"Bavette" Steak, Mini Roast Potatoes and Garlicky Green Beans

This week I go totally French and discover the beautiful cut that is "Bavette" or what us Brits may or may not know as Skirt steak. This cut is usually used for Minced Beef or as Casserole Steak: basically anything that isn't a quick-frying steak.

Out for dinner with three other English friends in one of my first weeks in Paris we only paid half the bill when we realised that we had been served this cut as a steak for our main course! It really was so tough. So for the last six months I have wondered why on earth I have seen it cropping up on menus all over town as the "Plat Du Jour"... Until I tried it for lunch and realised it really is rather delicious when done right! Ever so slightly harder to cut, but absolutely full of flavour. And of course the reason I'm raving about it on here, is that it is so much cheaper per kilo than any other steak you will buy.

Reading around I believe that this cut is sneaking on to menus in London, and am predicting it is a cut that foodies will become much more familiar with in a year or so!
My top tips for buying and cooking skirt steak are as follows: 

1| You absolutely MUST buy from a top quality butcher, and tell them that you're looking to cook it as a steak. Expert butchers will know exactly what they're giving you, if it is matured enough etc, and it will be of a quality that allows you to cook this cut like a steak, for a short time.

2| Marinading is key! You can tell just looking at the steak, that it is more tightly textured, which is why it takes longer to tenderise... Lemon juice, wine, or vinegar are going to help make the meat more tender before cooking. Here I used a good squeeze of lemon juice with olive oil, herbs and spices, make it up as you like. Also remember nothing is going to happen in less than an hour!

Ingredients

Ask your butcher to cut you a steak per person | An acidic ingredient like white wine or lemon juice + mixture of herbs and finely chopped garlic... I used mint and basil although would normally use more woody herbs like thyme, it's dependent on taste and availability. | A little sprinkle of chilli powder or fresh cut chilli will add a kick but shouldn't over power the dish. | Fresh french green beans | Potatoes for roasting. | Finely chopped clove of garlic.

1| Create your marinade. Herbs, spices and chopped garlic in a bowl first, before adding olive oil and lemon juice/white wine. A good glug of each! Mix trying to mash the ingredients together into a paste. Massage into the meat and leave out for an hour before cooking to bring to room temperature.

2| In the meanwhile prepare your roast potatoes. Peel and chop slightly smaller than the traditional roastie, wash in cold water, and bring to the boil in fresh cold water in a pan. Boil for five-six minutes.

3| While they're boiling, heat a roasting dish with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil on a high heat of 200C for at least 5 minutes. When your potatoes have boiled, drain and shake with the lid on. Then add to the hot roasting dish keeping the saucepan down low to the oil so that it doesn't splash all over your arm. They should sizzle immediately- this is how you get a good crispy edge! Try to put straight back into the oven as soon as possible to prevent losing heat. These will probably cook in around 45-50 minutes, try to keep an eye and turn over half way through. Place in serving bowl and keep in turned off oven.

4| Let's prepare the green beans. Blanche in boiling water for about 2-3 mins and drain. In a frying pan, melt a good tablespoon of butter and sautée the garlic on a soft heat as these will burn easily. Add the beans and fry on a high heat for a good 5-7 minutes until cooked to taste. If they look like they are burning just add a splash of water, it will soon cook away. Place in a serving dish and keep in the oven with the finished potaotes.

5| Now for the steak. In the same pan, add your steaks. I cooked these for about 3-4 minutes each side. You want them pink but definitely not raw. Really it depends on how thick they are, you can always cut with a sharp knife in the center to see how they are getting along. Towards the end of frying I threw in a small glass of water for two reasons. Firstly I wanted to slow things down, and not burn or overdo the steaks. Secondly, on a high heat that water is going to, for want of a better word, "unstick" any meat juices stuck to the pan, making a gorgeous jus, or gravy.

6| Once my steaks were cooked, I lifted them from the pan and let them rest a minute while I concentrated on this sauce. If all that water has cooked away or is looking like it is starting to burn on just add a splash more, using a wooden spoon to lift any of the juices stuck to the pan. Then, if quite runny, just add a light sprinkle of flour (or cornflour) over the whole pan, mixing really quickly so that you don't have any lumps. In about two minutes you will have such a delicious sauce that you can pour over the steaks to keep them juicy. (Soup bowls are actually great for serving something like this!)

7| Serve immediately with potatoes and vegetables on the table, letting everyone help themselves.

Rump Steak with Spicy Sweet Potato Chips and Yoghurt Dip

Buying steak can be notoriously expensive... It's always the most expensive thing on the menu, and when not knowing what cut to choose in the butchers, it can seem safest to go for fillet, the most expensive. Of course fillet is gorgeous, but the other steak cuts, sirloin, rump, and ribeye are all delicious and full of flavour when treated properly by a good butcher. Rump is always my number one choice because it is full of flavour but costs the less money per kilo. Buying from a butchers also lets you choose what size you want... I bought the piece that I cooked for this recipe for around £3.50 which compared to £16+ in a restaurant seems ridiculously good value for a weekend treat!

 I found the idea for these chips in Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's book Vegetables. He uses normal potatoes but I think they're even more special with sweet potato, and healthier too. I didn't stick to the letter on the spices he used, so feel free to adapt the recipe to what spices you have in the cupboard and experiment.

Ingredients Serves 1 

1 sweet potato | 1/2 tsp sweet ground paprika | 1/2 tsp coriander seeds | 1/2 tsp ground cumin | 1/2 tsp fennel seeds | 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder | 2 heaped teaspoons natural yoghurt | 1 garlic clove crushed | 200g rump steak | salad to serve | Sunflower Oil

Preheat your oven to 200C. Peel your potato and slice into chip or wedge shapes. Bring to the boil in cold water. Make your spice mix: combine all the paprika, coriander, cumin, fennel and chilli in a pestle and mortar (or bowl and rolling pin) and crush the seeds. 

Place a baking tray with oil covering the bottom in the oven. Once the potatoes come to the boil, drain immediately. Cover in spice mix (retaining one teaspoon for later) turning the potatoes so that they are all well covered. 

Add the potatoes to the hot oil. Let cook for 25-30 minutes, turning about half way through. 

While the potatoes are cooking you can make your salad and the yoghurt dip. For the dip simply mix the yoghurt with the crushed garlic and the retained teaspoon of spice mix. 5 minutes before the potatoes are done, cook your steak in a frying pan, about 2.5 minutes each side depending on thickness. 

Mum's Sirloin Steak With Sautéed Potatoes

Whenever there's a special occasion in our house a request is always put in by someone for mum's steak and sautéed potatoes. It is simple, easy to make, delicious, value for money... the list goes on. And as you can buy both exceptionally good steak, and potatoes, from Suffolk I thought I would make it my third meal of eating local produce for September.

I've watched my Dad spend years tracking down the perfect beef supplier for him- from Aberdeen Angus in Scotland to Smithfield meat market in London- and although it has all been good it has been hard to find the perfect combination of beef that is well looked after, of a great eating quality, and from a herd big enough to be able to supply that consistently throughout the year. It turned out that the best beef was on our doorstep all along: our supplier Charlie sources the very best beef from Suffolk farmers that believe well looked after animals make the best beef. Once at Andrew's the beef is matured in carcass for at least 21 days before steaks and joints are cut and prepared daily making it even more delicious!

Ingredients
sirloin steak each (rump steak would be a very good cheaper alternative) | suffolk maris piper potatoes peeled and diced (a big handful per person) | sunflower oil (enough to shallow fry the potatoes in a wok) | green salad to serve

1. From cold water bring potatoes to the boil and simmer for five minutes, strain and set aside | 2. Heat a generous amount of sunflower oil in a wok, enough to just cover all your potatoes | 3. Add potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes until golden, turning now and again to stop them burning on the bottom |

4. Prepare your salad and set aside | 5. Prepare your steaks- anything from a light seasoning and drizzle of olive oil to rubbing in herbs and chilli powder, it's up to you! |

6. Heat a frying pan on a high heat and cook your steaks- I like my steak quite rare but for medium rare I would suggest 2-3 minutes each side for an average sized steak! | 6. With a slotted spoon remove the cooked potatoes to a serving bowl lined with kitchen roll to soak up the fat, then remove the kitchen roll before serving.

Valentines: Gordon's Fillet Steak with Mushroom Gratin

For some reason fillet steak is always a popular choice on Valentine's day. I don't know whether it's a case of impressive expense or red-blooded primal mythology, but if you both appreciate good meat this deliciously indulgent, easy-to-make recipe from Gordon Ramsay is the perfect choice. I have made this before on other special occasions and while it is expensive, in my opinion the satisfaction of this recipe is fully worth it. Not only will it be a lot cheaper than dining out where you may look to pay anything from £30 for a fillet steak dish, whoever is special enough to be cooked for will be extremely impressed with your culinary skills! All of it can be prepared a couple of hours ahead of cooking, ready for you to quickly cook in the oven when wanted. This is a quick video of the passionate man himself making the dish, from which you should be able to work out approximate amounts and times.