Steak Dinner

I've always wanted to try cooking steaks, mainly because it's a challenge to get the meat cooked just right. A few days ago, I suddenly had a craving for steaks, and being the cheap arse that I am, instead of eating out, I thought I'd make it at home instead.

And what a fun time cooking it was. And for those of you wondering *ahem ahem*, I made all this from scratch. No pre-made sauces :p

I took the classic steak recipe from the Australia Table magazine (March 2008 edition), and the rosemary-roasted potatoes from the Cook With Jamie (Oliver). It's so good to finally have my own kitchen!

Classic Steak

Ingredients
2 tbsp barbeque sauce (I used HP)
1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (I used Lea & Perrins)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
150g steaks (I used sirloin; fillets would also taste great)
1/2 cup chicken stock

Method
1. Combine barbeque sauce, Worcestershire sauce and garlic in a shallow bowl.
2. Add steak and turn to coat.
3. Season steaks with crushed salt and black pepper.
4. Leave to marinate for a couple of hours.
5. Heat a lightly oiled (I used olive oil) chargrill or frying pan on high.
6. Reserving as much marinade as you can, cook steaks for 2-3 minutes each side for rare, or until cooked to your liking.
7. Combine reserved marinade and stock in a small saucepan on high.
8. Bring to boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until slightly reduced.
9. Drizzle steaks with sauce, and serve immediately.

Rosemary-Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients
Waxy potatoes, peeled or scrubbed and cut into 1" cubes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Rosemary (fresh sprig with leaves picked. I used dried rosemary though, which tasted just as good)
Olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, skin on and smashed

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 220C/425F/gas 7.
2. Place potato cubes in a large pan of cold, salted water and bring to boil.
3. Drain them immediately in a colander and allow them to steam for a couple of minutes until they dry out a bit.
4. Heat some olive oil in a roasting tray.
5. Add the garlic cloves and potatoes.
6. Season and toss together until well coated.
7. Place in the over for about 20-25 minutes, shaking the tray every so often, until the potatoes are golden and crispy.


As for the vegetables, I'd much rather steam the broccoli and carrots, but seeing that I don't have a proper steamer, I just boiled them, and splashed some extra virgin olive oil and crushed black pepper on them.

I really loved how the potatoes turned out - crispy and delicious. Should have put it longer in the oven though, to give it nicer golden-brown. Oh well, there's always a next time, no?

Yummy Bruschetta

A good thing about this break I'm having from work (still looking for one, okay? OKAY?!) is that I have all this time to do the stuff I like, and also to expand my limited cooking skills.

So today, I thought I'd make my favourite snack for lunch - bruschetta.

Absolutely yummy, and so easy to make. Got the recipe online, modified it a little to suit my taste. Man, for so little ingredients, the restaurants sure overcharge the snack, huh?

Ingredients
French stick loaf
Firm ripe tomatoes (1 or 2, depending on the number of servings)
Red onion (be careful with this one; it's spicy if you put in a lot. You can also use white onions, but they don't taste as good)
Crushed garlic
Chopped basil (you can use the fresh ones, or the dried ones. Today, I used the dried ones)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

Method
1. Chop the tomatoes and onions finely, and place them into a bowl.
2. Add garlic and basil, and stir through.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Drizzle the mixture with olive oil and stir.
5. Slice the French loaf and brush each slice with olive oil.
6. Grill slices until toasty brown (medium heat; check the pieces to make sure they don't turn out rock hard)
7. Spoon mixture onto the bread.
8. Enjoy!

My very first bruschetta. Tasted pretty good too ;)