Who cooked this meat?

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When did well-done steak become de rigueur? You can’t really mess that up, just cook until nearly burnt.

I eat a lot of chicken, for as long as I can remember, it was always the main protein choice at the dinner table. Every week we’d interchange with fish or chicken and on occasion beef, which was always cooked until well-done. Neither Olive nor Ruby liked to see any pink in their steak so I assumed that’s how steak was meant to be eaten. Image my surprise when I learn that a well-done steak is de rigueur, and medium rare or medium is the norm.

Last Monday we cooked steak and much to my chagrin, chef assigned me to cook six baseball steaks for the class. A la chef Ramsey, he asked for 2 black and blue, 2 medium well, and 2 medium rare. The last time I cooked a steak was 3 months ago, and it was overcooked.

Grill Girl

To make matters worse, I had to demo the process to 6 students, and although I could ask one to “help” it was my responsibility to deliver the steaks as requested. I reached into the deep, dark recesses of my brain and pulled out every armchair chef technique I’d seen on Hell’s Kitchen and MasterChef, and started to cook the steaks.

I spoke with great authority (or pretended to) while I grilled, and a colleague checked the meat near the end to verify the “doneness”. When they were ready I took them off the grill, they rested; I panicked.

To make matters worse, I had to demo the process to 6 students, and although I could ask one to “help” it was my responsibility to deliver the steaks as requested

 

At service Chef picked up the first steak, sliced and asked – “Who cooked this steak?”

I slowly raised my hand, only to hear “They’re cooked perfectly! I couldn't have done this black and blue any better than if I'd done it myself”

 

Black and Blue

Thank you Lord; finally all those hours of TV watching paid off!

Copyright © 2012, Olive & Ruby. All rights reserved.

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