A Perfect Steak

A Perfect Steak

Steaks are the most popular cut of meat to throw on a grill. Meat steaks are usually grilled, pan-fried or broiled. Steak can also be meat cooked in sauce. It usually served with mesh potato, rice, bread or pasta. Without qualification, the word “steak” generally refers to “beefsteak”. Steaks from other animals are qualified as “swordfish steak” or “venison steak”.

For the first time, people were not familiar with a beef, as exemplified by; beef was not important part of the American diet before Civil War. Cattle were not indigenous to Americas, until Spanish introduced those in 1540. In the 18th century, the Spanish and French colonist began to raise cattle. As the railroads developed, they used trains to transport to herds from San Antonio to New Orleans. After the Second World War, beef became a symbol of American prosperity. Americans were eating 62 pounds by 1952, 99 pounds by 1960, and an all time high of 114 pounds in 1970. Nowadays, that rate is increasing every day.

Nowadays, there are so many restaurants have steaks on their menu. From an exclusive high-class restaurant in five stars hotel to a vendor steak in the road side. They provide steak in their own way, from the most expensive steak to the cheapest steak based on the condition of their target market.

People want to enjoy their steak, so it will be nice if we know how to cook the best steak. We can have the best steak by cook the steak in a right way. First, what we have to do is choosing a good meat, because meat is the most important component in steak. When buying steaks, buy the best grade of meat we can afford. It should be USDA Prime Aged Beef. If our butcher doesn’t have this, the next best grade is Choice. Look for meat with fine texture and firm to the touch. We want the color to be a light cherry red color, not deep red. The size and the thickness are the next matters when purchasing steaks. Thickness of the steak is very important. Each cut should be between 1 inch and 1 ½ inches thick. A thin cut is likely to get dried out. There are some types of beef steaks, such as, fillet mignon, rib eye, New York strip, porterhouse, top sirloin and T-bone. Each of these has a different specialty.

Room temperature is also an important factor to make our steak perfect. Always let our steaks come to room temperature (70 degree F.) before cooking or grilling. If the temperature differs from 70 degree of F, then adjust it. A cold steak will contract when it hits the heat. This is possibly the first biggest mistake people make. Remove steaks from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before we plant to cook them or 60 minutes before, depending on size. We want to have a completely dry steak before cooking. If the steak is wet, we will essentially be steaming it!

Do not salt the steaks just before cooking. Salt bring water to the surface of the steak. And the water sits on the surface as we cook the steak. On the grill, steak would turn gray, not brown. Marinate the steak with garlic, wine and vinegar or tequila, lime juice, herbs and spices, it will make the steaks produce strong but smooth aroma, the texture also be juicy and soft. The taste of those ingredients would left a fantastic sensation in our mouth every single we munch it.

To get the flavor authentic we will want charcoal, but a good gas grill will do the job just as well. Using dry heat is another great way to cook steaks and other tender cuts of meat. Dry heat cooking causes the exterior of the meat to brown and caramelize which gives the steaks a richly browned complex flavor. The moisture on the surface of the meat also evaporates and the juices become concentrated, forming the appealing brown crust.

Grill the steaks for 3-4 minutes on each side of medium rare, use the meat thermometer to test for doneness. When the steaks are done, remove it from the grill and let sit 15 minutes before serving. Why? Because meat temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees after it removed from the grill.

Then the last step is serving the steak with elegant way, we can use a large rectangular plate, then line the plate with pieces of baguette or other bread toasted. Slice the tenderloin well and arrange the slices meat on a bed of curly lettuce and surrounds the meat with cherry tomatoes, rosemary branches and don’t forget to put a Port sauce and some horseradish mustard to make it more fabulous and seems delightful. It is the perfect steak!

Source:

http://bbq.about.com/od/steakrecipes/tp/10steaks.htm

 http://web.li.gatech.edu/~rdrury/400/writing/d_sp2_2/ahistoryofsteak.htm

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Beef/CookingPerfectSteak.htm

Divta Pertamidian - Tue, April 17, 2012

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