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.