Steak and Chips: Perfecting the art on a shoestring
Another Pint Please...
A good steak and chips is something that most people love. It is a fact that any meeting of juicy protein and fatty carbohydrates is sure to get even the staunchest vegan’s pulse racing. The combo follows the mantra of strong and simple umami flavours which meet universal approval.
I’m not going to entertain the ostentation of kobe wagyu-marbeled rib eye nor the thrift of the bargain bucket mixed off-cuts. Instead I’m going to offer a simple recipe for rump steak, the tastiest and one of the least expensive cuts (illustrated by this helpful steak chart!)
Expect to pay around £1.50-£2 per 100g at a supermarket, cheaper than sirloin and a lot cheaper than fillet. If your buying it prepackaged look for vitality in the meat, the more matte the top grain the longer its spent on the shelf. Around 300g per person should do, examine the article for any ungainly white strands – it isn’t marbling… there should be a fair bit of visible fat though. After acquiring your choice cuts, leave to aerate and acclimatise for ten minutes or so before doing anything else. Suitably rested and content, the meat is now ready for seasoning. Rub in sea salt and ground black pepper with a healthy glug of olive oil. Add half a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and saturate each side with any residual mixture.
If you really want to, you could leave your prepared rump for 24-hours in this simple, convenient marinade. If your impatient or hungry you can just cook it now. Don’t go anywhere near an oven or lean-mean-grilling-machine of any sort – you can’t ruin your creation now by subjecting it to such vulgarian exertion! Apply a high heat to a griddle or pan. Place your oiled-up beef-meat in the hot pan without any additional oil, butter or fatstuff. Turn down the heat immediately to a more controlled medium. After a minute face down turn over and cook the alternate side for a further two minutes. Throw a splosh of red wine into the mix (and some shallots if you’ve got any lying about) and bask in the wafting parfum of reducing tannins. Turn a few more times over the course of the next 3-4 minutes, checking for surface ‘bounce back’ by pressing down on the scalding meat-grain – if you can still make a depression on the surface the steak is juicy. Allow to rest for two minutes or so before serving.
Hopefully you will have read this recipe through before cooking otherwise you will have eaten your steak and be about to cook chips seperately. If you haven’t then err.. sorry for not integrating the recipe in a properly narrative fashion. I’m quite a fan of potato dauphinoise with steak but thats probably because I love both steak and potato dauphinoise in their own right. So without rocking the boat I present the promised chips…
In my opinion the best homemade chips follow this essential blueprint:
- boil some new potatoes
- leave them in the fridge for 24-hours
- chop them up
- fry them
Unfortunately what with the time constraints of modern life and my general temporal shortsightedness, its much easier not to have to wait 24-hours for something to happen. Get some new potatoes (no need to peel) chop them into slices and then par-boil so they maintain some rigidity. Heat up a frying pan with butter (goose fat if you’ve got any) and fry until golden crisped.
While homemade chips are great you might complain you don’t have the time or can’t be bothered. In which case I implore you not to give into the demon of frozen oven chips/fries but instead go to your fish and chip shop and grab a portion. They taste great, are very cheap and probably aren’t all that bad for you as long as you don’t eat them every day (post on free radicals coming up!).
Save on the chips with a bag from the local chippie but the quality of the meat is something you shouldn’t try and go bargain hunting for. I’ve suggested rump steak for its immense flavour and value for money. Interestingly in Brazil and Argentina, picanha or ‘rump cover’ is a regional delicacy and considered the premium beef cut ahead of fillet mignon. It is noteworthy that while fillet steak is lauded as the steak cut sans pareil in most of the world, some cultures place greater emphasis on flavour over tenderness – I think their argument is persuasive.
I would suggest french beans sautéed in garlic butter as a vegetable accompaniment or a light rocket, watercress and spinach salad to achieve more of a continental flair.
I enjoy the full-bodied flavour of rump steak (the red wine and shallots do enough as well) so I don’t think it particularly pertinent to include a bearnaise sauce recipe here. However, if you are so inclined I can confirm that this Michel Roux recipe is as good as it gets.
So there you have it, steak and chips on a shoestring: £4-6 per person.
