Conference turris::cooks

    Something I do with London Broil is 
    	If it's frozen, remove it from the freezer the night before
    your meal.  Leave it in the fridge to thaw.
    	The morning of your meal, make up a marinade.  I use equal
    amounts of sherry and worcestershire sauce, plus liberal amounts
    of garlic.  If you're not dieting you may want to add some oil -
    olive is tasty with the garlic.  An especially easy marinade
    (don't lets get snobby about this one, folks) is that italian
    dressing that you mix up from a packet - I add extra garlic to 
    mine usually.  Another good one is the soy-sherry-garlic-ginger-
    touch of sugar sauce that is often called for in stir-fry recipes.
    
    	Put the steak in a ziplock bag or a flat covered
    dish, add the marinade, and assure that the steak is well coated.
    Cover/zip and put in the fridge.
    	About an hour or a half hour (whatever you have) before dinner,
    remove the steak from the fridge, and leave it out on the counter
    (in a cat-proof location) to warm up a bit.
    
    	Heat up your broiler.  Put your broiling pan in (I use a separate
    pan since the one in the broiler is large and difficult to clean)
    to heat up.  This will help sear the bottom of the steak, keeping
    the juice IN where you want it.
    
    	Broil the steak to your desired doneness.  If it's a thick
    steak remember to put it lower than you'd put a thin steak, or the
    outside will burn before the inside is warm.  This is delicious
    done out on the gas/charcoal grill.
    
    	Sometimes, if the steak is really thick, I'll put cross-hatched
    slits, about 1/2 inch apart and 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep, in both sides
    before marinading the steak.  Helps the marinade soak in.

    Enjoy!
    
    Oh, another hint for households with one RAW 'N' MOOIN' eater and
    one SHOELEATHER, WELL DRIED eater (ie one likes it rare and one
    likes it med-well), is to cut the steak into individual portions
    before marinading.  Then it's easy beans to put the MOOIN' steak
    in when you turn the SHOELEATHER.

First, it's best never to cook a steak in a pan.  Broiling is the way to 
go.  Broiling on a grill is best, but you can broil in the oven as well 
and still get good results (take the battery out of your smoke 
detector.)

If you must cook in a pan, let the meat get to room temp. Crank the
heat up "wicked high" (as my neph would say) and let the pan get hot. 
If you put a little oil in the pan, you want to get to the point where 
the oil will run like water, but not smoke.  Olive oil (the real cheap, 
nasty stuff that doesn't have any flavor left in it) gives the best 
performance at high heat.

Toss the steak in giving it a few seconds to sear, use a turner or tongs
(anything that doesn't pierce the steak) to turn it, then lower the heat
and finish cooking.  This will seal up the natural juices of the steak. 
(I'm not sure how it will work on an electric stove if you happen to 
have one.)  This method gives great results on Au Poivre.

If you have a tough cut, then before cooking, take a standard table fork
and stab the steak repeatedly until you have gotten it at least every
quarter inch, then flip it over and do the other side.  This does the 
same thing as the meat tenderizing hammers, but leaves the victim 
looking like a steak rather than a street pizza.

To make a steak that is ultra smooth, dump a bottle of wishbone Italian 
salad dressing into a glass baking dish and drop the steak(s) in it the 
night before you plan to cook them.  Turn them over in the morning 
before going to work.  When you get home cook them however you like. The 
meat will be very tender and the taste is surprisingly good. (You 
probably don't have to use Wishbone, but it's what we've always used in 
my family.)
					>>>==>PStJTT

Marinade to add flavor and tenderize while NOT adding salt:

	mix 1 cup bottled lemon juice (unsweetened stuff like REAL LEMON)
	with:
		1 large onion - cut into chunks
		2 - 3 cloves garlic (maybe 6 - do you like garlic?)
		lots of ground black pepper

	in food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  Marinade
	beef for up to 8 hours in this.  Broil as usual over charcoal
	or in oven broiler.

			Enjoy!

    Another way to make the steak juicy and tasty is to cook it frozen.
    The juices get seared in.  I for one, do not like steak, but will
    eat it this way.  I was amazed at how good it is if you cook it
    frozen.

    I use a combination of pan frying and broiling when I make steak
    au poivre.  I use a London Broil (shoulder steak) cut, and sear
    the meat quickly (1 minute per side) in a hot cast iron fry pan.
    Then I transfer the steak to the boiler to finish off the cooking,
    5-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak.  I make
    the sauce in the fry pan and pour it over the steak after it's done.
    I've never had the meat come out dry or tough--unless it's a tough
    cut to begin with!

Cajun Blackened Steak is wonderfully delicious, and remarkably easy to do.
All you need is:

	1      steak
	2 tsp  Chef Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Steak Magic

	large (10"+), heavy skillet, preferably cast iron

1) Thaw out the steak, if frozen.  Coat both sides of the steak liberally with
   the spice mixture, pressing it into the meat a bit.  To give you some idea
   of how thick the spice coating should be, for a standard-sized
   Porterhouse steak, there will be very little spice mixture left over, if
   any. 

2) Heat the skillet over high flame, preferably on an outdoor gas grill.
   The skillet cannot be too hot for this dish.  It should be heated for at
   least 10 minutes.  On cast iron skillets, white ash will form in the bottom
   of the pan.

3) Place the steak in the pan, and let it grill for 2-3 minutes.  There will
   be a lot of smoke.  At the end of the proper cooking time, the spice
   mixture will have formed a black crust on the steak.

4) Turn the steak over and grill the other side for 2-3 minutes.


Some notes on this recipe:

a) Chef Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Steak Magic is available in some grocery
   stores, and also by mail order.  If you can't find it in your store, you can
   mix up the spice mixture from scratch.  It is in Chef Paul Prudhomme's
   Louisiana Kitchen Cookbook, under the Cajun Prime Rib recipe.

b) I have tried this recipe with tenderloin steak and with Porterhouse.
   The tenderloin didn't turn out as well--it was a bit dry, and the spices
   didn't blacken properly.  I think the meat is too lean for this recipe.
   It might work better if one drew the steak through butter before putting
   on the spice mixture, as is done for Blackened Redfish.  Porterhouse works
   out wonderfully.

c) If you don't have a commercial-strength ventilation hood over your stove,
   you'd better do this outside on a grill.  Otherwise, it will smoke you out
   of the house.

d) Paul Prudhomme's cookbook says that charcoal fires don't get hot enough for
   this recipe.  I haven't tried charcoal, but I do know that some gas
   grills have trouble because you can't get the pan close enough to
   the flames.  Ideally, you want an outdoor gas ring setup rather than a
   gas grill that is trying to imitate a charcoal brickquet fire.  I usually
   heat the pan for 10 minutes indoors on my electric stove set on high and
   then bring the pan outside to do the cooking, on a gas grill with the
   lava rocks removed so I can set the pan right down on the fire.  You will
   have to experiment with your own grill to see what works best.

--PSW

    re: .7
    
    We remove the grates from our gas grill and place the cast iron
    frying pans directly on the lava rock.  They get plenty hot.
    
    I WOULDN'T even attempt to do this in the kitchen, even with the
    most powerful ventilation fan.  We tried this once, with the kitchen
    window (next to the stove) open + a high-powered fan pointed directly
    at the window.  Still set off the fire alarms!
    
    Most of the time we use rump steak for blackened steak.  It works
    out very well.
    
    The Paul Prudhomme's seasonings can be purchased here in So. N.H.
    at Hampshire Farms (101-A) and Alexander's.  They're about $2.79
    for a small bottle.
    
    	- Kathy

    My parents were coming over the house last weekend and we wanted
    to cook them a perfect meal.  A coworker opf my wife's suggested
    she by the roast at Hill Top Steak House on Route One in Saugus.
    
    What a difference!  The taste was fabulous!  We went back that day
    with our parents and we all stocked up for the next two weeks.
    They sell a much higher grade of meat that isn't even available
    to regular stores.  When was the last time you were able to get
    Filet Mignon or New York Serlion at Stop and Shop?

    My wife and I both agree that we will never be able to by meat any
    where else.  The prices are a bit more but it is well worth it.
    
    We can't wait to by a rack of steaks (they will slice the meat for
    you too) and have a cookout this summer.  I can smell them cookin'
    now!
    
    Take the trip and try it out.  Or pick the meat up there for the
    next special ocassion.  You will not be disappointed.
    
    
    

    I bough a small recipe booklet on Louisiana Cajun Magic by Paul
    Prudhomme.  I tried the Bronzed Steak last evening and liked the
    method.  I used a rather inexpensive boneless sirloin and it turned
    out as tender and juicy as it could possibly be.  The note on bronzing
    in the booklet reads:
    
    Bronzing is a wonderful cooking technique for meat and fish-and
    it's so simple.  You actually roast one side of meat or fish at
    a time on a heavy griddle or in a large, heavy aluminum skillet
    or electric skillet heated to 350F. If you omit butter stages, bronzing
    produces delicious reduced-fat meat and fish dishes.  Just spray
    griddle or skillet surface with nonstick cooking spray just before
    adding meat.        
    
    Here's the recipe -
    
       1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter - I used about a half of stick
    of  margerine for the one steak.  Probably would even be better with butter.
    
      4 NY beef strip steaks (9 ounces each) or rib eyes, filet mignon,
    or any beef steak tender enough to broil, well trimmed about 1 inch
    thick, well chilled.
    
      1 Tblsp. plus l tsp. Cajun Magic Meat Magic - I used about 1 1/2
    - 2 tsp.
    
    Heat heavy griddle or large heavy aluminum skillet to 350 F about
    7 minutes over medium heat (1/2 inch flame) on a gas stove, about
    23 minutes over medium to medium low heat on an electric stove.
     Or use an electric skillet or griddle.
    
    Melt butter in pie or cake pan.  When griddle or skillet is heated,
    coat 1 chilled steak with warm melted butter (this is the classic
    technique of using cold meat or fish and warm butter - so the butter
    will adhere), then, with steak in your hand (don't lay it down on
    a surface), sprinkle both sides generously and evenly with a total
    of 1 tsp. of Meat Magic.  (You could replace with your favorite
    seasonings.) Place steak on hot griddle or skillet surface, then
    butter and season another steak.  Cook only 1 or 2 steaks at a
    time, buttering and seasoning each and placing on griddle before
    buttering and seasoning another.  If you lay the buttered and/or
    buttered and seasoned steaks down on a plate or counter, the butter
    and the seasonings as well, will adhere to the plate or counter.
     Cook 3 minutes, then turn and, if steaks are very lean, drizzle
    abou 1 tblsp. of the melted butter down the length of steak.  Cook
    3 minutes more for medium-rare.  For medium, cook steaks 4 minutes
    per side.  If steaks are less or more than 1 inch thick, adjust
    cooking time appropriately.  Place each steak on a serving platter
    or plate (do not stack steaks); wipe griddle or skillet clean between
    batches and continue with the remaining steaks.  Serve immediately
    on heated plates .  4 Servings.
    
    Also, you could deglaze the pan with some wine and add a few herbs,
    chopped shallots, etc. and pour over steaks on the serving plates.
    
    Enjoy!  Flo

    I hope someone out there can help me....I was saving a magazine -
    Woman's World, because there was a recipe in there for a steak I wanted
    to try.  The magazine got trashed.  I think it was the May 2nd issue
    and the recipe is on a right hand page in the top right hand corner. 
    Actually that's where the picture of the steak is and the recipe is on
    the other side of the page.  The only thing I remember about the recipe
    is that it used beer.
    
    Roberta