grill | Enogastronomista

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.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

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

*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.

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:

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.