What will win, do you think? And even if we talk about the same dinner - it traditionally shines a piece of baked meat, or stuffed tenderloin, or ossobuko, or some stew. Any kitchen that is at a high stage of development can not ignore beef, and some culinary traditions, for example, Argentine, literally choke before its charm. Once upon a time, Russians also understood beef. And if so, is not it easier to take a piece of meat - any that could be defended in endless lines - and let it through the meat grinder? Easier. Recipes, cooking steaks from meat on the grill will give you pleasure and enjoyment from the eaten.
But this is with one - with the consumer, so to speak, the parties. On the other hand, with the producer one, everything turned even worse. Some people distant from agriculture decided that Russia should have its own, nowhere else seen breeds of livestock. And not even the fact that the breed, and in fact a whole new direction - meat and milk. From the point of view of common sense, this is described by the saying "No to God, a candle, or a poker line." No milking, no weight. In addition, the bull-calves were doomed to an early and rather pointless slaughter-milk did not give what to feed them. As a result of this policy, much has happened (not excluding perestroika). Including the people formed the opinion that in beef the only edible part is a tenderloin, and everything else is suitable for either minced meat or for extinguishing and that pork is better in any case. Oh yes, and that beef can not be fried so that it was soft.
Five percent
By the way, on one part of the beef carcass, not only Russians are fixated. In countries with developed traditions of meat consumption, the cult was formed around only three parts, totaling about 5% of the total mass of the standard carcass. All the steak houses of the world work on these three pieces: a thick edge, a thin edge and a notch. But the choice of a piece of meat is not exhausted, otherwise there would be no cult. Three more rules must be observed. Here they are.
- 1. The breed
Meat for steak should be from a thoroughbred cow. There are a lot of these breeds, and if you decide to join the steak culture, remember, at least a few of the listed. So, the Aberdeen Angus, Hereford, Shorthorn, Limousin, Charolais, Bass, Red Meadow and, of course, Chiana. Once the first three breeds were proud of Britain, the second four - France, and the kyanin - Italy. Today, they are bred anywhere, however, on the quality of meat, if it does, then in a positive way. The fate of the legendary Japanese vagyu breed, which is grown today mainly in Australia and in huge quantities exported to Japan, is indicative: the soldering of steers by beer and hanging them in cradles are a thing of the past, but this purely culturological collapse did not turn even the most demanding customers.
5 most common steaks
• Chateaubriand steak. It is cut from the central, thickest part of the tenderloin, and the thickness of it is also quite impressive. Its weight ranges from 750 g.
• Steak "Fillet Mignon". It is cut from the thin part of the tenderloin. Weight from 180 to 350 g. This steak order, as a rule, ladies.
• Steak "Tie-Bone." Cut out from the junction of a thin edge and a notch. In the middle of the steak, there is necessarily a t-shaped bone. The thickness of the cutting is at least 3 cm, and the weight, respectively, is large: from 650 g to 1.2 kg.
• The Porterhouse steak is cut from the junction of the thick edge and the notch. It is larger than the T-bounce, and weighs not less than 1 kg.
• Ribey steak, also entrecote, is cut from a thick edge with a thickness of 3 to 8 cm. If there is a bone in Ribai, it gets the name "Cowboy Steak". Weight from 400 to 800 g.
Steak "Diana"
4 servings
What do you need:
- 4 boneless steak steaks, 2-4 cm thick, about 200 g each
- 1 tbsp. l. extra virgin olive oil
- salt, freshly ground black pepper
For sauce:
- 50 g of butter
- 1 medium stem of leeks (only white part)
- small bunch of parsley
- 0.5 cups of meat or chicken broth
- 2 tbsp. l. cognac
- 1 tbsp. l. Dijon mustard 1-2 tbsp. l. lemon juice 1 tbsp. l. Worcester sauce salt, freshly ground black
What to do:
Steaks must be carefully dried with a paper towel, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides. In a large frying pan with a thick bottom, heat up the olive oil, put the steaks and fry them for 5 minutes. on each side (or less - if they are significantly thinner than 4 cm, or if you like meat with a low degree of roasting). Meanwhile, rinse and chop the leeks, remove the stems from the parsley, and cut the leaves large. Put the steaks on a plate, cover with foil and leave for 5 minutes. From the frying pan, where the meat was cooked, drain the fat, add half butter. Put the frying pan on medium heat. When the butter melts, put the leeks and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add broth, cognac, mustard, lemon juice and Worcesters sauce, mix and bring to a boil. Gently pour the juice, allocated steaks, while they "rested." Stir again, remove from heat, add remaining oil and stir, foam will melt. Put, season with salt and pepper, quickly mix. To spread the steaks on plates, pour the sauce and immediately serve.
- 2. Exposure
Steak meat should be seasoned. The myth of the pleasantness of meat is no more than a myth. Traditionally, the whole carcasses (in extreme cases, carcasses) were hung in a cold room with high humidity for a period of 2 days to 2 months; During this time, the meat lost up to 20% of water, fermented and even weathered - it was covered with a crust, which was then cut. A more modernistic method, the so-called wet aging, presupposes pre-packing the carcass in polyethylene. The loss of mass is then reduced, therefore, thus, almost 90% of the beef in the world is aged.
- 3. Roasting
The steak should be properly cooked. Of course, you can ask to fry it as a pork chop, until it is ready, and then pour ketchup, mayonnaise and soy sauce, but be prepared for everyone to laugh at your back. And it is better to choose a degree of roasting more suitable to this meat - from those about which we speak on page 25. Fat can be distributed in a piece of beef in different ways. It is best when thin layers of fat pierce the flesh through and evenly (this is called "marbling") - this piece will turn out juicy and tasty. Worst of all, if the fat lies on a piece of an easily separable layer. The color of fat also matters: the more yellow it is, the older the animal was. If the muscle fibers are thin and weak, then the muscle (meat - it's a muscle) during the life of the animal worked a little and a piece of meat after heat treatment will turn out to be soft. If the muscle is "trained", the fibers will be large. The more muscle worked, the more collagen in it - the substance that makes up the tendons and cartilages. This is quite tough meat, and it must be put out.
Imagine that your piece of beef is dark, with large fibers, almost without fat. You can touch it to be sure, but without it it is clear that it is quite firm. What to do with him? Cut into small pieces and put out on a small fire with some vegetables. If the piece is dark, but with abundant marbling and fine fibers, it can be easily grilled or quickly fried with butter. And if the piece is very light and practically free of fat, it is most likely veal. Beat the piece as thin as possible, roll it in the egg, pan in breadcrumbs and fry in a large frying pan - you will get a fine Viennese schnitzel. But that is another story.
Speed and temperature
This is an important aspect in the preparation of beef. And we should take into account not only the speed of heat treatment, but also the environment in which it is produced. The fastest way is to fry on hot coals. Here the piece is affected not only by the very high temperature, but also by the infrared radiation of the coal. Slightly slower frying in a dry frying pan or grilled pan. It can be heated very strongly, but still not as hot coal, and there is no infrared radiation in this case. Even slower is the sotation, that is, roasting a piece of meat in a sauté pan while continuously watering it with fat and emitting juice. These three types of frying are suitable for beef, absolutely not containing collagen: it should be cut across the growth of muscle fibers into slices of 1 to 4 cm in thickness. The next place in the slowness is the frying of meat in the oven. The temperature is not very high at that - the oven is first heated to 220-230 ° C, and after 10-15 minutes the temperature is reduced to 120-130 ° C. So roast beef, roast, stuffed pieces are prepared (the piece should be quite large and not very lean). If you have meat with a high content of collagen, you need to extinguish it on a small fire. You can take the whole piece or cut it - it does not matter. The main thing is that you have enough time.
There are five basic degrees of roasting meat:
• Rare - with blood;
• Medium rare - little blood, more pink juice;
• Medium - medium-roasted, pink inside meat, without blood;
• Medium well - almost fried, with clear juice;
Well done - well fried.
The more lean meat, the less it needs to be fried - choose medium or medium rare. For marble steaks, medium well is recommended, then the fatty inclusions are melted and the juice is saturated with meat. Do not forget about the traditions of this or that nation - for example, in southern countries, meat with blood is usually not ordered.
Beef stewed with mustard, white wine and tomatoes
6 servings
What do you need:
- kg of pulp of a beef brisket
- 800 g of ripe tomatoes
- 3 medium white bulbs
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 750 ml of dry white wine
- 2 tbsp. l. Dijon mustard
- 3-5 tbsp. l. vegetable oil
- salt, freshly ground black pepper
For a bouquet of garnishes:
- 5 sprigs of parsley
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 2 small twigs of tarhuna
- 1 bay leaves
What to do:
Cut the meat into cubes with a side of 8 cm, dry, season with salt and pepper. With tomatoes peeled, cut the onions into half rings, cut the garlic in half. Bunch garnish thread. In a saucepan in 2 tbsp. l. butter in small portions fry beef until light rustic crust, 5-6 min. If necessary, add a little more oil for each new portion. Ready meat to shift to a plate. It is important not to let the meat either let out the juice or fry badly. At the end of the process, drain all the fat from the pan, except for 1 tbsp. l. Pour in the wine. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring and scraping off the adhering slices from the bottom until the volume of the liquid is reduced by a factor of 2, about 10 minutes. Add mustard, whisk with whisk. Put in the sauce the roasted meat, whole tomatoes, onion, garlic and garnish bouquet. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat to a minimum. Cook 2 hours. Then remove the bouquet garni, take out the meat, and fire to maximize. Cook for 10 minutes, then chop the sauce with a blender. Put the meat in the sauce, warm and serve with crunchy white bread.