The steak book

TWO BULLS STEAKHOUSE A REAL CHARCOAL GRILL

THE LITTLE STEAK BOOK A LITTLE BOOK FOR YOU TO KEEP

PREFACE

“When it’s properly cooked, steak & chips is a truly fantastic meal. It hits the spot and satisfies that deep carnal desire like nothing else can.”

Frustratingly though, being one of the nation’s favourites as well as the most expensive item on a menu, it can be a rather hit and miss affair to get right at home. This awful state of affairs is however avoidable, your perfect steak meal is now a realistic and achievable goal.

This little book will try, in very simple terms, to explain a few basics about steak and give some helpful suggestions on what makes the perfect steak & chips meal.

There is a strong clue on the front page of this booklet (top left) as to where we think you should nonchalantly book a table and let us serve you a memorable steak meal.

For those of you who might prefer to cook at home we have included some of our own recipes and lovely pictures of what we do.

We serve homemade, simple hearty dishes in a casual, friendly dining room and the menu never changes except for the soup occasionally and a few seasonal lobsters.

AGED BEEF

“When a beast is slaughtered, for economic needs, there’s a rush to get it butchered, vacuum packed and onto your plate as soon as possible. “

The reason your steak is often oozing blood and lacking any actual beefy flavour is because it’s quite simply too fresh.

Long ago, back in the day when you might see whole quarters of beef being heaved on the broad shoulder of your local butcher, there would be upwards of four weeks between slaughter and fork. Beef is unlike other meats and for the very best steak you need to hang whole beef loins and fore ribs to age on the bone until the ends blacken in a climate controlled chiller for several weeks or more for it to mature like a vintage cheddar.

It won’t spoil - enzymes tenderise and flavour the meat naturally - as the joint shrinks and air dries the beefy flavours are further concentrated and intensified. There’s a lot of waste due to moisture loss and trimming which makes our dearest cut of beef even dearer but this is a treat after all.

COOK A STEAK PROPERLY

To cook a steak properly you need lots of heat.

You need to think of two things. Approach them as two distinct steps.

Step 1.

However well done you’d like your steak eventually, you should first grill a rare steak and colour the surface nicely because the strongest flavours will come from the grilled surface of your steak.

When the heat hits the flesh a myriad of complex chemical reactions take place in the sizzle. Salty edges turn crisp as moisture is rapidly forced out and sugars are caramelised leaving an ultra-concentrated outer layer of grilled meat flavour. This is what steak chefs call The Maillard process. It’s everything.

“TIP...

Once you’ve done the first bit, trust me, a slowly warmed beautifully coloured rare steak will turn into a fantastically, succulent and flavoursome medium rare steak by the time you’ve finished your prawn cocktail and told a tall story. You now have full control. “

COOK A STEAK PROPERLY

“TIP...

Once you’ve done the first bit, trust me, a slowly warmed beautifully coloured rare steak will turn into a fantastically, succulent and flavoursome medium rare steak by the time you’ve finished your prawn cocktail and told a tall story. You now have full control. “ Step 2.

Warming the centre. You now need to get the steak done to your liking. Maybe just gently warmed for rare and bit warmer or warmer still for medium rare or medium to quite hot and cooked right through if you want it well done.

Maybe butterfly your steak before grilling for well done then you’ll have much more of that lovely grilled surface area and less of the drying out that makes well done steaks tough from being left in fierce heat for too long. Take this part slowly giving yourself time to adjust your hair and get the properly organised.

TWICE COOKED CHIPS

Twice cooked steak chips To get a chip that is fluffy inside and crisp on the outside you need something like a maris piper or a King Edward and you need to cook them twice.

The first cook is called the blanche and this is done slowly at around 140 degree centigrade. At this lower temperature the potato can cook right through before becoming over-cooked on the surface. While the chips are being gently boiled in the hot vegetable oil they are releasing lots of steam and becoming dryer, especially on the surface. Once they are cooked through and gently shaken dry spread them out on a tray to cool off.

You can do the second cook once they are cool but if you leave that tray of blanched chips in the fridge uncovered for a day and night then you really are going to have nice and crispy chips. It will also allow you more time to relax and actually enjoy cooking your steak meal.

The second fry is done at 180 degrees and your chips are ready when they are golden and they rustle when you lift the basket and give it a shake.

70s PRAWN COCKTAIL

Prawn Cocktail To prepare the classic 70’s steakhouse prawn cocktail North Atlantic cold water prawns are ideal but you should use whatever kind of prawn takes your fancy. Stir your handful of prawns into the Marie Rose sauce and spoon them onto a bed of rocket tossed in honey & toasted sesame oil dressing with a wedge of fresh lemon to squeeze at the last minute. You may prefer to get some thumping great Indian Ocean tiger prawns to dip into a bowl of your sauce and just forget the salad.

Marie Rose sauce with a bit of umph!

1 cup real mayonnaise (Hellmann’s will do fine), 1 squirt ketchup, 1 dash Worcester sauce, a good pinch of sweet smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese chili paste in oil (Kings Rd). Stir together with a fork and adjust to your own taste.

PHOTO INGREADENTS ETC

STILTON SAUCE

Stilton Sauce First make a roux by melting 4 oz of butter and stirring in 1 tbs of plain flour. Add a good shake of white pepper and gently cook off the flour for 3-4 minutes taking care not to cook it so hot that it becomes at all brown.

Next you progress to a white sauce by adding ½ pint of hot single cream that you’ve either warmed in the microwave or had in another small pan on the hob and whisk this into the roux. Keep this hot and just below simmering point for another 5 minutes or so, stirring the while and this will ensure that your flour is properly cooked so that your sauce will be smooth and velvety.

Finally you turn this into a stilton sauce by adding and stirring in ½ a pound of de-rinded diced stilton and 2 tbs of Dijon. Mustard always adds a boost to cheese flavours and you can use a smaller amount of English mustard if you prefer. You might decide to give it an extra lift by plopping in one of those fancy Knorr chicken stock jellies. Tweak away...

PHOTO INGREADENTS ETC

MACERAL PATE

Mackerel Pate Break the flesh away from the skin of a couple of smoked mackerel (Sony at Rock-a-Nore Fisheries opposite The Jerwood smokes his own) and fork into it a few large dollops of full fat cream cheese, a dessert spoon of horseradish and season with ground black pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Serve with hot toast and real butter

SESAME DRESSING

Toasted Sesame and Honey Dressing This dressing is great with either meat or fish if you like contrasts. Start with dissolving your preferred quantity of salt and a tea spoon of honey into 1 tbs white wine or cider vinegar before adding a tea spoon of Dijon and the same again of grainy mustard. Whisk in ½ a small cup of vegetable oil and finish with a few dashes of toasted sesame oil to taste.

SALAD DRESSING PHOTO INGREADENTS ETC

PEANUT BANOFFEE PIE

Toasted Peanut Banoffee Pie There are lots and lots of Banoffee pie recipes out there and you may choose your own. This book is too small to take you through all the recipe stages of The Two Bulls Banoffee pie but what we can tell you is that we make our own toffee sauce by melting muscovado sugar in butter and cream so it’s more of a soft fudge than a toffee and we also toast peanuts in a hot skillet so that they are almost burnt before we do anything.

From there we add some of the blended dark toasted nuts to our digestive butter base and when that’s cooled we slaver it with our toffee.

The next day we add a layer of crunchy peanut butter before building up the bananas and whipped cream. When that’s sliced and on the plate it’s just a matter of decorating with lashings of runny toffee sauce, a handful of toasted nuts and flakes of white and dark Belgian chocolate flakes.

BANOFFEE PHOTO INGREADENTS ETC

RASPBURY CHEESECAKE

New York Style Baked Vanilla & Raspberry Cheesecake “Goes with steak & chips like peaches and cream.”

Line the base of your dish with the battered remains of ½ lb of digestives and 4 oz melted butter and press down gently before resting in the fridge for half an hour or more.

Into the bowl of your blender, or if you prefer, your fashionable old mixing bowl, throw 1 tbs cornflour, 1 lb soft cream cheese, a good dessert spoon of salt (vital), the juice of half a lemon, ½ lb castor sugar and beat away like Billyo. Chuck onto that lot 6 whole eggs and 2 yolks, 1 tbs vanilla seed paste (Sainsbury’s cake making isle), 1 pint double cream and whisk to a velvety gloop.

To avoid spilling the mix all over your spotless kitchen floor, half slide out your oven shelf and rest the baking dish on it so that it protrudes enough to allow you to pour this unctuous delight right up to the brim before gently sliding the dish into the oven with style.

ADVERTORIAL HERE

£8 Fabulous Lunchtime Specials Sirloin • Cheeseburger • Cajun Chicken • Steak Satay Thursday to Sunday £50 Three course meal for two with a decent bottle of wine or drinks of your choice Avainable Thursday & Sunday Evenings £60 Three course meal for two with a decent bottle of wine or drinks of your choice Available Friday Evenings