A Good Steak or Chop

Eating a good steak or chop can actually help you loose weight because the total portion will usually be smaller (one chop instead of two or one steak that serves two people).

Be it for speed of preparation, convenience, portion control, false economy, or whatever reason, many Canadians will buy a thinly cut steak or chop and then after preparation, complain that it was tough. Of course it was; because with so short a cooking time, the natural juices present in the meat didn't have enough time to break down the connective tissue.

All the tender steaks should be cut a minimum of two inches thick and serve two or more people, all chops should be a minimum of one inch thick. Of course, as we all know they seldom are- thin steaks and chops--those less than an inch thick-- are an American invention, brought about by inferior beef, meat products, and the fast food craze.

The tender cuts of any type of meat tend to be lacking in flavour and for this reason, they are generally well larded prior to cooking. Sometimes, as in the case of Chateaubriand and Fillet Mignon, they may be cooked between two thin sacrificial layers of a less tender but more flavourful cut. They may also be stuffed, wrapped with bacon, coated with a flavourful crust, batter or other coating, or served with a flavourful sauce.

Traditionally all steaks and chops were "finished" with butter. This was done for two reasons; it made them more eye appealing, and it added flavour.

Some Modern Retail Beef Terms AND The Common (Usually More Expensive) Alias.

In other words—How You are Being Fleeced.

Arm Bone Pot Roast: Chuck- Contains cross section of round arm bone surrounded by forearm, brisket, and shoulder muscle sometimes boned rolled and tied. Alias, Arm Bone, Round Bone, O- Bone Shoulder.

BBQ Ribs: Indicates a cooking method only and is not a special cut. Generally long meaty rib bones with one irregular, knobby end. Cut only when rib section is used for boneless entrecote. Alias, Back Ribs, Beef Spareribs, Beef Ribs, now popularized by some restaurant chains.

Barbecue Roast: Retail name for solid side of Sirloin Tip., usually cut, rolled and tied to make small diameter cut for spit broiling but again the name is a cooking suggestion and not the cut.

Barbecue Steak: Any bone-in or boneless steak, usually of a less tender cut, suitable for grilling or broiling.

Breakfast Beef: Plate. Cured, thinly sliced, with streaks of lean and fat, fried and used as bacon.

Blade-cut “Pot Roast”: Chuck- Generally suitable only for braising.

Blade Roast: Chuck- now cut anywhere from 1/2 to about 3 inches thick from rib end of chuck section. Usually 3 cuts per section with varying amount of shoulder blade and sometimes a good part of backbone and rib bone. Portions called Flat Iron, Chuck Tender, and Inside Chuck surround backbone. Other alias includes 7- Bone, Center Cut Blade, and Blade Cut.

Blade -steak: Chuck- Same as blade roast only thinner yet.

Boiling Beef: Plate, Shank, and Neck.

Bone-in Chuck: Usually from top part of chuck next to rib section. Alias, 7 Bone Steak, Blade Steak, Texas Broil, and Chuck Wagon.

Boneless Chuck Steak: usually cut from next to rib section or from outside shoulder clod muscle. Alias, Cross Rib Steak, Clod steak, Fluff Steak, Patio Steak, Family Steak, and BBQ Steak.

Boneless Rolled Chuck: Rolled and tied, cut from large meaty outside shoulder clod muscle, weighing 12-16 pounds. This primal cut usually re-cut into smaller portions of 3 pounds and up. The more expensive alias includes- Cross Rib, Shoulder Clod, and Diamond Jim.

Bottom Round: Less tender than Top Round. Alias, Silverside, Swiss Steak, Minute Steak, Cube Steak, Breakfast Steak, Sandwich Steak, Eye of Round, and North American style Baron of Beef.

Butter Ball Steak: First cut of Top Round ¼ to 1 inch thick.

Center Cut Blade: Chuck-should be the middle cut when 3 portions are cut from a chuck section.

Chuck: The basic fore quarter cut, containing ribs 1 to 5, without neck, brisket, and fore shank, amounts to about ¼ of entire carcass. Muscles run in different directions and vary greatly in degree of tenderness, now cut into many deceptively named retail cuts.

Diamond Cut Roast: The common alias is the less expensive part of the Rump.

Fore Quarter; Front half of beef side; it is separated between 12th and 13th ribs from hind quarter. Contains Chuck, Brisket, Shank, Rib and Plate basic cuts and is traditionally considered to be inferior to the hind quarter.

Tender Steak: is a narrow thick, 1½ pound hind quarter muscle, attached in part to the diaphragm. There is only one per carcass. Alias-Butcher Steak.

Manhattan: - Originating in the United States and now a common retail alias for a boneless rump cut.

Medallion: Another retail name for Chuck Tender.

Sirloin

The Sirloin includes long and short loin plus the tenderloin which extends through both short and the rear section.

Today, usually only the rear section is (possibly to avoid some minor confusion), called the sirloin.

In truth, all loin steaks are sirloin steaks Sirloin is the only cut of meat in the world that has been officially knighted: I believe that says it all.

©Al Girvan 1990

Other Traditional Cuts Renamed in North America

Cross Rib-Chuck: True cross rib chuck (rib chuck) comes from section 11 of the beef chart shown toward the beginning of this chapter. The United States has chosen to drop the word chuck with the result that some consumers have become confused and now believe a cross-rib is a better quality rib cut. We also now have what is called “boneless cross rib’, which is, of course, simply a chuck, but sold at a higher price

The New York Steak, which the supermarkets now often promote, and which is popular in American based restaurants, is nothing more than our old friend, the sirloin steak. New York Steaks are cut from the short sirloin, after, the traditionally popular, tender, and especially, profitable, fillet has been stripped off; hence the original names; strip loin or top loin steak. To many people, the name, strip loin lacks the exotic flavour of New York steak. Would you buy a stripped loin steak?

Think.

As a consumer, you are much better off to order, or buy, in the super-market, a Club, or even a boneless rib steak.

Rib steak- With the bone, is often sold or served as the tenderer, with less fat, Club Steak.

Rib Eye- Is, really, the traditional, French entrecote, but, when called by this name it is usually from heavy beef and a thinner cut.

Barron of Beef- Because of the new regulations requiring the removal of the backbone, true Baron of Beef is no longer available on the market.  The name Barron of Beef comes from the fact that the sirloin is the only meat, or food item, ever to be knighted.

In Britain, Europe, and most of the world, a baron is a very large,(100pound plus) very important section of beef containing both long loins (or to make it simpler to understand-the carcass is halved rather than quartered -- the Barron of Beef amounts to practically the entire hind portion). It is used for large banquets, usually broiled over an open pit or as in "olden-days or in front of a very large fireplace.

In the United States and now Canada, a baron of beef is an imprecise term-mainly a marketing or merchandising ploy-used to describe less important cuts that are best suited to braising or stewing. While the exact definition of this cut varies somewhat, it is often cut from the "eye of " round or sirloin tip--also American inventions- renamed and sold for higher profit. Baron of beef is usually served thinly cut, in sandwiches, au juice, or with some kind of beef flavoured dip. Next to the advertising of Prime Rib, This is probably the most blatant example of customer fraud in meat marketing.

Soup Bones: Once, were given away for free and often contained a considerable amount of meat. Now these bones are ground into feeds, and fed right back to the cattle. What may be left have become known as “beef” or “marrow” bones, are scrapped clean of all traces of meat, and are sold at a high price.

Hamburger-Many a child has asked: Why is a hamburger called a hamburger, when there is no ham in it? The answer of course, obvious to the adult, is because both this process of tenderizing meat through chopping and the trait of sandwiching cooked meats or sausage between slices of bread come from Hamburg Germany. On the other hand, many adults are unaware that hamburger is not a cut, grade, or recipe for beef. Nor is it the sandwich we are all now so familiar with. Hamburger does not even have to be beef.

Cutlets or Schnitzels- are the only true original style hamburger to be found on the market today. The word Hamburger means only this ancient process of tenderizing meat.

In any form hamburger is no more American than is the "Frankfurter ("wiener-hot dog") apple pie, or the automobile.

In the past as in the present the U.S.A. has never been much concerned with the credibility, nor the truth of any of their claims. Apple cultivation originated in Central Asia, along the Tien Shan River, and in Kazakhstan, about 8000 B.C. It is possible, although highly unlikely, that an apple pie was baked(from dried apples) some where in the United States of America, say two hundred years ago. The people of China and Central Asia were baking apple and other pies, two thousand years before tha that.

Even their name is bogus for while the country was named, and is known as the United States of America there is no such place as America, on this planet or, (because place names are a human invention), in this solar system or entire universe. They could legitimately call them selves the United States of North America but area wise, by population numbers, or any other legitimate measurement; there is absolutely no justification for that country to claim that they constitute the entire Americas or for the citizens to refer to their nationality as American.

The citizens of the United States of North America do not have a true nationality The peoples of Mexico (Mexico city has the largest population of any city in the world), or on an entirely different continent, the peoples of South American countries, especially the people of Canada—area wise Canada is a larger country than the U.S.A. which comprises of less than thirty percent of the Americas—are all Americans. The ridiculous insistence by the U.S. A. in calling themselves Americans, at exclusion of all other peoples living in the Americas, has caused much dissention in the world (especially South America).

If any one country can legitimately be called America; then that country is Canada, not the United States (See the article L'Anse aux Meadows, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia—inserted between pages 495 and 496Section 7, Chapter 2).

But then if we did not call them Americans, what would we call them. As stated above, they are a people without a true race or nationality. When the country was first named, many of the founders actually believed they controlled or soon would, all parts of the Americas worth consideration. Many citizens of the United States of North America, especially those from Texas and some of the other more southern states, still do.

Time has proven this idea to be, the pipe-dream of misguided individuals, all with very large egos but who were, and are, more than just a little, naïve.

Until such time as their boarders extend over all of the Americas; they will continue to be a country without a nationality.

I suppose we could call them Yanks, but the peoples of the southern states would surly object and in this world, a world in which nationality or race is determined by ones country or continent of origin that just does not fit.

The United States now becomes, simply, a large group of capitalist; would be world dictators, with very imperialistic motives.

At best, the people become citizens of the United States of North America, but in practicality, that is far too complicated a term to use every time we refer to these people. Which I suppose is the reason they always display their flag so prominently and are so intent on destroying the life style and national identity of so many other countries.

The greatest, most promoted, (by the U.S.A.), most bogus, legend in automobile development is the common belief that the car is an American invention and institution.

In reality the Americans are Johnny-come lately and because they are proving to be incapable of making up for all the centuries of lost time, and after exploiting, raping and pillaging their own country to the point that there is very little left (in a dream of an unsustainable economy and way of life), they have become the worlds most dangerous and paranoid country; determined, through world domination and dictatorship to do the same in the rest of the world

Next to stories of "The old West" the legend of "The American Automobile" is perhaps the most bogus of all

©Al Girvan1990-2011

The "American" Beef

In the early days the principal source of "American" beef was not cattle raised to be eaten, but rather oxen--cattle used as beasts of burden. They uprooted trees, drew ploughs through stony fields and dragged loaded wagons behind them. When they were too old or too weak to pull their weight, they got the reward of being slaughtered and the flesh was eaten. Just how tough and stringy it must have been is suggested by several old recipes. One urges the housewife to make holes with an awl or screwdriver in a chunk of beef four to five inches thick, fill them with strips of pork, and steam the meat for three hours. A second- to obviate the necessity of aging the beef to tenderize it, an impossibility certainly in hot weather--recommends that a steak be soaked first in a half pint of red wine, then boiled and finally simmered until it can easily be cut with a blunt knife (Yankee Pot-Roasts)..

In those days’ even "American" beef cattle--those raised specifically for meat—could not have been much tenderer than oxen. Before there was a Wild West, America's most important source of beef was the South-- the Carolinas and Georgia. But in the absence of railroads and refrigerator cars, the only way to get Southern beef to the market was on the hoof-live. Thus cattle were walked from their grazing grass lands to Charleston, Norfolk and Baltimore, and even as far north as Philadelphia-- and the exertion could have done the animals little good as far as tenderness was concerned. After Ohio and Illinois became beef centres  cattle were driven from the Midwest to New York; making seven miles a day, the lowing beasts required 40 to 50 days to complete the journey, and lost as much as 150 lbs on route.

The most famous of cattle from the U.S.A., the, so called, "Texas longhorns” (Cattle from Mexico; and of Spanish origin), could hardly have been very tender either. Yet for their times they were nearly perfect beef animals, second only at that time, to the native bison-then later to the mostly English "Shorthorns"  .

Actually, these animals were of Spanish stock bred to withstand the heat and drought of Andalusia. The lean but sturdy longhorns thrived under the similar conditions they found in Texas and proved their adaptability many times over on the range. They were resistant to diseases that killed cattle (other than the bison); they could get along on little water and most important of all, they were capable of being driven, (bison were not) and making the long trek to the rail centres.

At the peak of the great drives, as many as 2,000 at a time might be pointed northward and herded 1,000 or more miles-- a three month journey over a trail that wandered from the Mexican border through Texas and the Indian territory to Kansas. Some even went as far as Illinois and were wintered there, before being driven the rest of the way to New York City. In the 30 years after the Civil War, an estimated 10 million head of cattle walked from Texas to Kansas for shipment, or to more northerly locations for final fattening.

In Canada, being a British colony we had the meatier breeds imported from Scotland and England- the Black Angus(still considered to be the best beef animal ) but because it is smaller, not as popular with the producer); the Short horn or Durham; and the Hereford, today America's most common beef animal.

Yet during their reign, the Longhorns did feed the American states and they helped give them one of their most colourful periods and because of them the American cowboy mentality has ever since associated them with the mostly fictional romance of the Wild West. Had there been no cattle to round up and drive north, there would have been no cowboys, and "American" folklore would have been a poor thing

But historians, in taking a closer look at the two crucial decades 1866 to 1887, when cattle country was not yet fenced in and "American" lawlessness was getting its birth, have pared away some of the "wildness".

Fire-arm experts know, the cowboy's trusted "Colt Peace Maker" revolver, until redesigned in 1871, had an effective range of no more than 25 to 30 yards, his "saddle" rifle about 100 yards and were not much more efficient than the native bows and arrows.

Those scalp-peeling Indians actually were more interested in rustling cattle--which was a lot easier than hunting bison-- or even killing a cowboy.

©Al (Alex Alexander) D.Girvan,1990. All rights reserved

Variations of, The Basic Steak Recipe

Variations are used for fillet or other specific recipes. Top chefs (usually European trained) usually do not wrap bacon around a fillet, but it is done in order to cater to the customer. Some chefs will also flatten and shape a fillet steak. Some will go so far as as to add the diamond shaped grill marks; so commonly seen in North American establishments. For those few who like a non-coloured extremely rare steak, sacrificial layers of flank steak are quite commonly fastened on to the steak during cooking and then removed prior to serving. The following is a recipe for Chateaubriand; both shaped and grill marked

Chateaubriand

Chateaubriand is a six pound tenderloin (size can vary but it must serve two or more people), seasoned with coarse black pepper. Some cooks will also use salt. I do not agree with this practice, because salt draws the juices out of the meat and it can always be added after the steak is cooked. Most North American consumers will add salt in any case, usually without ever having tasted the steak. Very simply cooked Chateaubriand is still a hallmark of first class dining. It is usually, placed on a cast iron sizzler, presented on a plank, accompanied by four or five different, unmixed vegetables of contrasting colour , Chateau potatoes, and both Chateaubriand and Béarnaise sauce.

Note: As the recipe clearly indicates, Chateau potatoes are not olive shaped, are not usually roasted, and they are never deep fried. Please read Planked Steaks-Section 5-Chapter 5

The Recipe

1-20 oz piece of beef tenderloin, cut from the large end (head)

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Freshly cracked black pepper

Béarnaise Sauce:

 Béarnaise sauce is simply a Hollandaise made with a tarragon vinegar reduction; but in any case here is a recipe.

2/3 cup white wine vinegar

1 shallot minced

1-1/2 tsp dried tarragon

4 large egg yolks

2 Tbsps water

½ cup (stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Coarse salt

 In a small sauce pan, bring vinegar, shallot, and tarragon to a boil. Cook until liquid has reduced to 2 Tbsps, about 4 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Rinse out saucepan and return the strained vinegar to the pan.

 Add egg yolks and the 2 Tbsps water. Cook, over low heat, whipping constantly, until mixture thickens and forms thick ribbons, 3 to 4 minutes.

 Whip in the butter, one piece at a time: if sauce gets too hot (starts to bubble), remove from heat and whip in a piece of butter. Continue whipping until all the butter has been absorbed, about, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately transfer to a bowl to stop further cooking. Season with salt. Use immediately or keep warm in a Bain-marie.

Chateaubriand Sauce

6 Tbsp unsalted butter

3 mushroom caps 1"-1 ½" minced

½ bay leaf

1/8 tsp dried thyme

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup beef stock

1-1/2 tsp minced parsley

Salt and cracked black pepper

 Heat 3 Tbsps butter in skillet over med heat. Add Shallots and cook until softened. Stir in mushrooms and cook a few minutes

 Add bay leaf, thyme and wine Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid has evaporated.

 Remove the bay leaf and the thyme sprig.

 Add the stock, tarragon, parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and whip in remaining butter bit by bit.

 Taste and adjust seasonings

 Set aside in a warm bain-marie.

Chateau Potatoes

. There should be no knife marks on the finished potato.

 Cut potatoes into rectangular blocks 1 inch by 2 inches.

 With a paring knife; and removing as little of the potato as possible from the sides, shape the blocks into smooth round barrel (not olive-which is an entirely different potato, used in en entirely different way) keep the ends blunt. There should be no visible knife marks.

 Place in water and par-boil until about ¾ cooked, times will vary according to the type of potato used and the water content. Originally Chateau potatoes were always prepared from a mealy such as the Russet and this step was omitted.

 Using butter and a light skillet so you can keep the potatoes moving, sauté until a uniform golden brown.

 Sprinkle with minced parsley before serving. The potatoes should be well glazed with butter. In the modern, high production kitchens of North America potatoes are most often roasted; but they are not chateau potatoes and the flavour and texture is entirely different. True Chateau potatoes are much more delicate in both flavour and texture.

The Nearly Lost ART of the Truly Great Steak--How to Cook a Really-Really Good Steak

Once upon a time in an age long past, you could go to your local corner butcher or even the local SAFEWAY and buy  an aged PRIME CUT of beef. You knew it would be tender and depending on the cut, more or less flavourful and tender. The reason for this is that ageing allows natural enzymes to breakdown the hard connective tissue in meats and for water (which is nowadays often added) to evaporate away, concentrating the flavour. 

Dry Ageing

The old method of ageing meat is known as dry ageing. Dry ageing is done by hanging meat in a controlled, closely watched, refrigerated environment. The temperature needs to stay between 36 degrees F and freezing. Too warm and the meat will spoil, too cold and it will freeze, stopping the ageing process. You also need a humidity of about 85% to reduce water loss. To control bacteria you need a constant flow of air all around the meat, which means it needs to be hanging in a well ventilated space. The last and most important ingredient in this process is an experienced butcher to keep a close eye on the ageing meat.

There are many reasons that packers don't typically dry age meat these days:

• The average city dwelling consumer now demands "bright red, fresh, juicy, moist appearing," beef;will not buy anything else and is neither aware nor caring that there is anything much better.
• Because of the weight loss of aged beef, the price per pound can be pretty outrageous. the modern producer is not going willing lose any profit, you must pay for the weight loss.
• Add in the labour costs (by this I am referring to the inflated wages demanded by executives, managers, and trade unions, for the much reduced working staff). Logically, costs should be going down but they are not. The price keeps moving up--to the point that seniors and low wage earners can no longer afford to buy meat ot any kind.
• For ageing to properly improve the quality of a meat joint, it should contain substantial marbling. This means that there is fat evenly distributed throughout the meat. Only the highest grades have this kind of marbling and make ageing worthwhile.
• North Americans are becoming very fat concious. Actually fat of any kind has become taboo--and what about the 'BAD"cholesterol?
• Ageing takes about 11 days before you see much improvement in the flavour of the meat. After that flavour continues to intensify, but, so does the weight loss and the risk of spoilage. Eventually the meat will fully digest and be worthless so many fine European restaurants who do their own dry ageing will limit it to 20 to 30 days.
• Because of the high wages and space necessary to age meat; dry ageing--anywhere in North America has become very-very rare. 
• Since only the highest grades of meat really benefit. Because most of our prime quality meat is exported. And because the meat producers can still receive a  high profit through not doing so, why bother with dry ageing? 
• Actually, only a few restaurants will buy aged beef. The truly fine restaurants all age their own.
• The less expensive alternative to dry ageing is called wet ageing and is the ideal method so far as the meat producers are concerned. All meat now  requires some sort of packaging before export or shipping so the meat is shipped from packing plants to butchers or for export in vacuum packaging. Butcher shops, , hotels, restaurants can set this packed meat aside in their own refrigerators and allow them to age and also greatly reduce the loss formally incurred through spoilage. Since the meat is packed in it's own juices the enzymes will still break down the connective tissue and make it more tender. However, because there will be NO fluid loss the concentration of flavour that you get from dry ageing just will not happen. Many expensive joints and especially ANY part of the fillet will be almost tasteless so you are really wasting your money buying them

A Truly Great Steak, the Nearly Lost Art 
A good steaks may be cooked through direct use of a broiler or grill, but; truly great steaks are seldom prepared that way. Even in large professional kitchens-- equipped with several different types of broiler, or over an open camp fire-- pan broiling is by far and away, the preferable method.
Note: This process creates a good deal of smoke. You won't notice it much on the patio, but your fire alarm probably will notice if you choose to do this indoors. If you're doing this in the kitchen; you will want to turn off the alarm for the duration.

Start with a good steak at least 2 inches thick. I much prefer a Porterhouse or other sirloin. 

Once you have your steak you will want to lightly brush it with oil. Choose an oil with a high smoke point (sun flower oil is good) to prevent excessive smoke from forming. It is very important that you get each side of the steak well coated with oil, but not as important that you get the edges. The steak won't stick, but you need the fat to conduct the heat from the pan to the steak as fast as possible.

Season the Steak

You will now want to lightly season the steak. Typically we are talking about only a good, coarsely ground or preferably cracked black pepper. The oil is going to hold the pepper in place (quite often, in large camps, I would do both of these steps in one by putting oil and pepper together on a bake sheet and then simply dipping the steaks). You can put on any seasonings you like but please remember we want to maximize the flavour of a good steak, not the seasonings.

Preheat a Cast Iron Skillet

To make this whole process work, you need a smoking (almost white hot) cast iron pan (other pans probably won't take the required heat). IF YOU ARE AMONG THOSE WHO INSIST ON A STEAK HAVING "GRILL MARKS", A GRILL PAN MAY BE USED; OR AS IS DONE ON OCCASION IN TOP KITCHENS; THEY CAN BE APPLIED WITH A BRANDING IRON. The skillet needs to be clean and without any fat, oil, or cooking spray. All the oil you need is already on the surface of the steak. To test the pan, drop a single drop of water on the pan. If it dances for a second before disappearing your pan is almost hot enough but you are not quite ready to get your steak cooking. Make sure that you have your steak. You require a clean plate, or a cast iron sizzler and a properly prepared steak plank, a heavy duty grill mitt, a pat of butter, a pair of tongs ready. You will also need an oven or broiler that has been preheated to at least 400 F. Make sure you have all your preparation in place for you will not get a chance to step away.

Place Steak in the Hot Skillet

Note: You are going to get a good deal of smoke, popping, and sizzling but you need to wait exactly two minutes without touching the steak. You might think it is burning, but I promise that everything is fine (unless flames are shooting toward the sky. If such is the case, turn off the gas and run).

Place the steak in the centre of the hot skillet. It is important that as much of the steak is in contact with the metal as possible (some cooks will use a bacon press on top of the steak) so never try to cook a steak that is bigger than your pan and make sure that the steak is well seated on the pan. YOU ARE GOING TO COOK THE STEAK TWO MINUTES.

Turn the Steak Over

After exactly two minute, turn the steak over placing it exactly where it was. Like when you first put the steak in the pan, make sure that you have it well seated in the pan. It is important to maintain that surface contact. You will continue cooking the steak for an additional two minutes.

Note: Most importantly, you want to notice and admire just how beautiful that steak is looking now. Observe the deep brown (not blackened and charred on the edges as it would undoubtedly be if you were cooking directly on a grill) colour of the cooked surface now staring up at you. Beautiful, isn't it.

Again, be patient and let the steak continue cooking (burner still on high) for two more minutes. During this time make sure you have your grill mitt on. This mitt needs to be one of the new highly heat proof type, since the metal you are about to pick up is about 500 F and heavy

Always, "Finish" the Steak with Butter

Your steak has been cooking for about four minutes now and if you want it very rare it's time to take it off the heat. If you want it more than very rare—say medium rare—you need to transfer it to a preheated oven (or broiler). You want your oven (or broiler) above 400F.

Note: Very importantly before you close down the lid or door, you want to drop a pat of BUTTER on top of the steak right in the middle. This butter will melt almost instantly and pour down over the steak giving an extra rich, almost nutty flavour. Basically the butter turns to a rich caramel.

If you want to get a precise temperature reading on this steak, you can put an oven safe thermometer or older style meat probe (the kind with the remote unit) so you can read the temperature without opening the door or lid.

Testing for Doneness

This is almost as much an art as a science, but if you are using a thermometer (as you should be) you will be able to hit it very close. Remember all meats continue to cook for a period after they are removed from the heat; you need to remove the steak 5 degrees F below your target temperature. Say you want a medium rare steak (about 130 F) then you need to get that steak out of the oven/broiler and off the skillet when the centre of the meat reaches 125 F degrees. If you want something that is cooked any more than medium rare, why are you reading this recipe?

A Modern Do-It Yourself Clambake-Pit Steamer

• A Modern Do-It-Yourself Clambake-Pit Steamer

Anyone can prepare a clambake with a pit fire and the steam baker described here. The “bake” can be built with lumberyard materials to specifications.

The first step is to nail together four square frames. Then nail a 1-by-six-inch block inside each corner, protruding 1 inch below the bottom of the box, to keep the box from slipping. Next, staple 1/2 –inch galvanized wire mesh in the bottom of each box, high enough so that the wire does not sag. Now fold a 56-inch-square piece of sheet aluminium upward 5 inches along each side, and crimp the corners together tightly so it will hold water. Finally, cut out a 24-inch-square marine plywood lid, attaching a handle to the top and nailing cleats along the undersides to keep the lid from slipping. For cooking, layer the bottom of each box with rockweed. Then fill the boxes with food and pour 2 inches of water in the pan. Build a fire in a pit lined with stones; stack the boxes in the pan over the fire and cover with canvas. Keep the water at a boil so there will be plenty of steam to cook the food. I suggest arranging the food as shown at right, with the clams on top-in contrast with the old-fashioned clambake. When the clams pop open, you can eat them as the first course and give the slower food a few more minutes.