In the Kitchen - Biodynamic Meat Western Australia

 

For maximum tenderness defrost frozen meat slowly in your fridge.

Heat up the fry pan, BBQ or grill well before adding meat. Steak should always sizzle.

Piercing, cutting or prodding steak for testing will result in loss of juiciness.

Only turn steak once.

A heavy based pan is better for frying steak.

Roasts tend to dry out quickly if baked uncovered in oven, especially Silverside Roasts.

Chuck Steak:

Ideal for stews, curries and satays. Chuck needs to be simmered  gently for about an hour or so after initial browning.

Gravy Beef or Osso Bucco:

Best used for slow cooking casseroles. Trim excess fat, if any, coat in plain flour, add your favourite spices, sauces and flavourings.  Add sufficient water, cover and simmer in medium oven for around 3 hours. Check once or twice and add more water, wine or beer if  necessary. Can also be used for stewing.

Mince:

Hamburgers, rissoles, spaghetti bolognaise, meat loaf, savoury mince, curried mince, the list is endless.............

Silverside or Topside Roast:

The silverside can be sliced thinly, crumbed and used for schnitzel. As with the Blade Steak the Silverside steak may react well to a bit of tenderising. Consider it as an integral part of a gastronomic stimulus package.

 

For an ideal silverside or topside roast the meat should be oven browned at the highest temperature for 20min on each side, then left to cook covered for another 20 - 40 min at medium temperature for every 1kg, depending on your oven and on whether you prefer roasts rare, medium or well done. Sprinkling a little red wine after browning and about half way through will further reduce dryness and also add some lovely flavours, and to top it all up, your kitchen will smell like a French restaurant, especially if you marinated the roast with fresh herbs and garlic. Leaving the roast standing to rest for about 10 min. in foil before serving will further seal in the juices and add to the tenderness.

Blade Steak:

Great sandwich steak, good for frying or grilling. Blade steak is quite lean and as one of the cheaper cuts will benefit from a bit of tenderising. A couple of well placed smacks with your fist or a small mallet will do the trick. No need to get a jackhammer.

Oyster blade:

Can be fried, grilled or BBQ. It contains a fair amount of cartilage which is a wonderful natural flavouring, tenderising and hydrating agent but some folks may find it a bit off-putting. By far our favourite use is as a casserole; the juicy, tender, succulent meat will just drop off.

Topside Steak:

Ideal for BBQ, frying or grilling. A medium, lean cut. Tends to be a bit dry at times. May also be used as stir fry and responds well to marinating.

Round Steak:

Stir fry, also grilling, frying, BBQ. Round steak is slightly juicier than Topside but maybe not quite as tender although the difference would be minor. Also ideal for stewing and curries.