Steak + Wedge Salad.
With a kinda-ranch-dressing.
If you’re new here, WELCOME…This is first and foremost a place for recipes, but also where I can dish out expertise on the only thing I truly know about- how to feed your friends. I hope that You Bring The Wine either remains, or becomes, your ultimate tool kit.
This week… it’s all about this steak n’ salad. I LOVE iceberg lettuce, especially on hot days, straight from the fridge and covered (drenched) in dressing. I also really really love steak, I don’t eat it that much, but when I do, I’m reminded how unbelievably delicious good steak is. If you’re gonna make this (and can afford to do so) go to the butchers and get some nice juicy sirloins. I only use 2 sirloins between 4 people here, so it’s a little less expensive, but getting great quality meat honestly makes the world of difference to the flavour and over all success of this kinda dish.
Let’s have a quick note about the dressing…
“A salad is only as good as it’s dressing.”
You can quote me on that, and this one is no exception to the rule. ‘Ranch’ is a very American dressing that bangs, and this dressing is a bit of a spin off. It’s a mix of sour cream or crème fraîche, mayo, dijon, honey, garlic and lemon juice… plus a few v finely sliced chives. It’s so good and it works an absolute treat on chunky crunchy lettuce. It also works VERY well as a kind of dip for cucumbers, carrots, radishes etc etc- so if you want to make a massive batch, go wild. You can be more liberal with the dressing than I’ve been in the picture, I wanted you to be able to actually see that there was lettuce under there, but rest assured, I slather more on when I came to eat it.
SERVES 4
TIME: 30 mins
Vibe: Easy
The when for this… is a hot weekend with pals (again)… it’s cooking in the sun whilst drinking a wine and it’s feeding those meat eaters that I usually ply with chickpeas and tell them that we’ll have some red meat next time. Why? This is quick and easy, but also it looks fancy (the joy of serving steak right?) and if you follow some trusty rules about cooking steak (see below), you’ll look like a pro. PLUS, there’s this unbelievably satisfying feeling that comes around about the time you slice through perfectly cooked meat that I don’t get elsewhere when I’m cooking, so hopefully you’ll get a little taste of that too.
INGREDIENTS
2 x sirloin steaks (approx 250g each)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cucumber
3 spring onions
small bunch chives
1 iceberg lettuce
4 tbsp capers
50g smoked almonds
1 lemon, to serve
For the dressing
1 lemon
1 clove garlic
100ml sour cream or crème fraîche
50g mayonisse
1 heaped tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
METHOD
Sit the steaks on a plate, drizzle with the oil, toss on the oregano and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to come up to room temp.
For the dressing, finely grate the garlic into a small bowl, add the juice of the lemon and set aside to pickle a little.
Heat a frying pan/bbq grill until searingly hot, once it’s smoking, add the steaks and cook for 1 min 30 seconds on each side (for medium rare). Add the butter halfway- either brushing it on if you’re using a bbq, or into the pan and spooning it over if you’re using a pan. Remove to a plate and set aside to rest.
Cut the cucumber in half lengthways, then use a spoon to scoop away the centre, then slice on an angle. Finely slice the spring onions and chives and add add a tbsp of the chives to the lemon-y garlic bowl. Add the remaining dressing ingredients to the garlic-y lemon bowl, season and mix well. Taste and adjust if you need to with a little more lemon or honey. Loosen with a little water if it’s too thick.
Slice the iceberg into wedges- they need to be big enough to be chunky, but not so big that the dressing will be too scarce. Add them to a platter, scatter the cucumber around along with the spring onions, most of the chives and the capers. Drizzle with the dressing, then scatter with the remaining capers and chives. Roughly chop the smoked almonds and scatter them on top. Finish with a crack of black pepper.
Slice the steak against the grain (see below for more on this) and arrange either on the platter (if your platter is big enough) or on a separate plate. Salt the sliced steak. Cut the remaining lemon into wedges and serve on the side.
Steak is a trick to master.
Get your pan or BBQ super super hot.
Oil and season the steak NOT the pan.
Add a little extra butter and oil half way through, use a brush if your on the bbq and spoon it over in the pan if your in a pan.
Use a timer: 1.5 mins on each side for medium rare- give it a little more or less depending on whether you have a particularly thick or thin cut. You can also use the handy trick below to double check…
REST it. Don’t underestimate the rest. Give it 10 mins before you serve it.
When people say ‘slice against the grain’ what they mean (I honestly don’t think I understood that term for a long time) is to slice THROUGH the muscle fibres and make the slices more tender. So what does that mean in practice…
Basically, cut it on a slight angle horizontally. If that doesn’t make sense CLICK THIS and it gives you a full explanation.
Salt it when it’s sliced. The nice crunchy salt please so you can SEE the flakes.
And my final trick…
This is a little trick to check your steak… press your finger to the padded part of your pal. The first finger pressing down is the feel of a rare steak, the second is medium rare, the third is well done.
If it feels the same as when your little finger is pressing in- you’ve truly well overcooked your steak.
Honestly, I’m not 100% what you’ll get next week. I DO know that it’ll be delicious. See you there!
Els x