Chef Adrian’s Steak And Crispy Hassleback Potatoes

Ingredients

Five steps to cooking the perfect steak at home

1. Take steaks out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to allow to come to room temperature. Heat your griddle or frying pan over a high heat, until smoking hot.
2. Lightly brush the steak with a little olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper just before cooking.
3. Don't griddle more than two steaks at a time, and keep them spaced well apart. If you add more than two steaks to the pan at once, the temperature will drop and the steak will stew, rather than fry.
4. Seal each side of the steak with some fresh thyme and crushed garlic for 30 seconds on a very high heat. Place into the oven at 190oC to your liking. (see timings below)
5. Let the steak rest for about 5 minutes (in tinfoil) before serving, to allow the juices that have been drawn to the surface to relax back into the meat.

How long to cook a steak for:

These timings are based on cooking a striploin steak that's about 3cm thick. (Cooking times will vary depending on the type and thickness of the steak, and how hot your pan is.)

Blue: 1 minute each side

Rare: 1 and a half minutes in the oven (after searing)

Medium rare: 2 and a half minutes in the oven (after searing)

Medium: 4 minutes in the oven (after searing)

Medium-well done: 5-7 minutes in the oven (after searing)

For the crispy hassleback potatoes

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 tbsps of melted butter

A good pinch of seasalt

Cooking Method

Heat the oven to 200 C. Between two chopsticks or two wooden spoons slice all along the potatoes about 2mm between the cuts. The purpose of the chopsticks or wooden spoons is to stop you cutting fully through the potatoes.

Place the sliced potatoes on a baking tray when finished and brush with butter, sprinkle with thyme and seasalt.

Roast for about 40 mins or until crispy and cooked.

Butcher's Tips

Five things to look for when buying a steak

1. When choosing a steak, striploin is a fine choice due to its tasty, melt-in-the-mouth succulence. Good striploin has just the right amount of fat and nice marbling. Rump (sirloin) steak is slightly cheaper than striploin but it's still a great steak for griddling or frying, with more flavour than striploin.
2. Age of the steak is important, as the hanging process develops the flavour and tenderises the meat. So ask your butcher how long the beef has been hung for. As a rule, 21 days as a minimum and 35 days as a maximum is a good range to go for.
3. Good beef should be a deep red colour.
4. Check the beef has good marbling - little streaks of fat running through the meat. This melts when heated, helping the steak to baste itself from within as it cooks.
5. A good layer of creamy-white fat around the top of striploin and sirloin steaks is essential.