Fussy about meat!

There is much excitement abound at the moment. This time next week I will be on the way to the province of Bari in Apulia staying in the town of Pezze Di Grecco at Masseria Montenapoleone. The reason for this trip is a 8 day cooking course on an organic fortified or walled farm. I hope to post some blogs of my attempts at the end of each day if time allows!

My wife of 25+ years is not a fussy eater, but we both share a view (that we have recently proven on numerous occasions), that buying meat from a decent local supplier is both cheaper, and better.  Having tried a range of protein from beef, lamb to chicken and bacon we are really lucky to have found such an excellent supplier in Casey Fields Farm Shop. A trip this weekend after the boss said she fancied something of a treat and the following was the result!


Côte de bœuf

Côte de bœuf for us is THE best cut of meat from the humble cow. A slice of RIB, bone in weighing about 650 Grams is a serious piece of beef, and cooking it right was going to be a challenge. Looking through various books and the trusty (sometimes) Internet there were various methods and timings. We like our beef rare to medium, cooked on the outside, but pink in the middle, so this is what I did.

Switch on your oven and set to 200 Deg C (Ours is a fan oven so would be 220 on gas/electric).

With some butchers string, tie a loop around the longest part of the joint, then, bring the string back round and put a couple of loops over and under. You can see the starting point on the picture above, when the rib is on the top right, with the two loops towards the bottom left.

Heat your frying pain, and add about 125 Grams of unsalted butter, and a good glug of oil (to prevent the butter burning). I fried the Côte de bœuf for two minutes at a high heat (8 on a NEFF Induction Hob). You can see the result below.

Turn the Côte de bœuf over and fry for another 2 minutes. The meat was about 1 1/2 inches thick, and once the frying stage was completed, I added 4-5 sprigs of fresh thyme and the meat then went into the oven for 15 minutes. If you have a double oven, put in a plate and warm to 90 deg, this is used for resting the meat.

After 15 minutes has passed, take out the joint, and put on the warm plate, and into the cooler oven to rest for 10 Minutes. 

 

Job Done, Côte de bœuf, with a salad garnish.  The result was WoW, not a cheap cut of meat but you don't need anything to go with it, except maybe some Bearnaise sauce. The meat still pink in the middle, and was really tender due to the resting. When you are told "its the best steak I have ever had", it made me smile inside ;-)

Please go and try to find that local butcher or abattoir and get a real taste of food and at the same time, support the small producers who need that extra bit of help to survive, but bring you the best and usually cheaper produce without the middle man taking an un-necessary cut.