Heston Blumenthal's 24 steak

[pitstopbunny]

Did any see or have the recipe for Heston Blumenthal's long cooked steak shown on BBC2 this Tuesday just gone?

[Fitzer]

Brown rib of beef with high powered blowtorch, cook in oven for 24hrs at 50 deg C (if oven won't go that low prop slightly open). Allow to cool, slice browned sides off and then fry in hottest pan ever (he had his on the heat for 20 mins before he started) with light film of oil. Cook for about two mins a side and allow to rest, then cut into steaks. He also did salad and mushroom ketchup but I can't remember the recipes.

[nickmo]

And just to add, its a very 'cheffy' thing to use a blowtorch - a hot pan will caramalise the meat. Keep it turning and this will ensure even colouring - this is caramalising the natural sugars in the meat, not sealing the meat at all.

Once this is done, the very low temp of the oven will cause a reaction in the enzymes in the meat to break down the muscle and tenderise the meat so making a really 'soft' texture. (Incidentally iIf you have a meat probe thermometer, use this to check the core of the meat is at 50c as you want to get the meat tender all the way through of course)

Let the meat rest for 2 or 3 hours before finishing in the pan by flash frying - watch out for overheating oil as this will break down and either catch fire - not good for a dinner party....or will develop a flavour that ruins the meat. Use a high heat tolerant oil like peanut or sunflower. Also a good heavy bottm pan is essential for even heat distribution over the cooking surface - the cheapest thin frypans will not be very good for this...

Mushroom ketchup recipe ( in case you want to try this too) - note - needs 24 hrs to prepare.... follows

[nickmo]

Two stages to prepare:

Mushroom Juice
1.5kg button mushrooms
75g table salt

Wipe the mushrooms clean then chop finely Place the mushrooms into a fine sieve over a bowl, and stir in the salt. Store in the fridge for 24 hours to extraxt the juice from the m/rooms.

Make pickled mushrooms:

200g baby button mushrooms
100g unrefined caster sugar
300ml good quality red-wine vinegar

Wipe the mushrooms clean and remove stalks. Cut clean m/rooms into quarters and place in a bowl.

Add sugar and vinegar into a small pan and boil until the sugar dissolves, then pour the hot pickling liquor over the mushrooms, let it cool, then place in the fridge for 24 hours.

To make the ketchup

For each 600ml of mushroom juice, you will need:

120ml red wine
60ml red-wine vinegar
� tsp ground mace
� tsp whole black peppercorns
2 cloves
1 shallot, roughly chopped
Cornflour (to thicken)

Measure the mushroom juice that has collected, and calculate the quantities of wine, vinegar, spices and shallot you will need.

Place the m/room juice, wine, vinegar, spices and shallot into a pan and bring to the boil. When the liquid has reduced by half, remove from heat and strain through a sieve, discarding the spices and shallot.

Return strained liquid to the pan. Thicken by adding some cornflour and whisk this into the liquor. Remove thickened ketchup base from heat and set aside.

Strain the pickled mushrooms through a sieve, discarding the liquor. To add a piquancy to ketchup, stir pickled mushrooms into the base, to taste (Ant noy used can be had with cheese or cold meats!). Spoon the ketchup into a clean jar or container, cover and store in the fridge.

Serve with the steaks......

[nickmo]

And last comment - save 24 hrs and buy a properly hung piece of beef form the Well Hung Meat Company in Devon http://www.wellhungmeat.com

or try the award winning Well Hung and Tender guys from Berwickshire - http://www.wellhungandtender.co.uk

Both the above offer home delivery. There are a few other quality meat producers that can provide flavoursome and tender meat - that is where the hanging bit comes into it as again it is the work of the enzymes breaking down the muscle thatcreates the best and most tender produce.

[Figi]

Personally, I think that keeping any meat at 50 degrees for 24 hours is asking for trouble. Why do we bother with fridges if this is an OK idea? Blumental might be a star but ...........

[jennyp]

I have actually cooked beef several times this way - Blumenthal was on a food programme quite a while ago. The beef doesn't shrink, and it was the best I had ever tasted.