Steak and Mushrooms

Ingredients

• Cast iron  ribbed skillet(can oven grill or use frying pan).
  
• 250 -500 gram rump (can use any steak cuts i.e. rib eye, sirloin).
• One med size onion cut into rings (can cut in half rings).
• One clove or half spoon crushed garlic (check out the health benefits .
• 125 mg mushrooms sliced.
• Ground sea salt .
• Ground black pepper corns.
• 2 table spoons olive oil.
• Worcester sauce.
• Optional one-third of a cup of nice rich red wine, to use in the cooking process, not to drink !!
  

Method

• Heat the olive oil in your skillet on med to high.
  
• Add onions, mushrooms and garlic and season with salt and pepper.
• Sauté until golden brown, remove from skillet and set aside.
• Rub salt, pepper and crushed garlic into your steak.
•  Drizzle bit of olive oil over steak.
• Turn heat up and place your steak into the hot skillet.
• Brown steak on each side for approx. 1 minute, depending on the thickness of your steak
• Turn heat down to med.
• Turn steak over until cooked to your liking.Do not overcook.
• Remove the steak from the skillet set aside to rest (see at end of this recipe why its important to rest your Steak and guide lines on time)
• Pour the red wine into the skillet and stir the pan to release all the brown bits which adds to the flavor.
• Return the onions and mushrooms stir so the they all get coated with the juices
• Add the worcester sauce and cook for 30 seconds while stirring.
• Return the steak to the skillet for another minute.

Plating

Below are a few ideas for plating your steak and mushrooms meal.

• Serve with Rice and Fresh Peas.
• French fries always go well with steak, but depends on your diet.
• Creamy mashed potato.
• On a fresh roll with fried onion and grated cheddar cheese.
  
• Baked potato with sour cream
• With a medley of grilled mixed veggies.
  
• Can add fried egg on top of steak
• For the Banters use sweet potato instead of the baked potato's
  all the above plating ideas are just some ways to serve ,but please use you imagination.
  

Tips for doing the Baked Potato's

• Do not peel, but wash potato thoroughly, I also scrub them just to make sure.
  
• Using a fork pierce the potato all around.
  
• Place in Microwave oven and cook on full for 3 to 4 minutes.
  
• Check to see if the spud is cooked by pricking with a sharp knife.
  
•  You will feel if it is still a bit hard especially in the middle, so if it is not cooked right through, place back in the microwave for a minute or 2 more depending on the size of the potato.
  
• When cooked, cut a small cross on top of potato and squeeze open and put a dollop of sour cream or butter.
  
• For those on the Banting Diet merely replace the potato's with sweet potato.                             
  

Tip for 'Resting' Your Steak

Letting meat rest is one of the biggest secrets to having a juicy steak.  It doesnt matter if you are grilling in inexpensive cut or premium steak. 

For the best results you need to have a few minutes of patience before eating.

As a very basic guideline, you should always let thicker and larger meat rest longer than your thinner cuts.

Here are three of the most common guidelines we found from chefs, on how long you should let steak rest:

• Let the meat rest for five minutes for every inch /25cm of thickness.
• Let the meat rest for as long as you cooked the meat.
• Let the meat rest for 10 minutes for each1 pound/0.453kilograms of meat. 

This article was printed from Home-Cooking-Haven.com.com

Oven Temperatures

Cooking Terms and Tips

Al Dente: Usually applied to Pasta, means cooked until just done, but not soft. The pasta should still maintain some "bite:

Barbeque:  To cook foods over coals, known as a Braai in South Africa (The best in the world for this type of cooking).

Baste: To moisten food for added flavor and to prevent drying out while cooking.

Blanch: To cook briefly in boiling water to seal in flavour and color.

Bouquet Garni: A tied bundle of herbs, usually parsley, thyme, and bay leaves that are added to flavor soups, stews, and sauces but removed before serving.

Braise: Two cook first by browning, then gently simmer till done.

Bread: To coat with crumbs or cornmeal before cooking.

Broil: To cook on a rack or spit during or over direct heat, usually in an on top

Brown: Two cook over high heat, usually on top of the stove, to brown food..

Caremelize: To Heat sugar until it liquefies and becomes a syrup.

Core: To remove the seeds or tough woody centers from fruits and vegetables.

Cream: The butterfat portion of milk.   Also to beat ingredients, sually sugar and a fat, until smooth and fluffy.

Cube: To cut foot into small  ½ inch cubes.

Cut In: To distribute a solid fat in flour using a cutting motion, with 2 knives used scissors-fashion or a pastry blender, until divided evenly into tiny pieces.  Usually refers to naking pastry.

Croutons: These are tiny cubes of toasted or fried bread, used as a garnish for

Coriander:  Also known as Dhania

Dollop: A spoonful of soft food such as whipped cream or mashed potatoes.

Dot: To scatter butter in bits over food.

Dress: To coat foods such as salad with a sauce.  Also, to clean fish, poultry or game for cooking.

Drippings: Juices and fats rendered by meat or poultry while cooking.

Drizzle: To pour melted butter, oil, syrup, melted chocolate, or other liquid back and forth over food in a fine stream.

Experiment:   Always keep to the basics, but, take out and put in spices etc to your tastes.

Fines Herbs: A mixture of herbs, normally parsley, chervil, chives and tarragon used to flavour fish, chicken and eggs.

Glace: To coat foods with glossy mixtures such as jellies or sauces.

Julienne: To cut into long thin strips match-sticklike in shape

Macerate: To soak in flavoured liquid; usually refers to fruit

Picked Over:  If you are working with lentils or other beans you might sometimes find a few little rocks that managed to sneak their way in, picked over means to make sure there are none left in what you are going to be using.

Poach: To cook gently over very low heat  ib barely simmering liquid just to cover.

Puree: To mash or grind food until completely smooth. usually in a food processor, blender, sieve, or food mill.

Ragout:  The basic method of preparation involves slow cooking over a low heat.

Reduce: To thicken a liquid and concentrate its flavor by boiling.

Render: To cook fatty meat or poultry - such as bacon or goose - over low heat to obtain drippings.

Sear:  To brown surface of meat quickly over a high heat, to seal in juices.

Simmer: To cook in liquid at just below boiling point, with only a few bubbles breaking the surface.

Skim:  To remove surface foam or fat from a liquid

Seep:  To soak in a  liquid just under the boiling point to extract the essence i.e. Tea.

Truss: To tie whole poultry with skin or skewers so it will hold its shape in cooking.

Whip: To beat eggs or cream with a wire whisk, egg beater or electric mixer which increases the volume as air is incorporated into the eggs or cream

Zest: The outer, colored part of the peel of citrus fruits.

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