I hardly ever used to cook steak; lamb and duck are more interesting (and also best cooked rare.) There are not so many cuts of beef that I love. But now that we have a water bath, steak is much more interesting. First off, any flavoring agents really get pushed into the meat by the vacuum-sealing. Second, it’s always perfectly done all the way through with no possibility of overcooking. And last, less tender cuts can be left in longer to relax and become luxurious. It’s like a spa, but for meat.
Tonight, a couple of lovely local ribeyes with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence underwent this treatment, and while in the bath I caramelized rutabaga with diced onion and steamed broccoli. Once the meat was done, I threw a few garlic cloves and a pat of butter in the iron pan, then seared the meat, then wilted a bunch of spinach in there after and deglazed with lemon juice. A 2005 La Spinetta Langhe Nebbiolo was perfect- chewy, rich, perfumed with violets- it blew away any regrets I had about not having made a reduction of some kind to go with this.
Is it wrong that I keep a bottle of cheapish stuff for reductions? How about that I keep a box of it?
Ah, steak. Flipping the vegetarians the bird one moo at a time.
I try to always keep a bottle of each on hand for sauces. If doing that is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.
I was a vegetarian for 18 years. “Every time you eat a steak, a hippie’s hacky sack goes in the gutter.” (Though I don’t eat factory meat; I keep it local and organic.)