Well, here we are in the grip of world cup fever, counting down the hours until England's first match tonight.
This football fest is generally recognised as the greatest sporting showpiece on earth! With 35 days of intense competition to win football's most coveted trophy it's hard to ignore.
I have a partner and son who go wild watching Accrington Stanley v Dudley Town let alone the world cup! Infact such is Bert's fervour that he has closed down his business and taken himself off to Brazil on a one way ticket for the duration of the world cup.
My lovely partner Glenn will have to settle for our wide screen TV and me for company, although to be fair, normally nonplussed by the whole football fanaticism within my family, I too am swept along with world cup fever.
As I sit and write this I am filled with anticipation for tonight's game, the beer is chilling, the wine is breathing and the steaks are marinating. I have decided to cook a delicious steak dinner which we will eat prior to the match, I know of old that if England don't do well Glenn's appetite will diminish and tomorrow I might as well be serving gruel. Some years back we went to watch Leeds v Valencia (Glenn has supported Leeds since childhood) we spent several days in the wonderful city of Valencia culminating in the match followed by a pre booked meal in a Michelin star restaurant. Leeds lost and Glenn sat stupefied throughout the meal, not tasting a single morsel, we might just as well have eaten in McDonald's!
I very rarely cook steak, if I'm honest I'm a bit nervous of it, lets face it steak doesn't come cheap so there's no room for error! However, my friend Gill marinades her steak and has assured me this is a sure fire recipe, there is some debate as to who designed this recipe as both Gill and hubby Billy are great cooks, their daughter Sophie is also a gastronome and has a facebook page 'All About The Taste' in which this recipe is included.
Steak a la Clarke
Recipe
1 steak per person, I used dry aged rib eye
2 onions, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon dijon mustard per steak
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
A good glug of olive oil
A splash of malt vinegar
Salt and pepper
Combine marinade ingredients and rub into steak, cover and chill for at least 1 hour
I shall be serving my steaks with grilled tomatoes, chips and mushrooms, which brings me on to talk about mushrooms..........mushrooms contain a lot of moisture so never wash them! Wipe clean with a damp piece of kitchen paper or a mushroom brush. The thing to aim for when cooking mushrooms is to reduce as much moisture as possible as the drier mushroom has heaps more flavour. The notion that you can cook mushrooms in a microwave abhors me, all you will end up with is tasteless, waterlogged, chewy rubber. This method creates flavoursome mushrooms which require little oil or butter (mushrooms absorb liquid like a sponge) the thing to remember is as the moisture evaporates the mushrooms lose half their original volume.
Sautéed mushrooms
Recipe
Sreves 2
225g mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Salt an pepper
A knob of butter
Heat a pan and when it's hot, throw in the mushrooms, sprinkle with plenty of salt and toss the mushrooms around
Turn the heat down to very low, you will see the mushrooms losing their moisture content and you can spoon out the excess liquid
Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
When the mushrooms look shrivelled add a knob of butter and season with black pepper
Remove steak from fridge 40 minutes prior to cooking
For a rare steak cook for 1 1/2 minutes per side
Medium rare 2 minutes per side
Well done 4-5 minutes per side
Heat pan as hot as you dare
Add 1 teaspoon of oil and heat until shimmering, remove excess marinade from steak with a damp piece of kitchen paper
Drop the steak directly down so the whole surface hits the heat at the same moment
Use a spatula to press gently on the surface, turn steak over at half time
Remove and cover with a foil tent, allow to rest for 5-10 minutes
Meanwhile add onion marinade to hot pan and fry over high heat for 5 minutes
Serve steak with marinade, grilled tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms and chunky chips or onion rings.......or both!
'I don't have much patience for people who are self conscious about the act of eating, it irritates me when someone denies themselves the pleasure of a hunk of steak or a pungent French cheese because of some nonsense about what's appropriate or attractive.'
-Anthony Bourdain
COME ON ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love Donna xxxxxxxx
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