Fillet Steaks!

[snaw]

What's not healthy about steak?!

Depends on the steak I guess (Lean ones are prob ok) - but I was always under the impression that steak wouldn't make a list of foods you should be eating a lot of if you're trying to be healthy/lose weight. But I'm not a nutritionist so I'll bow to a better informed opinion.

[NotAllThere]

Some weirdo extremists, like vegetarians, think that meat is bad for you.

I sear my fillet steak over a very hot grill, both sides for a few seconds, then eat. No sauce, no condiments. Eat with a green salad, and you've got a very healthy, tasty meal.

Meat is good if you're on a diet, as its calories/satisfaction ratio is low - you don't have to eat much to feel full, and it's tasty. Unlike fat where it's tasty, but you don't feel full.

[nucastle]

Sear on all sides for a couple of minutes and leave to sit for a few minutes to finish cooking through if they are thin.

If they are thick, sear them and put in a hot oven to finish off .... 10-15 minutes at 200 degrees perhaps.

[Churchill]

Raw.

Carpaccio of Beef

Author: Nick Godwin

No of Servings: 8 Cooking Time: Under 30 mins
Meal Course: Starter / Snack

Ingredients

1 lb beef fillet, trimmed of all fat and sinew
75 ml olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 shallots, finely diced
1 tbsp capers, finely diced
salt and freshly ground black peppercorns
100g Parmesan cheese
Method

Place the meat in the freezer about 10 minutes to aid slicing.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, shallots, and capers, season with salt and pepper and reserve.

Slice the cold beef across the grain into 3mm slices. Then place each slice, one at a time, between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and flatten with the end of a rolling pin or meat pounder, working from the centre out. Keep turning to flatten it evenly to about 1-2 mm.

Arrange the thin slices of beef on chilled plates then carefully spoon the dressing over the meat evenly. Garnish with shavings of Parmesan and serve immediately. Rocket can also be used to garnish

[snaw]

Some weirdo extremists, like vegetarians, think that meat is bad for you.

I sear my fillet steak over a very hot grill, both sides for a few seconds, then eat. No sauce, no condiments. Eat with a green salad, and you've got a very healthy, tasty meal.

yeah, maybe best drop the chips and egg - though vegetarian sounds better to me than a flash grilled steak, no sauce/condiments with a green salad .

[Lucifer Box]

Fillet is quite low in fat so is certainly a healthy, protein rich choice that will fill you up nicely. Most important of all is to get a good quality matured steak from a decent butcher and not some supermarket rubbish. I guarantee then you will prepare a steak that will taste better even than one from a top restaurant.

I would recommend a yummy steak tartare but I guess the egg in it would not be diet friendly.

So, to cook. Best way in my opinion will be on a griddle (or in a griddle pan). Make sure you take the steak out of the fridge at least an hour before you want to cook it to let it come to room temperature. Cut a clove of garlic in half and rub it across all sides of your fillet. Leave it to stand for a couple of minutes while in a small bowl you mix a spoon of olive oil and a drip of lemon juice, then grind a little black pepper and some sea salt onto a small plate.

Gently brush a little bit of the oil/lemon mixture all over the steak (just a little bit) then press each side of the steak into your pepper/salt mix on the plate. Again just a little bit. You want to let your steak do all the singing, after all.

Heat your griddle until it is very hot then pop the steak on. Time depends on the thickness of the fillet and how well done you like it. You can tell how well a steak is done by pressing it with your finger. Completely spongy and it is rare, very firm and it is well done (bleurgh). I like my steak blue so a scant 30-60 seconds on each side is enough for me. Take it out of the pan onto a warmed plate and leave it to stand for a couple of minutes to finish warming through.

As it happens, I prefer rib eye myself, but that's just me and not as good for a dieter.

[Lucifer Box]

An afterthought: if anyone does like steak well done, pop a ladle of beef stock into the pan to stop it drying out.

[Lucifer Box]

Red meat is not known for being particularly healthy. Eat fish and chickens.

Sorry, mate, that's not correct. While eating anything to excess is unhealthy, a small quantity of red meat in the diet is very beneficial in aiding the absorption of iron.

[Fishface]

To be healthy buy Argentine or Uruguayan beef - cows eat grass there therefore loads less fat in the meat.

Alternatively, Irish beef is fed on a mixture of grain and grass.

Avoid vacuum sealed packets, or meat too red - too much blood.

Avoid English beef it is slaughtered too young.

Needs to be 'hung' for 4 weeks.

Ask for the 'crown' its the expensive end of filet.

BBQ only & salt - elaborate recipes are nonsense.

[~Craig~]

An afterthought: if anyone does like steak well done, pop a ladle of beef stock into the pan to stop it drying out.

Good tips LB!