Food & Wine

Archive for February, 2020

Steak Grilled Over Fire

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients for the steaks: 

2 boneless beef steaks 6 – 7 cm thick

salt + oregano mix

Ingredients for the dressing:

3 tbsp mayonnaise – 3 tbsp extra virgin oil – 1 lemon juice and lemon jest (In a glass jar add all ingredients together, cover tightly and shake)

Method:

  • Remove the steak from the refrigerator.  Let it reach room temperature — around 1 hour.
  • Cut outer edges of fat on steaks, diagonally at 4-5cm intervals with a knife.  Use a paper towel to absorb the moisture from the meat.  Dry meat forms the best crust.
  •  Sprinkle the mix of salt and oregano over the steaks into each sides.  Massage well all over the meat.
  •  Build  up the fire until you can have a deep coal bed large enough to cook your steaks on.  (About the size of your grill rack). 
  • Set the steaks on the grill.  Let them sear on one side,  once it’s acquired the Maillard reaction* color golden brown.  After 7 min flip it,  let it do the same on the other side.  (For thinner steaks, about 3 – 4 minutes per side for medium rare it’s ok, but a 6 cm steak takes at least 7 minutes) 
  • Remove the steak from the heat, cover it with aluminum foil, and let rest for at least 3-4 minutes. This tip will allow the juices (myoglobin)  to redistribute into the meat.

Serve with lettuce salad,  top with the dressing.

Recommended wine: Chianti Clasicco. Typical Tuscan Red Wine – DOCG – Controlled and Guaranteed Denomination of Origin. 



 




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Tips, tricks & info’s




    

  • The blood red color liquid in the steak is not blood at all. It’s myoglobin, a protein that only found in muscle tissue and delivers oxygen to an animal’s muscles; contains a red pigment- which why muscle tissue is red.  As a steak is cooked, the myoglobin darkens- which is why the more “well done” the meat is, the grayer it looks. So rare* meat isn’t bloody, it is just cooked to a lower temperature
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  • *Rare. This refers to a steak that is been cooked for a very short period of time — leaving the centre  red in colour. It’s just a stage up from raw meat — but cooked on the outside. Steak doesn’t contain parasites that chicken and pork do — eating it rare doesn’t pose any health risks
    • 

  • *The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring the addition of heat. Like caramelization, it is a form of non-enzymatic browning.
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  • You can use a digital instant-read meat thermometer.  Check the temperature of the steak while it’s still on the grill. Grill the steak to your desired taste:
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55°Celsius (130°F) for rare


57°Celsius (135°F) medium-rare


63°Celsius (145°F) medium


65,5 Celsius (150°F) medium well


and 71° Celsius (160°F) for well done.


 


 


	

	

		21 February 2020 | Categories: Meat, Senza categoria | Tags: ,  | 		8 Comments			





	


		
Wild Boar Ragu’ cooked in clay pot with  mushrooms, Greek olives & Gragnano pasta / Αγριογουρουνο ραγου με μανιταρια, μαυρες ελιες και ζυμαρικα Νοτιου Ιταλιας (Gragnano village)
		
 


Wild Boar is a natural meat very low in bad cholesterol, low in sodium and an excellent source of monounsaturated fats and zinc. No added hormones, no antibiotics, no steroids, no additives.


Very high in proteins. Proteins are made up of amino acids. Our body use them to build and maintain our bones, muscles, cartilage skin and blood. Protein is also what the body uses to repair damaged tissue. The benefit of wild boar meat is it contains ALL the essential amino acids (proteins) our body requires.


Wild boar is rich in Iron, Selenium,  Zinc. Rich also in Thiamine (B1), Riboflavin (B2) Niacine (B3) ,Vitamine B6. Our body does not produce these vitamins naturally so they must be obtained from the food we eat. These vitamins are used by our bodies to convert the food we consume into energy. This improves our metabolism. A person’s nervous system and brain function are also dependent on these vitamins beacause they improve our immune systems, help regulate our moods and reduce stress.


 


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 INGREDIENTS:




    

  • 500 g wild boar
    • 

  •  Gragnano pasta or other of your choice
    • 







 Marinade


    

  • 1 onion peeled and halved
    • 

  • 1 carrot washed and cut into large pieces
    • 

  • 1 celery stalk washed and cut into large pieces
    • 

  • bay & rosemary leaves
    • 

  • 2 tsp juniper berries
    • 

  • 1 lt red wine 
    • 







For the sauce


    

  • 2 lt tomato passata 
    • 

  • 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
    • 

  • 1 carrot washed and finely chopped
    • 

  • 1 celery stalk washed and finely chopped
    • 

  • 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    • 

  • 3 glasses red wine (room temperature)
    • 

  • salt 
    • 





METHOD:


Instructions for marinade:




    

  1. 

    

    Wash the wild boar meat, cut it into pieces. Put it in a large bowl.
    

    

    2. 

  2. 

    

    Add the onion (peeled and cut in quarters)  the carrot and the celery in large pieces,  the bay leaves, the rosemary, the juniper berries.
    

    

    3. 

  3. 

    

    Cover with red wine and mix.
    

    

    4. 

  4. 

    

    Cover the container with plastic wrap or a lid and allow to stand in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
    

    

    5. 

  5. 

    

    Once the necessary time has passed, drain the meat and eliminate the wine, the vegetables and the herbs.
    

    

    6. 







How to make the ragu:


    

  1. 

    

    Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan or skillet and fry very slightly the garlic, carrot, celery and onion
    

    

    2. 

  2. 

    

    Add the wild boar meat and brown it on all sides.
    

    

    3. 

  3. 

    

    Add the red wine (3 glasses), lower the flame and cook for about 10 minutes so the alcohol can evaporate.
    

    4. Add the tomato pulp, a pinch of salt  and cook with the flame reduced to a minimum for about 1.5-2 hours. Stir occasionally and add some  water if the sauce seems dry.
    

    After 2 hours, cook the pasta al dente, add the paccheri pasta into the ragu’ and mix carefully. Serve immediately.
    

     
    

    

     
    

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    GRAGNANO PASTA
    4. 



The first secret of this amazing pasta is the land where the wheat is cultivated. Situated at the foot of Monte Lattari, Gragnano village (near Naples/Campania) benefits from a microclimate made of the right mix of  dry wind from the mountain, sun, and humidity from the sea. It was for this reason that, in the 18th century, the king of Napoli decided that only two places were suitable to cultivate the wheat for the rest of the population: Naples and Gragnano. The pasta also must be made by mixing durum wheat with the calcium-poor water of Monti Lattari.


The second secret is the carefully-developed process, which continues to be regulated by a strict standard of production. In 2013, the European Union declared PGI (Protected Geographical Indication): the pasta made under the name “Pasta di Gragnano” must be produced in a legally defined area that still corresponds to the territory indicated by the king of the Napoli about two centuries ago.


Finally, the dough must be extruded through rough bronze forms and, once it has taken shape, dry at low temperatures in the mountain air. The result of this long and traditional process is one of the finest pastas in the world.


excerpt from the article “WHY PASTA DI GRAGNANO IS SO DELICIOUS”  (Eataly)


 


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		9 February 2020 | Categories: Meat, Pasta, Senza categoria | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,  | 		Leave a comment