today we will cook one of the most delicious beef recipes that you have ever tasted. i will tell all the secrets to succeed at home, a real roast beef "a la francaise". it is well known that the french love beef and are masters in preparing different recipes for beef, so if you still want to experience something special, it's good to learn from the best. this is one fast ways to cook french beef chops "a la poele" (in the pan), it is simple and the result competes with luxury restaurants :).
start by choosing a very thick beef steak (minimum 500 g / piece), which has white streams of fat in meat (it's a sign that the animal was raised outdoors), very fresh. the meat should be bright red, soft to touch, with little fat. this will offer a special taste, because it will melt and will tender meat inside.
the perfect roast beef is served after medium baking (ie in the middle is pink, but has no blood), is perfectly browned, with a shiny brown crust (not to be dry).the beef chops prepared "medium" is soft, easy to cut; the meat is tender, juicy and full of flavor, melts in your mouth...
after you eat a real roast beef, you'll understand why the french, who are so demanding, love it so much and are willing to pay enormous prices to satisfy this pleasure (luxury restaurants have their own version of roast beef).
ingredients:
-1 beef steak approx. 500 grams (thick)
-olive-oil
-1 butter cube
-mixture of provencal herbs
-pepper
-sweet paprika
-cayenne pepper or spicy paprika
-salt
-1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
-1-2 cloves of garlic (it's ideal to have garden garlic, the one with purple and white shell; chinese garlic, which is sold in all supermarkets, is quite strong and harsh. (if you don't have purple skin garlic, then use less of the other)
start by putting spices in a bowl: one teaspoon of paprika, half a teaspoon of black pepper, a pinch of cayenne pepper, ground garlic, one tablespoon of provençal herbs.
pour a large tablespoon of olive oil. stir.
finally, 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar finalize the marinade. the role of the vinegar is to tender the meat and allow the steak a better taste.
wash the meat and drain it or wipe it well. then smear it well with marinade on all sides. warning, do not put salt! salt is a touchy subject, it must be sprinkled while you fry the meat, not before (it removes the juices from the meat).
cover with foil and leave the food in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to marinate. then remove the meat and leave for one hour at room temperature (covered). the meat is put in the pan after it has reached a temperature close to the room temperature (or it will harden because of the thermal shock).
grease a pan with a little olive oil. allow oil to heat up. when it sizzles, add the meat. sprinkle some salt on the upper side.
put a lid and leave it for 3 minutes to high heat on one side. don't roll, don't puncture the meat, do not do anything. eventual, if the fire is very high, after a minute, reduce it to medium to large. the idea is that you must maintain a very high temperature to form a crust and to brown well, without being burned.
roll the meat with tongs without puncturing it.
sprinkle some salt on the browned side also. sprinkle with a little marinade and add butter (a small cube) into the pan. the butter tenders the beef and gives it a special scent. if the beef is too fat, don't put butter (for that is too heavy), the fat is melted and it's enough to be added to the existing olive oil. cover again with a lid.
lift the lid after a minute and continue to fry the meat, often sprinkling with sauce from the pan. the already browned side should be "watered" so as not to dry and form that shiny crust. allow about 3 more minutes to fry, so a total of 6-7 minutes.
finally, check if it's medium done: press your finger on meat. it should be soft and elastic. you should feel while pressing that it's juicy. medium roast steak is well browned on both sides (this detail helps keep juices inside, so always the fire should be high and the baking time low). and the sides must be made, not with blood.
take the beef with the tongs and put it in a thermo-resistant baking dish pre-heated in the oven (also to avoid the thermal shock). cover with aluminum foil and leave it for another 5 minutes. the hot beef, covered with foil, will complete the baking process, even without fire. because of this we leave it a little to high heat, just enough to get brown. place the pot in the hot oven at 60 degrees (low heat). the temperature is high enough to maintain the internal baking and sufficiently low not to increase the baking level (to be medium).
when removing the foil (after 5 minutes), you will notice that there has remained sauce in the bowl. mix this sauce with the sauce from the pan and get the ultimate steak sauce.
this is how it looks before slicing.
remove the bone and then slice into thick pieces.
look how juicy and pink it is and there's no blood.
serve slices of roast beef with the remaining sauce.
maybe you will eat someday a tastier steak than this one, or ... maybe not :). please excuse me if i praise too much the french cooking style, but honestly i find it to be the finest possible. and i would like you to succeed in “la cuisson parfaite “ (the perfect baking).
bon appetit!