Delicious beef steak recipe. Beef steak - cooking flawless meat

What is a steak?

A steak is a whole piece of meat of sufficient quality to be quickly grilled or pan-fried until done. Steak can be made from any meat: beef, pork, lamb, game and more, but most often steak is beef. Often this meat is from the premium part of the carcass - the back or lower back, and these parts are called premium because the meat in them is softer and rich in fatty layers. With the advent of high-quality meat from meat breeds, it became possible to cook steaks from the so-called alternative parts: shoulder blades, shoulders, legs or flanks.

across the fibers

Probably, you often heard that steaks are cut across the fibers. What does this mean in general? The fact is that muscles are made up of fibers that are parallel to each other. One muscle fiber is no thicker than a human hair, but the fibers are collected in bundles that are already clearly visible to the naked eye. Muscles are designed in such a way that it is very difficult to break the fibers along, and it is easy to separate individual bundles of fibers or fibers from each other. So it turns out that if you cut the meat in such a way that the length of the fibers in the piece is minimal, then it will be easier to chew.

For example, the longissimus dorsi and spinalis dorsi, which form the basis of the dorsal portion known as the ribeye, are cut across the spine because these muscles have fibers directed along the spine.

Excerpt

So, we cut out a piece of meat, or bought a pre-cut one. What's next? Now is the time to talk about endurance. No, not about the stamina and self-control in the face of the temptation to eat meat, but about the fact that meat greatly benefits from keeping it at a certain humidity and temperature for quite a long time. Dry aging, that is, aging uncovered meat in the refrigerator, noticeably changes the taste of beef (to a lesser extent, pork or lamb), I’ve already talked about this. But at home, it is difficult to do the right dry exposure: a regular household refrigerator does not allow you to control humidity.

Nevertheless, you can withstand the steak at home: for this you need to sprinkle it on all sides with ordinary table salt and leave it on a wire rack in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. What it will do: Salt will draw some moisture out of the meat, and its surface will become dry, and therefore ready for frying; fermentation will slightly change the taste of the meat, not as dramatically as in 2 weeks, but still. Salt will suppress the activity of bacteria on the surface of the piece, and in 2-3 days the meat will not spoil, but it is not worth keeping the steak longer in this way.

© villagemoon / iStock

Fire

As I said, a steak is a quickly cooked piece of meat. Depending on the thickness, size and quality of the piece, a steak can be cooked from 5 minutes to almost an hour. But one way or another, the main condition for cooking a steak is a strong fire, whether it be hot coals on the grill or a well-heated pan. The intense heat is needed to make the crust, the crispy fried layer whose aroma and crunch we associate with the taste of grilled meat. Here, as with all other food: we like contrasts in taste - in this case, the contrast between the half-baked steak flesh inside and the crispy fragrant exterior.

In order for the crust to form, the so-called Maillard reaction, a chemical reaction between proteins and sugars, must begin, as a result of which the meat turns brown and the characteristic aroma of fried meat appears. This reaction starts at a temperature of at least 120 degrees, and for this reason, the steak must be dry when placed on the grill or pan, because the evaporation of moisture takes too much energy, the pan will cool down, and the appearance of the wet steak will be cooked, not fried .

If you took my advice and kept the steak in the refrigerator, you can immediately put it on a heated grill or pan, after brushing it a little with vegetable oil. If the steak is fresh from the store or a vacuum bag, you must first dry it with a napkin.

Fry the steak over high heat until a crust forms over the entire surface, but the meat does not begin to burn. If the steak is done at this point, great, you can remove it from the heat. If the steak is large and thick, it must be brought to readiness by wrapping it in foil and moving it to the less hot side of the grill, or by placing the pan with the steak in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.

Temperature and readiness

You need to check the temperature inside the steak with a kitchen thermometer, preferably an electronic one (it is more accurate). Well known trick with fingers curled is biased and generally does not work: not only are different steaks not the same to the touch, but also everyone’s hands are different, and so is tactile sensitivity. Chefs are cunning when they say that they can accurately determine the readiness of a steak in this way, well, or only if dozens of the same steaks are cooked daily.

Despite the fact that the meat looks rather rough, from the point of view of cooking it is a delicate substance. In the range of 50 to 70 degrees, that is only 20 degrees, it goes through many changes from almost raw to completely shrunken and dried up. The ideal core temperature for most steaks is 54–56 degrees.

Approximate temperatures for different degrees of doneness of beef steaks

Bleu - 50 (raw)

Medium rare - 54

Medium well - 60

Well done - 64 (fully done)

What does it mean, the temperature inside? When a steak is grilled, the outer layer is subject to extreme heat and the meat on the outside is more likely to be overcooked. The laws of physics were created at least in order to comply with them - meat has a certain thermal conductivity, and heat penetrates into the thickness of the meat gradually, from the edge to the center. When we talk about the temperature inside, we are talking about the coldest part inside the piece, that is, as far as possible from the surface. But even here there are subtleties: if there is a layer of fat on the side of the steak lying on the grill, then from this side the heat will penetrate more slowly: the thermal conductivity of fat is lower than that of meat.

You can make sure that the meat is perfectly cooked not only in the center of the steak, but throughout its entire thickness. Unfortunately, special equipment is indispensable here - for this you need an immersion thermostat, colloquially known as sous vide, a device that allows you to cook at a constant low temperature.

© grafvision / iStock

How often to turn?

You can hear arguments about how often you need to turn a steak during frying: there is an opinion that the less often the better. And here physics comes to the rescue: the more often the steak is turned over, the faster and more evenly it will cook. Faster because the side farthest from the grill will not have time to cool too much, but more evenly because the side lying on the grill will not overheat much.

Rest before serving

When the temperature in the center of the steak remains a couple of degrees to the desired one, it must be removed from the heat (pull it out of the foil or from the oven) and leave it alone on a plate for a few minutes. This is commonly referred to as rest, but in reality, during this time, the steak will come to readiness by inertia, and the fibers that have contracted from the extreme heat will relax and will not actively squeeze the juices as soon as the steak is cut.

To salt or not to salt - that is the question

Another reason for controversy among steak lovers: when should a steak be salted - before or after cooking? You can immediately before frying, you can after, you can in the process. The main thing is not in advance, because the salted piece of raw meat will become wet and not ready for browning in just a minute or two. If the steak was aged in the refrigerator, as described above, then during cooking it can not be salted at all.

If this is not enough

It is better to fry the steak on an open fire, on coals, the temperature is higher there, and among other things, the steak will be more fragrant - smoke, that's all. In the pan, you can use this trick: after the initial frying from all sides, throw a heavy piece of butter into the pan, melt it to make it sizzle, tilt the pan slightly and, scooping up the boiling oil with a spoon, pour it over the steak. Not only will the steak brown faster, but it will also be enriched with the aroma of fried butter. This should be done when the steak is almost ready, so as not to burn the oil to blackness and bitterness. Instead of butter, melted beef tallow is also suitable.

Conclusion

Properly cooking a steak at home is not only easy, but even simple. But you still have to buy a thermometer.

In the summer of 2014, on the instructions of the chef and co-owner of the Delicatessen and Yunost restaurants, Ivan Shishkin, Petya Pavlovich went to study at the American Butcher School in New York. Since then, in the kitchen of the Yunost cafe, he has been carving meat, dressing ribs and steaks, and preparing pastrami, roast beef, sausages, smoked ham and jerky from the rest. Since March 2016, Petya has been running a funny and smart blog

Today we will cook medium beef steak. Medium is a medium rare steak. If you do everything exactly with the recipe, then the dish will turn out even better than the chef from the most expensive restaurant.

The beef steak prepared by you will meet the criteria: juicy, satisfying, tempting.

For cooking we need:

• Beef meat (back muscles, tenderloin)
• Olive oil
• Coarsely ground black pepper

Beef steak recipe:

Of course, you need to choose the right meat for beef steak. Soft back muscles are suitable for cooking. Of course, you can also cook from the thigh part, but since it is much tougher, you will first need to marinate the beef.

For marinade, you can take: lemon juice, vinegar, kefir, yogurt. For one kilogram of meat, 500 ml of kefir or yogurt will go. But all the same, the consistency of the meat will not be as ideal as that of the meat from the back.

Cooking medium rare beef steak

It is important that the meat for steaks is marbled. The photo shows thin white streaks. The more such veins, the more ideal this beef is for steaks. When frying, this fat melts, and the meat becomes juicier.

Another important detail is that in restaurants, meat for steaks is not used fresh, but allowed to ripen. In the refrigerator under special conditions, it is up to 20 days. But this cannot be done at home, so that the meat is a little ripe, and all the muscles in it relax - we wrap it with parchment paper or a linen towel and send it to the refrigerator for 2 days.

After such ripening, the steak will turn out juicy and soft. Therefore, for proper preparation, meat must be bought in advance. But, and if your meat was frozen, then transfer it from the freezer to the refrigerator for a day. It will gradually melt, while not losing its juiciness. Before cooking, the meat should be at room temperature.

The minimum thickness of the beef steak should be 2.5 cm. But the thicker the better. Therefore, I advise you to cut pieces of about 4 cm. We take the cooked meat and cut it into portions. It is better to take a long knife to cut off in one, even piece.

In no case should the fat layers on the sides be cut off, they will give the steak a good taste.

Before frying, pieces of meat should be greased with olive oil and quite a bit of salt. They salted it, sprinkled a little oil, and massaged the meat so that everything was absorbed evenly.

To find out the temperature of the pan - you need to put a couple of drops of water into it. If the drops immediately evaporate, then the pan is hot enough.

We put pieces of chopped meat on a hot and dry frying pan, and layers of fat will prevent the beef steak from burning.

We spread the pieces away from us, so splashes of fat will not fall on you.

For a medium steak, each side should cook for 6-7 minutes, so be patient and don't flip often. Ideally, no more than 3 coups. Do not pierce the steak with a fork, otherwise the juice will leak out. If you see that the juice starts to come out, it's time to turn over. Flip with tongs or two spatulas or spoons.

You can use a cooking thermometer to check the readiness of the beef steak. It needs to be stuck into a piece of meat, but not completely, otherwise it will show the temperature of the pan, not the meat. The temperature of the grilled steak should be 55ºС.

Well, you can still check the readiness of the steak without a thermometer. Experienced cooks check by pressing a finger on the meat. For this, too, there is a secret.

Bring your thumb and ring finger on your hand - when you press on the pad, you will feel elasticity. That's the same elasticity should have a beef steak cooked medium.

Fried steaks - salt and pepper on both sides with large pomelo pepper. Cover the plate with foil and leave for 10 minutes. The steaks will come off and have a very soft crust.

Bon appetit everyone, share the recipe with your friends by pressing the buttons of social networks.

Beef steak in a pan

Calories: Not specified
Cooking time: Not indicated

- meat (entrecote, beef tenderloin, fresh) - 300 gr.,
- ground pepper (spices),
- salt (sea, fine),
- butter (butter) - 30 gr.

Recipe with photo step by step:

We wash the meat (it is best to take a cut between the 5th and 13th ribs), dry it and cut it into several pieces 3.5-4 cm thick.




Heat the pan and put a piece of butter on it to melt it.




Then sprinkle salt and spices on one side of the steaks and put them in the pan with this side. Fry over medium heat for 2 minutes. For lovers of fish dishes, I advise you to cook such a delicious one.




Next, salt and pepper the meat on the reverse side and turn it over to this side.






We fry the steaks based on the desired degree of frying:
lightly fried meat on the outside and pink with blood on the inside - 2-3 minutes on both sides;
more fried outside meat, but the same pink and tender inside is fried for 4 minutes on both sides;
well-done meat inside and with a golden crust on the outside, fry for 5 minutes on each side. And finally, be sure to check out this unsurpassed one.




We wrap the finished beef steak in a pan in foil for 10 minutes so that it “rests”. I hope you enjoyed my simple recipe with photos.




Bon appetit!

A steak is a piece of meat fried in a pan or grill until golden brown. But the pulp taken from any part of the beef carcass is not suitable for him. It is prepared only from beef of the highest grade.

For him, choose a fillet with a minimum amount of connective tissue. Such qualities are tenderloin only. It is located inside the carcass and is not involved in muscle movement. It is a large piece of teardrop-shaped fillet.

The flesh of the brisket is very soft, without veins, so it cooks quickly.

In extreme cases, you can use thin and thick edges for the steak. But this meat does not always meet the culinary requirements.

Only the meat of young bulls, whose age does not exceed one and a half years, is suitable for steak.

Also, you can not use fresh meat. It should lie in the freezer for at least twenty days. During this time, a fermentation process takes place in it, due to which the pulp fibers soften. Steak from such meat is soft and juicy.

Beef steak in a pan: the subtleties of cooking

• The meat on the steak is cut into large pieces across the fibers. During the heat treatment, the heat passes faster into the fillet, and it warms up evenly.
• Frozen pulp is thawed in the refrigerator for several hours. Do not defrost meat in the microwave, as the temperature regime is violated and the steak is unevenly fried.
• Steaks are cut into equal pieces with a thickness of at least 2.5 cm. Such meat remains juicy when cooked. And thin layers of meat are easy to overcook. But do not make steaks more than 5 cm, as they are difficult to bring to readiness.
• It is not necessary to beat the steaks (with rare exceptions), because the juice will flow out of the meat ahead of time and the steak will turn out dry.
• In order for the finished steak to turn out to be of the correct shape, the raw fillet must be tied with a harsh thread and fried in this form. After cooking, the thread is removed.
• Fry the steak in a hot cast-iron (or with a thick bottom) frying pan at maximum heat. A golden crust should quickly form on the steak, which will “seal” the juice inside the meat. If this does not happen, the juice flows out and the meat is stewed. For the same reason, the steak should not be touched, pressed with a fork or knife.

There are several degrees of roasting a steak:

• Extra-rare. The steak is quickly fried on the grill, warming up to 49 °. It comes out almost raw.
• With blood. The steak is cooked for 2-3 minutes at 200°. It has a fried crust, red, not fried meat inside, red juice.
• medium rare. It is cooked for 5 minutes at 190-200°. It has uncooked meat and pink colored juice.
• Medium rare. Cook for 7 minutes at 180°. It turns out medium-rare, with light pink juice.
• almost done. Cook for 9 minutes at 180°. It has soft meat with clear juice.
• fried. It cooks for 8-9 minutes at 180°. Bring to readiness in the oven. He has almost no juice.
• deep fried. Ready for over 9 minutes. It has a golden brown crust and no juice at all.

Beef steak in a pan: a classic recipe

Ingredients:

• tenderloin;
• salt;
• black pepper;
• vegetable oil.

Cooking method

• Wash the cutout. Dry well with a towel. Cut off the head - the thickened part of the tenderloin. Save it for another meal. Remove the film from the rest of the fillet, cutting it off with a knife near the meat itself.
• Cut across the grain into pieces up to 3 cm wide.
• Lay them flat. Give them a round shape, tying a thread for reliability.
• Heat up the pan. Using a brush, brush one side of the steaks with oil. Place them in the pan with the greased side down.
• Fry over high heat until golden brown. Brush the top of the steak with oil. Turn over carefully. Bring to readiness. And now salt it. Remove the ropes.
• Leave it in the pan for 3-4 minutes so that it reaches the condition. You can also transfer to a plate and cover with foil for a few minutes.
• Serve with any side dish. Steak is delicious with fresh or roasted vegetables.

Note: If you're grilling the steak right away with the vegetables, you'll need to cook them ahead of time. That is, wash, clean and dry. Place the steaks and vegetables in the skillet at a distance from each other so that they do not touch.

Beef steak in a frying pan

Ingredients:

• tenderloin;
• mustard;
• salt and pepper - to taste;
• vegetable oil.

Cooking method

• Wash the cutout. Pat dry with a towel.
• Cut off a wide slice.
• Lay it cut side up on a cutting board dampened with water. Cover with cling film. Beat with a special hammer into a thin pancake.
• Salt. Lubricate half the fillet with mustard. Cover with the second piece. Give the steak a round shape. Pepper.
• Heat the pan until a light smoke appears. Lubricate it with oil. Place the steak carefully. Fry over high heat for half a minute.
• Lubricate the top side with oil. Flip. Cook for another half minute. Pepper and salt.
• Serve with any side dish you need to prepare ahead of time.

Note to the owner

• Steak can be cooked with different herbs. To do this, grease a slice of meat with oil and rub with chopped herbs. Hold for a few minutes. Place the steak in a hot skillet and fry until golden brown.
• There is an unusual way to determine readiness. Press down on the browned steak with your finger. If it is very soft, like a cheek, then the meat is still raw. If, when pressed, there is an association with the chin, then the meat has reached medium roast. When the meat becomes elastic, like a forehead, then the frying is complete. But such a steak will turn out tough and dry.

A classic steak is a portioned piece of beef about 3 cm thick, fried on both sides. Steaks can have different degrees of doneness, the main of which are the Rare degree (with blood, the finished steak has an inside temperature of 45°C to 50°C), the Medium degree (medium degree of roasting, the steak temperature is from 55°C to 60°C). C) and the degree of Well-done (strongly fried steak with a temperature of 65 ° C to 70 ° C).

Ideally, the readiness of a steak of one degree or another of roasting is determined using a culinary thermometer, however, in our everyday home reality, this method is used extremely rarely, determining the readiness of a dish, as they say, by eye.

When choosing the degree of heat treatment of a steak, you need to remember that with strong frying, the meat loses its juice and becomes dry and tough. However, Rare roasted meat is also liked to be eaten mainly by amateurs. The most popular around the world is the "medium" steak, which has a uniform brown color but releases pink juice when pressed.

The most common side dishes for steak are grilled vegetables or fresh vegetable salads.

Beef steak - food preparation

To prepare a real beef steak, you need beef pulp without veins and bones from the “intercostal” part, and ideally it should be “steam” meat, then the dish will turn out juicy and fragrant. Such meat should be cut into pieces having a thickness of about 3 cm.

If, nevertheless, you will cook a steak from meat that has been frozen (for example, by purchasing a portion of beef prepared for a steak), defrost it, if possible, in the main compartment of the refrigerator. It will take a lot of time, but this is how it best retains its properties. You can speed up the defrosting process by placing the meat directly in the package in cold water. But don't defrost a steak in the microwave, even on the defrost setting, as the top layers will begin to cook and the middle will still be cold. As a result, evenly frying such a steak will already be problematic. And even more so, you should not defrost meat by immersing it in warm water.

Another important tip for novice cooks: selective meat, which is usually used for cooking steak, is not beaten off, otherwise it will lose not only its structure, but also all its juices.

In addition to meat, to cook a steak, you need to stock up on any (preferably olive) vegetable oil and a set of spices or herbs. Salt the steaks only ready, already before serving.

Beef steak - preparing dishes

You need a frying pan to cook a steak. Ideally, this could be a special grill pan; however, an ordinary cast-iron skillet, which is sure to be found in every kitchen, can also cook quite a decent steak. You also need a knife to cook a steak. Again, there is a special steak knife, but in principle, any one that can cut a piece of beef into beautiful and even pieces for a steak about 3 cm wide will do. To turn the steak while frying, you need to have culinary tongs.

Beef Steak - The Best Recipes

Recipe 1: Buttered Beef Steak

A very simple recipe. Choosing the right meat, cutting it into steaks correctly and frying it for the time you need, you will get a delicious steak, eating which you will sincerely feel sorry for the vegetarians.

Ingredients:

800 gr. beef;
50 gr. butter;

Cooking method:

1. After washing and drying the beef tenderloin with a paper towel, cut it into several steaks about 3 cm thick.

2. Put the pan on a strong fire and melt the butter.

3. Having peppered the steaks on one side, put them on this side in the pan.

4. Then, after peppering the second side, turn the meat over. The frying time is determined by the degree of "roastedness" of the meat that you prefer. If it is enough for you that it is slightly fried on the outside and very little on the inside, fry for up to 3 minutes on each side; if you want meat that is well browned on the outside and pink on the inside, the frying time on each side is about 4 minutes; to get a fried crust and complete readiness of the meat inside, it should be fried for about 5 minutes on each side. Salt before serving.

Recipe 2: Oven Steak

The meat cooked in the oven is softer, and the crust obtained by frying the meat in a pan prevents the juices from flowing out of it. That is why such meat, especially if seasoned with herbs, turns out so tender and fragrant.

Ingredients:

1 kg of beef;
4 tbsp. l. olive oil;
salt and pepper to taste;
herbs (thyme, rosemary).

Cooking method:

1. After washing and drying the beef tenderloin with a paper towel, cut it into pieces with a thickness of about 3 cm (about 4 pieces should be obtained).

2. In order not to pour olive oil into the pan, marinate the resulting steaks in oil with herbs for an hour, and then send them to a well-heated (up to 250 degrees) pan and fry for about 2 minutes on each side to get a crust.

3. Then we put the fried steaks in the oven, heated to 170 degrees, and bring them to the desired degree of readiness for 10-15 minutes.

Recipe 3: Beef Steak with Red Sauce

Steaks with red sauce are a real gift for gourmets. If you like to experiment, try serving regular beef steaks with red sauce with grape juice, red wine and pepper, and you will get a gourmet dish that will exceed all your expectations.

Ingredients:

1 kg of beef steaks;
3 art. l. flour;
2 tbsp. l. butter;
1.5 cups of broth;
0.3 cups of red wine;
0.3 cups of currant juice;
2 tsp red pepper;
salt and ground black pepper to taste.

Cooking method:

1. After rubbing the steaks with pepper, fry them on both sides for about 3 minutes each.

2. Transfer them to a cast iron bowl and bake for about 15 minutes in a well-heated oven.

3. Prepare the sauce: melt the butter in a frying pan, fry the flour on it until golden brown, then pour in the broth and, stirring constantly, bring everything to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes. Then pour currant juice, wine and add red pepper, bring to a boil and turn off.

Serve steaks with this sauce and potatoes.

Cut the meat into steaks should be across the fibers, for uniform penetration of heat into the thickness of the meat during cooking.

If you fry steaks on coals, where the temperature is much higher than in a pan, then first the steak should be fried on both sides for about half a minute, to form a crust that prevents the juices from flowing out of the meat, and then continue frying, turning the steak alternately on one side to another.

It is necessary to heat the pan for cooking the steak over high heat, but it is impossible to allow the oil to smoke, because in such a pan the steak, burnt from the outside, will remain raw and tough from the inside. It is considered that the pan has warmed up to the desired temperature if the hiss is heard when placing steaks on it.

After frying, you should let the steak “rest” for about 10 minutes (after removing the meat from the heat, just let it lie down). Then it will be much softer, since the juices that have risen up during frying can be evenly distributed throughout the piece.

The readiness of the steak is checked by pressing your finger on it. Rare steak should be soft; well-done is firm, and a medium-rare steak should be a kind of “golden mean”.