How to do a steak up right - deglaze the fond, bitch!

**Joey Joe Joe Junior Shabadoo** · 05-30-2006, 02:17 PM

Thanks for the reminder, I forgot to mention cutting across the grain. As to thickness I feel its personal preference. When I make flank steak for a sandwich then I would cut it pretty thin but for the above recipe we eat it on its own or even with our hands(kind of a Lake Powell tradition for her family) its nice to have thicker chunks to tear into. As my eigth grade teacher(a battle axe of nun) used to always say, "in coloribus et digustibus non est distbutandem(I think that is it) translation:"in matters of taste and color there is no disputing." Lemon juice can cook it a bit but it is used sparingly in this recipe, sorry I forgot the exact amounts. I might have to try the pear juice, that sounds interesting.

**fez** · 05-30-2006, 02:24 PM

Originally Posted by Tap

You need:

steak
cast iron skillet
butter
shallots
red wine
chicken broth
bleu cheese
whole grain mustard

1) cook that sucka in a cast-iron pan to your liking

2) take out and put an aluminum foil tent over it to keep it warm - too tight and it will steam the steak

3) add some butter and carmelize finely cut shallots in same pan

4) deglaze the pan with broth and red wine (be sure to scrape off the fond, which is the carmelized meat stuck to the bottom of the pan)

5) pour any juice from the steak plate back into the sauce

6) put in more butter, add some blue cheese and whole grain mustard....mix and reduce over heat to thicken

7) add a lil' more butter, mix and thicken to taste

pour over the carne and uughghhgghhhh
YUM

personally, i would substitute a decent brandy for the red wine, i find red wine sauces to be a bit much for steak. also, i would ditch the chicken stock for a quality glace de viande. i have my wife bring it home from her catering company, but i bet you can find it at some specialty gourmet markets. it won't be cheap, but considering my recipe calls for 50 pounds of veal bones and yields about a half gallon of glace, a little goes a long way.

besides just flavor, the glace means you don't need to reduce the sauce much. so the sauce can be done in a couple minutes.

I also don;t like adding cheese directly to the sauce, too many competing flavors there.

so, start off by letting your steak rest at room temperature for a half hour or so. this will get the chill off the meat and it will cook more evenly. towards the end of the resting time, season each side of the steak lightly with salt and pepper. not too much or your sauce will be too salty.

put your cast iron pan on high heat until it is damn hot. if you have a surface thermometer you are looking for 450 - 500 deg. no thermometer, you want a drop of water to dance, not just sit and sizzle. don;t add any oil until the pan is hot. i use a good quality professional pan coating spray rather than oil, i find it is less likely to scortch than oil. but if you must use oil, you want something with a high smoke point. put a table spoon of oil into the pan, swirl it around, then dump out whatever will dump out.

put your steak into the pan for a couple minutes, turn for a couple more. how long depends on how you like it done. basically you want to pull it from the pan about one stage before it is where you like it.

it is hard to explain, but to tell how it is done, hold your hand flat, palm up and press your thumb firmly against the side of your hand and index finger. if you poke the line from the base of your thumb down towards your wrist, it will be softer near the base of the thumb. this will feel more like a rare steak. the farther toward your wrist you poke, the closer it is to well done. there is some variation on this (tenderloins usually feel softer, strip steaks firmer for example) but it is a fairly good approximation.

take your steak from the pan and place it on a metal broiler pan. top with a small slice of quality bleu cheese (hard to beat Maytag Blue) and place it under the broiler.

return your pan to the stove, add a little clarified butter, minced shallot and saute until nice and golden brown. at this point, deglaze with brandy. it is a good idea to remove the pan from the heat when adding brandy. i've had a bottle blow up in my hand before. though it is fancy and a nice show, try not to flame the pan. you really can taste the fire when you do this.

once the brandy has burned off, add your glace and heat the sauce. once the sauce reaches a slight simmer, add your mustard.

by now, the bleu cheese should be melted and slightly browned.

to plate, place a small pool of sauce on the plate, place your steak on top of the sauce and garnish with fresh sliced chives.

**iceman** · 05-30-2006, 02:34 PM

What's easy as hell and good as shit is marinate some flank steak in Newman's Italian dressing with some extra garlic, black pepper and tabasco mixed in, grill it and put it on a plate with some softened butter, worcestershire and lemon juice. Let the steak melt the butter as it rests, slice and eat.

**Turbo Honkey** · 05-30-2006, 02:52 PM

I am glad that someone posted this, because my ravenous lamb chop of a one night stand kept yelling "Deglaze the fond, bitch!" over and over last night.

Not I am still not sure how that was relevant to the task at hand, but it is an interesting turn.

**Tap** · 05-30-2006, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by fez

personally, i would substitute a decent brandy for the red wine, i find red wine sauces to be a bit much for steak. also, i would ditch the chicken stock for a quality glace de viande. i have my wife bring it home from her catering company, but i bet you can find it at some specialty gourmet markets. it won't be cheap, but considering my recipe calls for 50 pounds of veal bones and yields about a half gallon of glace, a little goes a long way.

besides just flavor, the glace means you don't need to reduce the sauce much. so the sauce can be done in a couple minutes.

I also don;t like adding cheese directly to the sauce, too many competing flavors there.

so, start off by letting your steak rest at room temperature for a half hour or so. this will get the chill off the meat and it will cook more evenly. towards the end of the resting time, season each side of the steak lightly with salt and pepper. not too much or your sauce will be too salty.

put your cast iron pan on high heat until it is damn hot. if you have a surface thermometer you are looking for 450 - 500 deg. no thermometer, you want a drop of water to dance, not just sit and sizzle. don;t add any oil until the pan is hot. i use a good quality professional pan coating spray rather than oil, i find it is less likely to scortch than oil. but if you must use oil, you want something with a high smoke point. put a table spoon of oil into the pan, swirl it around, then dump out whatever will dump out.

put your steak into the pan for a couple minutes, turn for a couple more. how long depends on how you like it done. basically you want to pull it from the pan about one stage before it is where you like it.

it is hard to explain, but to tell how it is done, hold your hand flat, palm up and press your thumb firmly against the side of your hand and index finger. if you poke the line from the base of your thumb down towards your wrist, it will be softer near the base of the thumb. this will feel more like a rare steak. the farther toward your wrist you poke, the closer it is to well done. there is some variation on this (tenderloins usually feel softer, strip steaks firmer for example) but it is a fairly good approximation.

take your steak from the pan and place it on a metal broiler pan. top with a small slice of quality bleu cheese (hard to beat Maytag Blue) and place it under the broiler.

return your pan to the stove, add a little clarified butter, minced shallot and saute until nice and golden brown. at this point, deglaze with brandy. it is a good idea to remove the pan from the heat when adding brandy. i've had a bottle blow up in my hand before. though it is fancy and a nice show, try not to flame the pan. you really can taste the fire when you do this.

once the brandy has burned off, add your glace and heat the sauce. once the sauce reaches a slight simmer, add your mustard.

by now, the bleu cheese should be melted and slightly browned.

to plate, place a small pool of sauce on the plate, place your steak on top of the sauce and garnish with fresh sliced chives.

well played, Sir!

**Tippster** · 05-30-2006, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by Tap

well played, Sir!

Sure, but does he know how to make a Screaming Viking? I bet not.

**fez** · 05-30-2006, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Tippster

Sure, but does he know how to make a Screaming Viking? I bet not.

i do now, had to google that one. i spent 20 yrs in restaurants, but only a little as a bartender. mostly in the kitchen but i guess that was obvious.

i know how to make a screaming nazi, but a screaming viking sounds much better.