Sunday, January 11, 2009

Porterhouse Steaks

I gotta admit, steaks are probably my waterloo in cooking. Though we have plenty
From porterhouse steaks
stored in our freezer, I seldom cook them, or like I am almost always prepared to get disappointing results. The thing that makes it worse is that, to my husband, steaks+potatoes+boiled veggies is the equivalent to us Filipinos eating fried fish, sinangag, and ensaladang kamatis with camote tops. My husband just misses this type of meal if I get into the "more fancier" (as he sees it when I prepare something else) cooking. It seems no matter how I cook steaks, they always end up tough and chewy, except for the tenderloins. Until I started to try Adolph's tenderizer, the main meat tenderizing ingredient of which is papain...yeah, that enzyme you get from papaya (I remember having papain as a subject of our Science Project in High School).

Ingredients are so simple:

olive oil
porterhouse steaks
freshly milled (or ground) pepper to taste
Adolph's tenderizer
[ADD salt only after cooking!]

Equipment:

Iron cast pan
Iron cast griddle

Instructions:


After thawing steaks, wipe surface with paper towels and sprinkle pepper.

Heat the pan on high. Start the broiler on high, with the griddle on rack placed on the upper most level. The ridges of the griddle should be facing up.

Once pan is hot, spray (or wipe) with olive oil.

Sprinkle the tenderizer on the surface to be cooked and place on pan. Cook for 2 mins.

Sprinkle the raw surface with tenderizer and flip and cook for another 2 mins.

Place on the griddle and broil for additional 4-6 mins.

Serve with A1 steak sauce (hubby's fave; an acquired taste for me and my boys), potatoes and steamed veggies. Dont' forget the butter, salt and pepper!

My hubby ends up enjoying his "typical" meal.

3 comments:

Jescel said...

i understand about your dilemma. steaks are tricky. they turn TOUGH and DRY when overcooked. I suggest you try doing the RIB EYE. they're the easiest cut to cook (my fave). But here are things to remember:
1) your meat must not be cold. take it out of the fridge for about 10-15 min at least before cooking
2) marinate overnight or at least, for an hour if possible. the meat would be tastier this way.
3) Time and temperature vary greatly depending on thickness of cut and choice of heat source.
4)I've found that the best way to determine when your steak is cooked to your liking is to simply look at it and touch it. Gently press your finger into the middle of the steak. If it doesn't bounce back at all, it isn't cooked yet. When it just begins to lightly bounce back, it's medium-rare. The more bouncy and firm it becomes, the more well-done it is.
5) Allow your meat to rest for at least 5-10 mins before cutting/slicing. The juices will redistribute while it rests and will not run out when you cut them - result, a moist meat!

Hope this helps. And remember, practice makes perfect so don't give up! :o) oh, and thanks for dropping by my foodbuzz site.

Ashley said...

I just get the cheapest cuts of steak and sear both sides really fast on the stove with my cast iron pan and then put the pan in the oven (not using the broiler) at 250 to 300 degrees for say 10 or 15 minutes or until medium rare. Usually works everytime. ^_^

Manang said...

Ashley,
thanks for the tip! Maybe I should try that as well!

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