Cooking?/Eating In?/Eating Out?

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Steak 'n' Chips:


Tonight, my ladies are at the M-I-L's for tea! Home alone!!

My dinner will be: rib-eye steak, twice fried chips (french fries), mushrooms and tomatoes, with a bottle of red.

Steak: I let it warm up to room temp then season with +++ ground black pepper and (instead of salt) crumbled-up OXO cube (don't knock it till you've tried it!). Leave to dry-marinate for about an hour then rub in a little light olive oil (the pan will be dry). Heat up a frying pan (skillet) until it is too hot for the hand to bear at 1 cm. Sear the steak about 2 mins on each side - make sure the finger can still make an indentation - then chuck in a couple of knobs butter which will quickly froth up and coat the meat. Rest the steak for five mins while the chips are getting their second frying.

Chips: Ideally should be King Edwards potatoes. Cut to your preference. Heat up a pan of goose fat (corn oil can be used for wimps!) until just smoking. Put in the chips and fry until just slightly soft to "the pinch" - they can be a little coloured but not brown. Drain and set aside until the second frying. When the steak is resting heat up the goose fat again until smoking. The second frying will take only 2 mins and the chips will be golden brown and very crisp.

Mushrooms: Ideally large field mushrooms (for flavour), or brown varieties like portobella. Thickly sliced. In another frying pan put in a few knobs of butter when the pan is cold and cover with the mushrooms. Bring up to high heat. Do not be tempted to shift them around at this stage as they will give up their moisture. When they are brown underneath mix them up for another couple of minutes, then set aside. Thy can be warmed up again later if necessary.

Tomatoes: Easy - just large toms, halved with cut sides seasoned with sea salt and ground black pepper, then fried - do not overcook.

The key to this dish is having the steak ready to eat when the chips can be added, very crispy, directly from the second frying.

Serve: with a decent red wine.

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A Question for Gus:

It's a while since I had the pleasure of holidaying in Mallorca, but one thing I remember is an unusual (? unique) type of sausage/chorizo. It was a thick sausage and very red (?tomato ?paprika content). It was so soft that it could be spread directly on bread, and I can recall the village kids running around with it spread on bread when they got home from school. I don't remember seeing its like anywhere else. Does this ring any bells for you?

[jimbo44]

Steak 'n' Chips:

....twice fried chips (french fries).......

Have you tried doing Heston Blumenthal's triple cooked chips? (This involves putting them to chill between both blanching and between each of the two fryings). I tried it once and they were very good but, like many things of Bloomin Hestanstall, far too elaborate to justify the extra effort IMO.

Marco Pierre White now advertises the little Knorr stockpots for rubbing into meat but I seem to recall him saying about rubbing in stock cubes like OXO prior to Knorr employing him to do this; it certainly works (whatever the make).

[Scottishgaucho]

Great thread Chris.
I especially like mushrooms and tomato with my steak as it takes me back to the days of the Berni Inn. As for chips my wife has always insisted on cooking them in Extra Virgin Olive Oil so I always used to obey her even though it cost a ruddy fortune. I've heard it said they shouldn't be done in olive oil as the oil never reaches a high enough temperature but I never found that to be the case. I now use the air fryer for chips and have been very impressed with the results.

Bon Appetit.

[allyby]

Sounds good Chris, ye cannae whack steak n chips!

A regular I do for both of us is Chicken Tikka, a simple recipe packed with flavour.

In a deep bowl add these ingredients.

1/4 Teaspoon Tumeric.
1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder, or to taste.
Heaped teaspoon Chopped Garlic.
Heaped Teaspoon Ginger, the garlic and ginger are pre bought in jars.
Slice a small Chilli, seeds in if you like it hot.
3-4 Heaped Tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt.
A small handful of freshly chopped coriander or as they say in the US Cilantro.
Freshly squeezed lemon juice, mix well with a spoon at this stage, All ingredients so far.
4 Chicken Breasts cut into long slices approx. 4 slices per breast but depends on the size of them.
Marinate for up to 3 hours but for at least 1 hour.

Grill on high heat at highest point in the grill until you get the charred look, takes about 10-15 mins each side and when you think it's ready cut a piece to check it's cooked through.

Sonia likes to have it on Fajitas with mayo tomatoes and cucumber, I like it with good old Garlic Bread.

[jimbo44]

As for chips my wife has always insisted on cooking them in Extra Virgin Olive Oil so I always used to obey her even though it cost a ruddy fortune. I've heard it said they shouldn't be done in olive oil as the oil never reaches a high enough temperature but I never found that to be the case.

I agree with those that say that EVOO doesn't get hot enough - indeed the real justification for using goose fat in frying and roasting spuds is the temperature it will achieve rather than any flavouring effect?

[Pitchfork]

Sounds good Chris, ye cannae whack steak n chips!

A regular I do for both of us is Chicken Tikka, a simple recipe packed with flavour.

In a deep bowl add these ingredients.

1/4 Teaspoon Tumeric.
1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder, or to taste.
Heaped teaspoon Chopped Garlic.
Heaped Teaspoon Ginger, the garlic and ginger are pre bought in jars.
Slice a small Chilli, seeds in if you like it hot.
3-4 Heaped Tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt.
A small handful of freshly chopped coriander or as they say in the US Cilantro.
Freshly squeezed lemon juice, mix well with a spoon at this stage, All ingredients so far.
4 Chicken Breasts cut into long slices approx. 4 slices per breast but depends on the size of them.
Marinate for up to 3 hours but for at least 1 hour.

Grill on high heat at highest point in the grill until you get the charred look, takes about 10-15 mins each side and when you think it's ready cut a piece to check it's cooked through.

Sonia likes to have it on Fajitas with mayo tomatoes and cucumber, I like it with good old Garlic Bread.

Sounds great, Ally. And easy enough to make. I think the Missus would like that one.

[plugugly]

Sounds good Chris, ye cannae whack steak n chips!

A regular I do for both of us is Chicken Tikka, a simple recipe packed with flavour.

In a deep bowl add these ingredients.

1/4 Teaspoon Tumeric.
1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder, or to taste.
Heaped teaspoon Chopped Garlic.
Heaped Teaspoon Ginger, the garlic and ginger are pre bought in jars.
Slice a small Chilli, seeds in if you like it hot.
3-4 Heaped Tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt.
A small handful of freshly chopped coriander or as they say in the US Cilantro.
Freshly squeezed lemon juice, mix well with a spoon at this stage, All ingredients so far.
4 Chicken Breasts cut into long slices approx. 4 slices per breast but depends on the size of them.
Marinate for up to 3 hours but for at least 1 hour.

Grill on high heat at highest point in the grill until you get the charred look, takes about 10-15 mins each side and when you think it's ready cut a piece to check it's cooked through.

Sonia likes to have it on Fajitas with mayo tomatoes and cucumber, I like it with good old Garlic Bread.

Sounds great, Ally! Key things in the marinade are yoghurt, lemon and coriander. Some would marinate in the fridge overnight. And, of course, if we were anywhere but Scotland, they would be grilled over a charcoal barbeque!!

[jimbo44]

A regular I do for both of us is Chicken Tikka, a simple recipe packed with flavour.

In a deep bowl add these ingredients.

1/4 Teaspoon Tumeric.
1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder, or to taste.
Heaped teaspoon Chopped Garlic.
Heaped Teaspoon Ginger, the garlic and ginger are pre bought in jars.
Slice a small Chilli, seeds in if you like it hot.
3-4 Heaped Tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt.
A small handful of freshly chopped coriander or as they say in the US Cilantro.
Freshly squeezed lemon juice, mix well with a spoon at this stage, All ingredients so far.
4 Chicken Breasts cut into long slices approx. 4 slices per breast but depends on the size of them.
Marinate for up to 3 hours but for at least 1 hour.

Grill on high heat at highest point in the grill until you get the charred look, takes about 10-15 mins each side and when you think it's ready cut a piece to check it's cooked through.

.

Funny you should post that, Ally - my chicken breasts for tonight's dinner have just been put to marinate!

Only main difference (except a few herbs and spices variations) is that I will fry the chicken in butter and use the marinade to create a curry sauce. Also got a load of cold cooked new potato's left over so will do a Bombay Aloo.

[Scottishgaucho]

A regular I do for both of us is Chicken Tikka, a simple recipe packed with flavour.

I'm drooling Ally.

I shall keep this recipe in mind. Indian spices are a bugger to get here so I usually stock up whenever we go back to the UK. My wife isn't a curry fan so I usually have one when I'm home alone.