Argonaut Aura

today we had a cookout after a long time.. haven’t really cooked a steak ever since i left cali.. finally we got to do it again today with jitsion’s perfected recipe over some more wine and watching amelia (a really good french movie). Good times!

So here’s the steps to enjoy a medium rare to medium steak compliments to carrefour~

1. Buy a reasonably ‘coloured’ rib eye beef from the supermarket (jit sion’s tip: u can’t find it in NTUC) choose from new zealand to brazil to aussie.. make sure u get a bigger loin part and that you can see some colour (ie. fats well massaged) the more fats, the more juicy.. which explains why kobe beef are a good choice. choose a thick piece (this should cost you between $12-$14 for 2 piece – enough to serve 2).

2. Pick some carrots and broccoli (make sure the broccoli don’t cost $3.80 for a bunch), black ground pepper and a bottle of good wine.. our best pick’s penfold’s (aussie wine) bin 2 which should cost about $34 (only found in NTUC thus far), otherwise, go for something else along the penfold’s series too.

3. Make sure there’s a good DVD at home before u head into the kitchen.

4. Very important point, make sure that your kitchen is well ventilated since it’s a rather smoky affair..

All right. that’s the prep steps. here comes the real thing.. all in 15 minutes (get ready a timer!)

1. marinate the ribeye with a big pinch of salt and loads of pepper (ensure a well spread)

2. heat up the pan (use a non-stick pan) with the strongest fire possible of ur stove..

3. drop the piece of meat in and start the timer at the same time..

4. flip the meat after 30s of strong heat and your meat should look charred, i.e. black (not to worry)

5. flip the meat again at the 1 min mark (go with ur own gut sense with regards to the timing) and lower the fire to slightly less than the half mark

6. flip the meat again after 30s with the low fire up to the 5min mark.

7. Get ready the plate with a square piece of aluminium foil and dropped the steak into the mid of the aluminium foil at this time. Wrap the steak up using the aluminium foil. This is to keep the steak warm and kinda let it ‘cook’ itself a bit longer..

8. After about 2-3mins, unwrap and test cut to see if the ‘rawness’ is good.. check by cutting the thickest mid part of the steak with a steak knife. it should look red but not too raw.. some juice should ooze out.. (likely to contain some blood in it)

9. if it looks good and tender enough, you are ready to serve (eat while it’s hot!) with the boiled carrots and broccoli (make sure you drop it into the pot when the water is boiling and add a pinch of salt too and cook it till the veg is soft enough to chew)

10. steak goes well with red wine (make sure u have a full bodied one). serve your broccoli with cheese if you’re a cheese lover (just melt the cheese on top of broccoli in the microwave for under a min)

11. kick in the music and atmosphere and u’re ready for a great dinner and a perfect night!

12. end it with some dessert (ice-cream/chocs) and desert wine (e.g. mosciato) over DVD. If u’re with your gf, choose a light romantic comedy.. if you have a higher budget, get fresh raspberries served in a triangular glass with fresh cream dip (so good!).

how do you know your steak is good?

It shouldn’t taste too hard , too tough or too raw.. has to be just nice and juicy. if u can see the juice oozing out when u cut without it looking too raw to be unpleasing to the eye and taste the juiciness of the steak in the bite.. u’re there. round the taste with a good sip of wine.. it could give u an explosive sensation if the conditions are right!

note that the art of cutting steak to the right bite size and at the right angle to the meat is critical too. it has to all come together.. cut it at a slant and go for very thin slices of the steak at each time.. your knife should be able to cut the steak at one go, not like a saw cutting through.. this is where the sharpness of the knife coupled with the tenderness of the steak comes in..

if u happen to have a nice balcony or rooftop with flowers overlooking the night stars ahead or nice views or if u happen to be in a cold country with an outdoor fireplace.. that will set a better ambience.. be creative and utilise what you have at the moment.

it ain’t gonna hurt ur wallet and it’ll juz make the night splendid. try it! =)

*just like ratatouille says: anyone can cook!*