Tag Archives: cuisine

Steak Dinner

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When cooking a steak, simplicity is key.

– Chef Vic, 2019.

Prior to 2017, I didn’t know how to cook a steak.

At least not one I was ever satisfied with.

It either turned out being over-seasoned, or overcooked.

But then, that year for my birthday, a dear friend of mine took me to a cooking class where we were taught the perfect way to make steaks.

And sweet heavens above, since then my steaks have turned out PERFECT each time.

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Ingredients used:

  • Rump/Sirloin Steak
  • Sweet Potatoes, sliced into thin chips
  • Broccoli, top cut into small florets
  • Seasonings
    • 2 tsp Rapeseed Oil
    • 2 tsp Sea Salt
    • 1 tsp Crushed Black Pepper
    • 2 Garlic Cloves (see below for how to make garlic paste)
    • 3 knobs of Butter, room temperature
    • 1 tbsp Mixed Herbs

Prep time – 5 mins

Method (garlic paste):

  1. Peel the skin from the garlic and place on the chopping board.
  2. Sprinkle some sea salt on the garlic cloves and using the flat part of the blade, crush the cloves and drag across the chopping board.
  3. Scrape the paste using the knife and place in a bowl with the butter and mix well.

Prep time – 5 mins

Method (sweet potato fries):

  1. In a bowl, drizzle 1 tsp of rapeseed oil on the sweet potatoes and add in the mixed herbs.
  2. Toss to ensure all of the potato is covered.
  3. Spread out on an oven tray.

Cooking time – 35 mins

Cooking (sweet potato fries & broccoli):

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (gas mark 4)
  2. Place the tray of potatoes and leave to bake for 30 minutes, turning regularly.
  3. Additionally, blanch the broccoli florets in boiling water for 4 minutes and drain well.

Cooking time – 2 to 6 mins

Cooking (steak):

  1. Season the steak with salt and pepper.
  2. Put a griddle pan on high heat on the hob.
  3. Depending on how well done you like your steak, as a general rule of thumb add 2 minutes to the cooking time for each side (e.g. 2 mins per side for rare steak, 4 mins per side for medium, 6 mins per side for well-done).
  4. A trick I learned from the class is to flip the steak every 30 seconds, to ensure even cooking throughout the steak.
  5. Once the steak is cooked, serve with the sweet potato fries, broccoli and a dollop of garlic butter.
  6. Enjoy!

Extra tip: pair with a glass (or bottle) of good red wine and honestly live your best life.

Lamb Ribs

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For several reasons, lamb just isn’t one of my favourite meats out there.

Like, it’s very much towards the bottom of my list.

I’m just not a fan of how overpowering the taste of the meat can be, I dislike how not versatile it is but most of all I HATE how it can only be eaten fresh and hot. Once lamb cools and the fat congeals on it, it makes me feel sick.

[I do not claim to be the authority on lamb, and obviously you may have experienced differently, but for the most part, I said what I said]

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There are only two times when I can be quite partial to lamb: Turkish (or other Middle Eastern) cuisines and in Caribbean food.

Man, I could really eff up a lamb shawarma right now…I really shouldn’t blog whilst hungry.

I used to live in a part of London that is notorious for its abundance of Turkish restaurants. During one of my numerous visits to the establishment that was at the top of my road, I begged the chef (who I was on friendly terms with) to give me the recipe for their Lamb Ribs and despite how much I shamelessly flirted, pouted and batted my eyelashes, he refused to part with it, stating “if I gave it to you then you’d never come back”.

Whatever.

I’ve since moved from the area and haven’t had a chance to eat Turkish food in a little while. So I really wasn’t all that surprised when I got a craving recently for Lamb Ribs. I just knew I’d have to recreate it as best as I could given the circumstances. They taste nothing like how the Turkish do it, but they were still pretty damn good if I do say so myself.

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Ingredients used:

  • 600g – 1kg Lamb Ribs (a visit to your local butchers is your best bet)
  • Broccoli, top cut into small florets
  • Seasonings
    • 2 tsp Olive Oil
    • 2 Garlic Cloves, chopped finely
    • 1 tsp Crushed Chilli Flakes
    • 1 tsp Smoked Sea Salt
    • ½ tsp Ground Cumin
    • ½ tsp Mixed Spices
    • ½ tsp Paprika
    • ½ tsp Thyme
    • ½ tsp Oregano

Prep time – 10 mins

Method:

  1. Make a paste with the seasonings.
  2. In a bowl, place the lamb ribs and cover with seasoning paste.
  3. If you have enough foresight to plan ahead, I’d leave the ribs to marinate overnight. If you’re like me and you do not possess such, leave to ribs to marinate for 30 minutes.

Cooking time – 40 mins

Cooking:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (gas mark 4)
  2. Place the ribs on a foil-lined oven tray and put in the oven for 20 minutes, then turn the ribs over and leave to cook for a further 15-20 mins until it’s cooked through and browned to your liking.
  3. In the meantime, blanch the broccoli florets in boiling water for 4 minutes and drain well.
  4. Enjoy!

Extra tip: as an extra step, season the ribs with some of the garlic and salt and sear them under high heat on a griddle pan before rubbing the paste on them and putting them in the oven to finish cooking.