Simple Steak Satisfies Starving Stomachs

"S" dinner this week offered so many choices it was extremely hard to choose. During the planning phase, thoughts in my head were, "Oh I could do Seafood, Steamed this or that, Singapore noodles or a Satay this or that. I decided to go with a good piece of Steak for mains and a Steamed Syrup pudding for dessert. I had inspiration walking through the aisles at Woolies for entree, Cheese and tomato SALADA. AWESOME! with some Smiths crisps.

I was looking through some steak recipes online and found a Heston Blumenthal version of steak and decided to go with that. I have always known that to cook steak you leave the steak sit in the pan and NOT TURN it.
Here is what Heston had to say about cooking a steak: He says, "By flipping the meat every 15–20 seconds, the steak will develop a crisp, flavoursome exterior without being overcooked in the centre."
His steak comes with a rocket lettuce topping with a lemon, garlic and rosemary dressing.

Heston's Steak


olive oil
2 sirloin steaks, weighing approximately 400–500 g each
salt and black pepper
3 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed with the flat part of a knife or by hand
4–6 rosemary sprigs
2 strips lemon zest (use a vegetable peeler)
50 glemon juice (approximately 1 lemon)
60 grocket leaves
40g parmesan cheese shavings (use a vegetable peeler)
sea salt

Place a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a high heat, then add a thin layer of olive oil. Heat until the oil is smoking hot.

Season the steaks with a little salt and place them away from you in the hot pan for 15–20 seconds. Then turn the steaks over and fry for a further 15–20 seconds. Repeat this, turning the steaks, for 2–3 minutes. Remove from the pan and allow to rest on a wire rack, set over a plate to catch the juices, for 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and discard most of the oil (but don’t clean the pan). Allow the pan to cool for a few minutes, then pour in 120 g olive oil. Add the garlic and sprigs of rosemary to the oil. Rub the strips of lemon zest between your finger and thumb to release the oils, and add them to the pan too. Allow to infuse for 5 minutes while the meat is resting, then squeeze in the lemon juice.

Strain this dressing through a sieve and add any juices from the steak.

Slice the steaks thinly (5 mm wide) with a sharp knife. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and place on a serving dish. Spoon over half the dressing.

Mix the rocket leaves with the remaining dressing and place on top of the beef. Finish with the parmesan shavings and a sprinkling of sea salt.

Together with the steak I served a Potato bake.

Melted butter, to grease
1 x 300ml ctn thin cream
125ml (1/2 cup) milk
1.25kg sebago (brushed) potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced
2 large brown onions, halved, thinly sliced
100g thinly sliced prosciutto
60g (3/4 cup) finely shredded parmesan

Preheat oven to 170°C. Brush a 2.5L (10-cup) capacity ovenproof dish with melted butter to lightly grease. Combine the cream and milk in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes or until heated through.
Step 2

Arrange half the potato slices over the base of the prepared dish. Sprinkle with half the onion. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over half the cream mixture. Continue layering with the remaining potato slices, onion, salt and pepper and cream mixture.
Step 3

Cover with foil and place on a baking tray. Bake in oven for 1 hour or until potato is tender. Scatter prosciutto over the potato bake and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake, uncovered, for a further 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and the potato is very tender.
Step 4

Set aside for 15 minutes to cool. 

Steamed Syrup Pudding

1/2 cup (125ml) golden syrup
125g butter, softened
1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
2/3 cup (160ml) milk
Golden syrup, extra, to serve
Ice-cream or vanilla custard, to serve

Grease a 4-cup (1 litre) capacity ceramic pudding basin. Pour the golden syrup in the base of the pudding basin.
Step 2

Use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition. Stir in flour and milk in alternating batches. Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin and smooth the surface.
Step 3

Layer a sheet of baking paper and foil together on a work surface. Fold a 3cm-wide pleat down the centre. Cover the basin, paper-side down, with the layered paper and foil. Secure with kitchen string. Roll the edges of the paper and foil up so they will not come into contact with the water while cooking.
Step 4

Place an upturned saucer in the base of a large saucepan. Place the basin on top then pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the basin. Place over medium-low heat and cook, covered, for 2 hours or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from heat and remove the basin from the saucepan. Set aside for 5 minutes before turning onto a plate.
Step 5

Drizzle extra syrup over the pudding. Serve immediately with ice-cream or custard, if desired.