can be the most difficult thing any cook/chef can do. It is about balance, perfecting the right amount of heat and right about of time on in the pan. Yes I said pan, I never cook my inch cut steaks on a grill or anything open as you loose all the goodness that comes from the steak.

While I am Asian, I do not marinade my steaks all that much. Salt and pepper are key ingredients to my steaks. I do occasionally experiment with marinades but to be perfectly honest, most great steaks only require a bit of salt and pepper.

Regardless below is what I recently did with a set of scotch fillets for a Sunday dinner with the family.

Scotch Filets w Potato Gratin and Mushroom sauce.

• 6 Inch cut scotch fillet steaks
• ½ Cup Vinegar (any will do, red wine, white, balsamic)
• Salt and pepper
• 250g Butter Unsalted
• For the sauce
• 100g Butter Unsalted
• 200g Mixed Mushrooms
• 1 Cup Celery finely diced
• 1 Cup Carrots finely diced
• 1 Cup Cooking cream
• 1 Cup stock

Potato Gratin

• 2kg finely sliced potatoes
• Cooking Cream
• Salt and pepper

Ok to start, you need to mill your salt and pepper. I get my salt in large grains and my pepper by the corn. I usually mill my pepper and salt together as the salt is abrasive. I turn everything into a fine dust with some good old elbow grease.

Regardless Put your steaks on a tray, poor the vinegar over the steaks and flip them to coat. Salt and pepper and let rest for 15-20 minutes, any longer and the vinegar will break down the steaks way to much. Drain Vinegar and leave steaks.

Meanwhile, finely slice your potatoes. In a baking tray/cake tin big enough to fit all your potatoes, line with melted butter. Start my layering your potatoes in a circular motion around the tin and ending in the middle, making a nice spiral formation. Once you finish your first layer, brush with butter then salt and pepper. Do this till the in is full so you have a potato cake. Poor in your cream to cover the potatoes, cover with baking paper and place in preheated oven 130º for 60 minutes. You will need to remove the baking sheet 40 minutes in.

Melt 50gms of butter in a pan and bring to a high heat. Place steak into pan, usually you can do 2-3 steaks at a time depending on how many you need to cook and how big the pan your using is. Regardless place steak in the pan and sear, on both sides, turn heat down to medium. Add another 50gs of butter and slowly pan fry your steak. Turn the pan on the side and base your steak with butter. Keep doing this till you cook your steak to preferred degree.

Tip: Use your thumb to determine if a steak if rare or well done. Push down on the tip of your thumb with your finger, which should feel like well done. Compare by pushing down on your steak, if it feels the same then it’s well done. Below the tips if your thumb, the middle section, that should feel like medium. The base of your thumb where it joins the palm is rare.

Regardless keep basting your steak with the butter, if you run out just add more nobs of butter.

Let steak rest for 5 minutes before serving.

For the sauce, take the pan you have cooked your steak with, and on a high heat, fry the celery and carrots with some crushed ginger and garlic. Add stock and bring to boil, add cream and simmer. Let rest, strain the liquid. In the same pan, pan fry your mushrooms with 50gs of butter, salt and pepper. Add liquid and bring to simmer then turn off heat.

To plate, just plate the steak and cut a slice of the Potato Gratin and finish with sauce.