Cooking steak. Red wine sauce for delicious beef steak

I've been cooking steaks for many years, from... different meats and, I dare to hope, I’m doing it well. In this article, I decided to collect all my experience, which will allow you to achieve perfection in cooking steaks. And feel free to follow the links—they'll take you to other articles that cover various aspects of grilling and serving steak, like cooking the meat or making steak sauces.

How to cook a perfect steak

Cooking a perfect steak can be a challenge even for a skilled chef: small pieces of meat can cook too quickly, becoming dry and tough, too large pieces can burn on the outside without being cooked through on the inside. If you're new to cooking steak, I recommend using a heavy skillet or grill pan—a charcoal or electric grill is also great for steaks, but a skillet will be easier to control the temperature.

Step 1 - Prepare the Steak

Cooking a steak starts with choosing meat from a store or butcher shop. As a rule, imported beef is used for steaks, and although high-quality steaks from Russian beef have recently begun to appear, foreign terminology is still used to classify cuts of meat. The easiest way to practice frying steaks is on steaks. ribeye And striploin, also known as New York (in our classification, these cuts more or less correspond to thick and thin edges) - they are soft in themselves, and will turn out tasty, even if you miss the mark a little.

Pay attention to the so-called marbling of meat: fat should be distributed as evenly as possible throughout the meat, then during cooking of the steak these inclusions of fat will melt, making the meat more tasty and juicy. Classic steak thickness - 2.5 centimeters, and if you buy meat already sliced, make sure that the steaks are of the correct thickness, but if you take a large piece, try on how you will cut it. So let's get started.

If the steak was frozen, defrost it overnight in the refrigerator and pat dry.
Remove the steak from the refrigerator at least 20 minutes before grilling to allow it time to warm up. room temperature.
Grease steaks on both sides vegetable oil(I use olive oil, but you can use any unflavoured vegetable oil instead) and season generously with salt.

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Step 2 - Heat the pan

Heat the skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot but not smoking (if the skillet is too hot, the steak will burn on the outside before the inside is cooked, resulting in a tough steak).
The sizzling sound you hear after you place the steaks in the pan will let you know if it has reached the desired temperature.
Another way to check the heating of a frying pan is to drop a little water on it: if you have heated the frying pan well, the droplet will form an elastic ball that will run across the surface of the frying pan like crazy.

Step 3 - Cook to taste

For medium rare, place the steaks in the pan without touching and let them cook for 1 minute.
Carefully turn the steaks over with tongs (be careful not to damage them to prevent any juices from escaping) and cook for 1 minute more to form a crust.
Turn the steaks over again and reduce the heat to medium. Fry for 2 minutes, turn over, and cook for another 2 minutes.
To test for doneness, gently press the steak with your fingertip. The rare steak should be soft and pliable, well-done and firm, and the medium steak, as it should be, will be something in between.

Steak cooking time

You can vary the steaks to your taste by increasing or decreasing the cooking time. The following is an approximate time for a 2.5cm thick steak. Thicker steaks require longer cooking times and vice versa.

Rare (with blood) - 1-2 minutes on each side, let rest for 6-8 minutes;
Medium rare (low-done) - 2-2.5 minutes on each side, let rest for 5 minutes;
Medium (medium roast) - 3 minutes on each side, let rest for 4 minutes;
Well done (well done) - 4.5 minutes on each side, let rest for 1 minute.

However, the most accurate (though not always accessible to a beginner) way to determine the degree of doneness of a steak is to use a meat thermometer.

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Step 4 - Let the steaks rest

Leaving the meat to sit for a while is just as important as cooking it correctly - during these few minutes the juices will be distributed inside the piece, the temperature outside and inside will equalize, and the entire steak will become warm, juicy and tender.
Remove the steaks from the pan, season with black pepper and place in a baking dish. Place a piece on each steak butter, cover with foil and leave in a warm place for 4-5 minutes.
Remember, let steak is better resting longer than necessary, and not less, this will allow it to acquire the greatest aroma and softness.

See also:

Steak is a thinly cut piece of meat, fried until golden brown on both sides. Let's find out with you how to properly fry a beef steak.

How to fry beef steak in a frying pan?

Ingredients:

beef pulp – 800 g;
butter – 50 g;

Preparation

We offer you one of simple ways how to fry a juicy beef steak. We wash the meat, dry it thoroughly and cut it into small slices about 3 centimeters thick. Place a deep frying pan over high heat and melt a piece of butter in it. Salt and pepper the steaks to taste and fry for about 3 minutes on each side. If as a result you want to get well-fried meat on the outside, but pinkish on the inside, then increase the frying time on one side to 4 minutes. Let the finished steak rest for about 10 minutes so that the meat becomes softer and the juices are evenly distributed throughout the piece. Serve the dish with any side dish and hot sauce.

How to deliciously fry beef steak?

Ingredients:

beef steaks – 4 pcs.;
onion – 1 pc.;
vegetable oil - to taste;
, vegetables - for serving;
spices.

Preparation

First, take raw fresh steaks, wash them thoroughly and dry them with paper napkins. After this, rub each piece with various spices, but do not add salt, and leave to soak for 15 minutes. Take a grill pan, put it on high heat and heat it thoroughly, coating it with vegetable oil in advance. Place the prepared meat slices and fry them for 3 minutes. After this, carefully turn them over to the other side with a special spatula and brown until cooked. The most important thing is not to overcook the beef so that it doesn’t It turned out dry and tough. Next, transfer the steaks to a baking dish and place in a preheated oven for 15 minutes, setting the temperature to 150 degrees.

Meanwhile, peel the onion, chop it into half rings, roll it thoroughly in wheat flour, add salt to taste and saute in a frying pan in vegetable oil until golden brown. Now carefully place the onion on a paper napkin and blot it to get rid of any excess fat. Serve the meat with onions as a side dish, fresh vegetables and greens. Salt the meat directly during the meal and pour over any sauce of your choice.

Cooking a juicy steak that melts in your mouth is not an easy task. Even if you do not deviate from the recommendations of the selected recipe, it is unlikely that on the first try you will be able to achieve the desired result with the desired roasting. To master the virtuoso art, you will need to study culinary techniques and techniques, have knowledge and experience in cooking meat dishes. So fragrant and tasty dish, like a steak, does not tolerate compromise. We'll tell you in this article how to choose and cook meat to a certain degree of doneness. So let's get ready beef steak grilled at home.

Rules for choosing meat

Not just any meat is suitable for cooking steak. The culinary world offers steaks made from pork, lamb, fish, and poultry, but beef steak remains classic. Pulp without tendons is best. Presence of bones in in this case plays a secondary role. T-bone steak, for example, is one of the most... popular dishes in meat restaurants around the world, got its name precisely because of the presence of a bone that resembles the letter “T”. There are about a hundred more types of steaks. Here are the most popular ones.

Ribeye – For this steak, meat from the subscapular part of beef is used. Due to the large amount of fatty layers, red meat becomes marble color. It is considered the most unpretentious, and with proper preparation The result is a juicy and tender steak. The recommended degree of roasting is medium - Medium or Medium rare.
Tibone– meat from the back and lumbar region.

Filet mignon– lean tender and soft tenderloin, has no bones or veins. Despite the large thickness of the piece, the fillet takes no longer to cook than a regular steak.
NY– the flesh is marbled in color, and along the edge there is a white fatty layer, which must be additionally fried at the final stage of cooking.
Porterhouse– a larger version of the T-bone steak. The meat comes from the lumbar part of the animal and has a large bone in the middle. The weight of a steak can exceed 500 grams, which is enough for a full dinner for two or three people.
Club– tender flesh from the back is used, the steak has a small bone.

But also for cooking grilled steak You can use fresh juicy meat. Tenderloin from a young or mature animal is best, but not from an old one. Nice piece for steak, cut along the grain and should be about 3 cm thick. In most supermarkets or markets you can buy already portioned steaks that do not need to be further cut into pieces. The flesh should be red or marbled in color, but not dark or pink.

When cooking steak, you do not need to beat the meat - this will irrevocably deteriorate the structure of the flesh. Steaks are prepared exclusively from chilled fresh meat, fresh frozen will lose all its juices during the defrosting period, and you will no longer be able to get a tasty and juicy steak. And even fresh, chilled meat should be warmed to room temperature before cooking.

Recipes

Cooking steak is always a very delicate and sensitive process. And before moving on to the recipes, you need to figure out what degrees of roasting beef steaks are divided into.

Blue rare– when cut, the steak has soft crust and looks like almost raw meat. Almost cold red flesh remains under the crust. This steak is in little demand and is suitable for everyone.
Rare a medium-done steak; when cut, you can see raw meat with blood, which has an appetizing and uniform crust around the edges. To achieve this level, you need to fry the steak on each side for 1 minute. The temperature in the core of the steak does not rise above 50C.

Medium rare – A juicy rare steak has a pink tint, and despite this, the meat cannot be called raw or cold. To achieve this degree of doneness, you need to cook the steak in a hot frying pan for 2 minutes on each side.
Medium– considered the most common degree of roasting. This steak can be called the golden mean between well-done and almost raw meat. Gradually, from the crust to the core, the color of the pulp begins to change on the cut. Cook the steak for 2.5-3 minutes on each side, depending on the size of the piece and the presence of fat.

Medium well– can be described as almost cooked. At the same time, the meat remains pinkish and not excessively dry. This degree of doneness requires cooking the steak for 3-4 minutes on each side.
Well done– fully fried meat without pink shades on the cut and juice, has a brown color. This degree of roasting is not offered in restaurants, but can be prepared at the request of the visitor.

Not only the cooking time, but also the juiciness and softness of the steak depends on the degree of frying. For prolonged periods heat treatment the meat becomes tough, and many beginners often complain, calling their attempts to cook a delicious steak with bringing the meat to a worn-out sole. Evenly fried meat with a pink cut and oozing juice has a more pleasant and tender texture compared to, for example, a well done steak.

To cook a steak at home, you will need a grill pan; it is practically no different from a traditional one, but it has convex lines on the bottom, thanks to which fried strips are formed on the crust, as if the meat was cooked on a grate over an open fire. But if you don’t have one, then you can try cooking steak in a regular cast-iron frying pan with a thick bottom. You also cannot do without a stopwatch or a classic watch with a second hand, since the cooking time is determined precisely in seconds. And for uniform, perfect cooking, you need to keep the steak in the pan for the same amount of time on all sides.

Meat from the refrigerator should not be sent directly to a hot frying pan. The steak needs to come to room temperature first. And excess moisture is removed with paper napkins. After this, as some chefs advise, you need to grate the raw steak spices, salt and oil. Other cooks recommend peppering and salting the meat after cooking in a frying pan so that the salt does not remove excess liquid from the pulp and the spices do not burn. You can try cooking steak in two ways, then choose the one that suits you best.

Professional chefs In restaurants, they check the readiness of meat using a special culinary thermometer. Purchase such a device for home use – good idea. But even without special devices, you can learn how to cook mind-blowing steaks by checking the degree of readiness “by eye.”

When turning the steak from one side to the other, do not use a wooden spatula or fork. To do this, you need special tongs without sharp edges so as not to accidentally pierce the meat. At the slightest violation of the integrity of the crust and structure, all the accumulated juices will immediately come out of the meat, and then the steak will become tough.

There are many recipes for cooking steak in a frying pan at home. And the set of ingredients, as a rule, is always the same: olive, vegetable or butter, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper.

Let's give classic recipe cooking steak medium rare with step-by-step instructions.

Before cooking begins, the meat is prepared and marinated. Used for marinade olive oil, a mixture of spices and herbs, and salt. The meat is rubbed with the resulting mixture and infused in the refrigerator for several hours.
After this, it is fried on both sides in a hot dry frying pan. But it is recommended to place the meat diagonally on the grill pan. Each side requires 2 minutes of cooking, then the meat is turned over to the second side and cooked for another 2 minutes.
After this, you need to turn the meat over again, only this time place it in such a way that the protruding ribs in the pan are placed on the other side, so that when frying, lines from the grate appear.

To make the meat taste creamy and spicy, add butter to the frying pan at this point. a small amount chopped garlic and a sprig of thyme. Melted and flavored butter is poured over the steak. The same must be done again on the second side. Thus, fried lines are formed on the meat, which will intersect, forming squares. And the total frying time will take 8 minutes.
After this, you need to wrap the steak in food foil so that the meat is infused and retains all the juices inside under a thick crust. After 10 minutes, you can unwrap the steak, remove the thyme sprigs and serve the dish.
A large, delicious steak is served on a warm plate, which will keep the meat warm until the end of the meal. Fried meat does not require any special side dish in addition. The meat itself is already considered an excellent dinner. In addition to hot and juicy steak It is more appropriate to offer salad, young greens, as well as fresh or grilled vegetables. But without sauce, the dish may seem incomplete.

And these are not all the nuances that must be observed when preparing steak. Attention needs to be paid to some more details.

There is no need to give up fatty cuts of meat - fat makes the steak juicy and helps maintain softness during cooking.
Ribeye is great for honing the skill and dexterity in cooking steaks for beginners in the culinary business.
The steak is fried in a hot frying pan. If you lower the meat onto a still warming surface, the crust will not form in a matter of seconds, and valuable juices will immediately leave the meat. Therefore, if you like a fully cooked steak without pink meat, then you need to fry the steaks for hot frying pan on both sides until a crust forms, and then remove to finish cooking in a preheated oven for a few minutes.

It is not recommended to fry more than two pieces of meat in one pan at the same time. First, it will be difficult to flip the steaks and change positions in the pan. And secondly, a large number of cooking meat will cool the heated frying pan, causing the meat to release a large amount of liquid, and then the frying process will change to stewing.
Before serving, the fried meat should sit and rest. Therefore, immediately from the pan, wrap the steak in foil and set aside for 10-15 minutes. During this time, the meat will become softer, cool a little and be saturated with all the flavors.

And don’t despair if the first time you don’t succeed in preparing a juicy steak to the desired degree of doneness. In cooking, the main thing is not only to have knowledge, but also to have experience. Each time with frequent practice, the steaks will turn out better.

To learn how to cook a beef steak in a frying pan at home, watch the following video.

Dear friends, today I want to tell you how to cook a juicy beef steak in a frying pan. To forestall possible comments, I’ll say right away that this is just my experience and my opinion on what a beef steak should be and how to fry it. For me perfect option, when the beef is no longer bloody, but still juicy, tender and soft.

I know that many people like it when it is still bloody or, on the contrary, deeply fried. I know that some will say that my whole recipe is wrong, this needs to be changed, and this and a little bit of that... But I don’t pretend that my version is ideal for everyone.

The choice is yours, but it will turn out juicy!

This is just my interpretation of how to cook beef steak at home, based on personal experience and a series of culinary experiments. I really like it, this is how I cook meat for my friends and family, and both my guests and family love it this way. It seems to me that if you try to cook it according to my recipe, then such a juicy steak will not disappoint you either.

And I will tell you below how to choose meat, and how to prepare it, and how to fry a steak in a frying pan, so that you will certainly succeed in the best possible way.

Ingredients for 2 servings

2 beef steaks with a total weight of 400-500 g;
salt to taste;
black pepper to taste;
1 tsp. vegetable oil.

Cooking steps

Well, let's start with the main thing - meat. We need beef, not veal: the meat should be dark red, not pale. And, of course, for a proper steak, the meat must be fresh, not frozen. This is of great importance, believe me: the most delicious steak comes from fresh meat. The thickness of the piece is also important: ideally, it is 2 cm.

A thinner piece will not be as juicy, a thicker piece may be poorly cooked. I do not encourage you to measure your steak with a ruler; plus or minus millimeters, of course, will not play a significant role. So, we cut the meat, washed it and dried it with a paper towel. Let's start cooking.

Proper processing of meat

With the back, that is, blunt, side of the knife, we beat the steak on both sides. We do not need a hammer for the cue balls; we do not strive to “flatten” the meat, but only make light notches on its surface.

If you make them strictly parallel, they will look very appetizing on the finished steak. Plus, this slight processing of the meat will allow the steak to cook better.

How to fry in a frying pan: subtleties and nuances

Place the frying pan on high heat, pour in vegetable oil. When the frying pan is hot enough, place the meat on it. The frying pan should be good - heavy, with a thick bottom, ideally cast iron. Don't forget to turn on the hood and get ready for a lot of oil splashes - we're frying meat after all...

Please note that we do not add salt, pepper or any other spices at this stage. I also do not use any marinade - this meat is good on its own, without vinegar, mayonnaise, kefir, lemon juice and any other marinade.

Fry the meat in a frying pan over high heat for 3 minutes. It should be properly browned. Then turn the steak over to the other side and fry without reducing the heat for three minutes again.

Then turn the steak over again, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid. Cook the steak like this for 8 minutes. Then turn it over again and cook for another 8 minutes - covered and over low heat. This time was verified by me experimentally - for me the most difficult question was how long to fry a beef steak in a frying pan. After these 16 minutes under the lid, the steak meat will not be pink, but at the same time you will have juicy meat.

Not everyone can cook a good classic beef steak the first time, so there are a few things to consider. important nuances. For a steak to be tender, it must have streaks of fat across its entire surface - this is the so-called “marbling” of the meat. Unfortunately, these cuts of beef are difficult, if not impossible, to find on local store shelves. Therefore, you have to be content with what you have and use all sorts of tricks to get the most soft and juicy steak.

Ingredients

400 g beef pulp
2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/5 tsp. ground black pepper
50 g butter
3-4 sprigs of thyme

How to fry beef steak

1. Wash the beef under running water, trim off any excess and dry the meat with a towel. Take very sharp knife and in one confident movement cut off the piece meat steak about 2 cm thick. You may have already bought sliced steaks, then you will save some time.

2. Place the steaks on a dish and, using a pastry brush, brush the meat with any vegetable oil, preferably olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and black ground pepper. Do not overdo it with spices - they can overwhelm the taste of the meat.

3. It is best to fry steaks in a heavy cast-iron frying pan - it holds the heat well. Heat the frying pan thoroughly and add the beef.

4. Depending on the desired doneness, fry the meat from 1 minute to 4.5 minutes on each side. If the steak is lean, then you can fry it only lightly, for 30 seconds, and then bring it to full readiness in the oven.

5. Baking pan or whole cast iron frying pan brush with butter. Place the fried steaks and top each with another piece of butter. Also place a few sprigs of thyme on top and around for flavor. Place the mold in an oven preheated to 180 degrees and remove after 5 minutes. Cover the steaks with foil for 10-15 minutes to let them cook.