Hee-haa! Spring is officially in the air 😀
In skilling up to cook the perfect spring steak, Roxanne Spears, our royal designer and stylist, pointed us in the direction of chef Marco Pierre White. When he’s cooking for himself at home, he prepares steak in the Italian way. We gave this method a go, and by our standards the results were satisfyingly juicy, soft and delicious. A spoonful of our Chimichurri and some rosemary-salted potato wedges, and the ribeye was in heaven.
Since it was a warm spring day, we were ready for cold craft beer, and Michael Olivier chose one of his all time favourites for us.
Until next time, soak up the genius that is spring!
HRH Kathleen
You will need
300g thick cut ribeye steak per person*
1 medium potato per person
130 g jar Pesto Princess Chimichurri
Olive oil
Fresh rosemary
Maldon salt flakes, or your favourite salt crystals
*Sam also suggests cooking a much larger single steak to slice and share
Steak 101
With a royal nod in the direction of Marco Pierre White.
1. The secret is in the pan. You’ll need one of those wrist-wrenching cast iron frying pans, preferably a griddle pan. If you don’t own one yet, spoil yourself and order online from Yuppiechef, who’ll deliver to your door in a pink packet 😉
2. Take your steaks out timeously to get to room temperature.
3. Heat that pan, without any oil, until it is dangerously hot. The reason for this is that the steak will reduce the heat considerably once you slide it in, and you need all the heat you can get to caramelize a steak. That’s what makes it taste so fantastic.
4. Brush both sides of the steak with olive oil, and season with sea salt.
5. Once the pan is literally smoking, carefully lower the oiled steak into it, enjoy the sizzle and that unbeatable aroma as steak hits cast iron. Smile and take a swig of beer.
6. Resist the temptation to prod, poke or fiddle with your steak. No pan shaking either please. Keep your eye on the thick side of the steak. When it’s a quarter cooked through, shift the steak 45◦ in the pan such that you get that lovely criss-cross pattern forming underneath from the ridges of the pan. (This should all take between 3-4 minutes.)
7. Flip the steak over and sprinkle with some rosemary salt. Remove the pan from the heat completely, allowing the steak to cook and rest in the residual heat of the pan, until you see the blood just piercing the surface. At this point, your steak will be medium rare.
8. If you prefer it medium, or medium well, then simply leave it to rest in the pan a little longer. The more the blood pierces the surface, the more well-done your steak will be.
9. Serve on warmed plates with rosemary-salted wedges and Chimichurri on the side.
Potato Wedges with Rosemary Salt
Vigorously pound a few pinches of fresh rosemary with Maldon salt flakes and lemon zest in a mortar, until you have a fine green salt. Prepare the potato wedges, or roast potatoes in your usual tried and trusted manner. Season the wedges just before serving with the rosemary salt, and sprinkle a bit on the steak too while you’re about it!
Michael Olivier’s Choice
CBC Pilsner
The local CBC Pilsner, ‘born from a thirst for real beer’, according to the creators, would be the perfect partner for the ribeye.
It looks like: Gem bright light blonde in the glass, with a good white head, sporting the classic CBC labelling.
It smells like: Lovely aroma of hops
It tastes like: Pilsner originated in the Czech Republic and is known to be pleasantly bitter. Brewed in the style of a lager, it is a fabulous beer with this dish and well able to match the flavours, both in weight and in breadth.
Styling & photography – Sam Linsell
Art direction & design – Roxanne Spears of Good Design
