Cooking

This week I went back to school, Steak School that is to learn all about steaks and how to cook them.  Miller & Carter organised the event to celebrate their recent Eblex award win for England’s Best Sirloin steak.  Miller & Carter are owned by Birmingham based Mitchells & Butlers and it was great to find out more about a local firm.

So who are Eblex?  They are the organisation for the beef and lamb industry and they introduced the awards this year to recognise and reward quality, innovation and excellence in beef and lamp production.  There are 3 different competitions: Best Sirloin Steak, Best Innovative Steak and Best Steak Pie.  Miller & Carter entered its 12oz sirloin steak to win the best ‘Foodservice’ category.

We found all about how Miller & Carter source their steaks and it taught us a lot about steak as we went along.  I was brought up as very much a carnivore and meat was an important part of our family’s life.  I spent a lot of time in butchers’ shops (or so it seemed) and the freezer was always full of meat.  My husband isn’t quite such a dedicated meat-eater and isn’t as keen on beef as I am.  Hence, I don’t very often cook steak, but I often choose it when we go out for a meal. It was good to hear that Miller & Carter source their meat very carefully and it is all reared on British farms. It’s important to me that my meat is produced ethically and I think it tastes better when a bit of care has gone into producing it.  I was impressed with the care taken with the steaks in the kitchen and it certainly makes sense when you think it takes so long to produce the product, it deserves respect in the kitchen too.  Traceability goes all the way to the table too, which is fantastic.

Next up we learnt how to cook our steaks and get the perfect diamond shape.  It was very simple and I’d like to do it at home, but apparently using a griddle pan is not the way as it doesn’t heat evenly.

So some of the key tips I picked up were:

• Choose good quality meat.
• Let your steak breathe for 20-30 minutes before cooking.  Letting it come up to room temperature will help it stay tender.
• A good coating of oil (rapeseed ideally) and a seasoning of rock salt and pepper will get your steak ready for the pan or grill.
• Cook on a high temperature as this will help seal the meat to lock in the flavour.
• Let it rest before serving.

I loved that all the Miller & Carter steaks come served with parsley butter, seasoned fries, a slice of moreish onion loaf and a balsamic glazed beef tomato.  They also come with your choice of lettuce wedge and steak sauce.  It’s good that all these come included – I don’t like being charged extra for things that I feel are part of my main course.

Marley Spoon is a bespoke recipe kit delivery service that launched in the UK in December. Each week, there are seven new dishes to choose from, created by a team of professional chefs. Marley Spoon have also created a special Valentine’s Day kit (starting at £26) so that you can impress your loved ones with a home-cooked meal. The kit even comes complete with rose petals to decorate!

I was surprised by the range of recipes available and it’s  amazing to think that this will change each week.  Many of the recipes are globally inspired and use ingredients that might not be that easy to source if you were buying in your local supermarket.  It’s very easy to order and you get your kit delivered by courier.  They make sure it’s kept nice and cool during the delivery process and my food was still cold to the touch when it was received.

We tried the glazed salmon with wasabi peanut potatoes and bok choi. 

I cooked the Devonshire pork nasi goreng.  What I particularly liked about this dish is that it gave me the chance to try out new ingredients like ketjap manis and mirin without having to source a supplier and buy a big bottle of something that I might not use again.  It really was delicious and we will probably make this again if we can find the things we need to make it.  If there is a downside, it is a bit pricey at £9 per meal, but the packs are carefully put together and good quality ingredients are used.  There is quite a lot of packaging involved too, but a lot of it is recyclable and the insulation used to keep the food cold in transit is compostable. Marley Spoon is well worth considering for a special home cooked meal or just for trying out something new and different.