A STEAK PRIMER

By CINDA CHAVICH

Before there was a oil economy on the prairies – canola or heavy – there was beef.

And while it’s long been traditional in the West to slap a thick steak on the barbecue for a summer meal, these days you have even more choices. From T-bones and rib eye steaks, to strip loins, New York (and Manhattans), even flank and flat irons, available from conventional, grass-feeding, organic, Angus and exclusive Kobe beef ranches, you’ll need a good butcher to walk you through the variations and permutations of beef on the market.

THE RAW MATERIALS:

A good steak is always a treat, while a bad steak is always disappointing. The difference may be in the grade, the breed, the feed, even the aging and handling of the meat. So before you buy, you should know a bit about what goes into the best beef.

Cattle are raised throughout the West, but most spend their final days in Alberta – getting the famous Alberta Beef pedigree by way of the packing plant. Beef is graded according to the amount of intra-muscular fat in the meat, the highest being AAA. Good restaurants buy AAA or USDA Prime, while most supermarket beef is A or AA grade. While the major packing plants have their own premium brands for food service – like Sterling Silver or Certified Angus – this is all conventional beef, produced using growth hormones and antibiotics, and fattened in feed lots. There are also smaller brands available to consumers, usually created by smaller producers using specific breeding stock or management practices. Some like Diamond Willow or Hoven Farms are certified organic. TK Ranch beef is 100 per cent grass-fed and raised using low-stress handling techniques. Other producers rely on natural feeds and single breeds, like the Galloway cattle raised by the Canadian Celtic Cattle Co. or the Wagyu-Angus cross used exclusively for Kobe Classic beef. Some smaller producers and butchers still dry age their beef for added tenderness.

You’ll have to go directly to the rancher, to a farmer’s market or to a small local butcher to find anything other than conventional beef, but it’s a good way to reconnect with local producers and get a better understanding of the food you’re buying. A good butcher can also cut your steaks to order – they should be 1-1 1/2 inches thick – and suggest the best way to cook any particular steak.

A rib eye or strip loin (a.k.a. New York Strip) is a favourite to barbecue, with enough fat to keep it juicy whether you cook it rare or medium. The T-bone includes the strip loin (on one side of the bone) and the tenderloin on the other. But with cattle getting bigger all the time, these traditional cuts are bigger, too. So ask the butcher to cut the steaks thick and share one between two or more people (or order the half-strip Manhattan or strip loin “medallion” cut). It’s far better than trying to cook a steak that’s cut too thin.

THE PROCESS

At this time of year, the outdoor grill is the best place to cook your steak. A 1-inch steak should take about 5 minutes per side on a medium hot barbecue. You can shift the steak once on each side (to get some nice cross-hatched grill marks) but only flip it once. Then set the steak aside on a warm platter to rest for 5 minutes to let the juices set before serving. Don’t over cook it – the steak will continue cooking as it rests so remove it from the grill before you think it’s ready.

Use the steak house “touch test” to insure you’re steak’s properly cooked (see recipe sidebar).

THE EQUIPMENT

While the equipment isn’t critical, it is important to get a good, high-heat sear on your steak – and fast.

There are some barbecue cooks who only use a charcoal grill, others who will invest thousands in the biggest gas grill for the back deck. But, basically, it’s all about consistent heat.

Tender cuts like steak need quick cooking over direct heat. Larger cuts do better on low, indirect heat – the tougher the cut, the longer and slower the cooking time. Smokers are great for slow-cooking tougher cuts like beef brisket or shoulder roasts.

If you’re cooking on charcoal, wait about 25 minutes after you light the briquets to start cooking – charcoal should be evenly coated in grey ash. With a gas grill, set all burners on medium high and preheat the grill before putting the steaks on.

For indirect cooking or roasts or thicker steaks, sear the meat first, then move to an unlit side of the grill (turn one burner off) to finish cooking.

THE EMBELLISMENTS:

A grilled steak is like a basic black dress – you can take it into any ethnic or style territory with additional embellishments.

My favourite way to dress up a grilled steak is with a medley of mushrooms – sautéed in butter with fresh minced garlic, then deglazed with a splash of wine and a tot of cream to pull it all together.

Or you can go southern of the border - rub you steak with a barbecue rub of brown sugar, garlic salt and chili powder, then top it with a Chimichurri sauce of pureed parsley, cilantro, garlic, chilies and olive oil, for an Argentinian touch.

Add any sweet barbecue sauces just before your meat comes off the grill or you’ll have a blackened, char-grilled steak.

For an Asian style steak, start with a soy, ginger and garlic marinade, then slice your steak across the grain and serve on a pile of grilled bok choy and bell peppers.

Leftovers go into steak sandwiches, crispy Italian buns filled with rare slices of beef, topped with creamy blue cheese sauce (see recipe below), or sliced and rolled with grilled veggies and guacamole in tortillas.

Classic steak side dishes include baked or stuffed baked potatoes, Caesar salad or crispy frites (French fries).

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TOUCHY FEELY

Wonder when your steak is done to your liking? Use the touch test — the steak house chef’s  “rule of thumb”. If you know how a steak feels when it’s done, you’ll never be stuck with over- or undercooked meat again.

Relax your hand and press the triangle of flesh below your thumb. That’s how a spongy rare steak feels.

Holding your thumb and index finger together, press the spot again. It’s firmer, like a steak cooked medium rare.

When you touch your thumb and middle finger together, the spot gets even firmer, like a steak that’s cooked to medium or medium well.

Fourth finger - bouncy, tough and well done. If you go any further, that steak is shoe leather!

Recipes and tips from The Guy Can’t Cook, by Cinda Chavich (Whitecap Books, 2007)

(this column first appeared in West magazine, summer 2008)

©Cinda Chavich 2008

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