ORIELLE BERRY
Even though I am not a great carnivore, nothing pleases more than an occasional steak. The criteria are that it must be a good quality and cooked on the braai and, that it must be rosy pink on the inside with a pleasing criss-cross of char lines on the outside.
Oh, and soft and tender as a baby’s bottom.
What with the current credit crunch, we made a compromise last weekend and bought some beautiful rib-eye steaks. For dinner on the weekend we each ate about half of the 300g steak and reserved the rest for Monday night syndrome of “I don’t want /am too tired to cook” sarmies.
Steak sarmie
Ingredients
2 x 300g steaks (rib eye or rump or sirloin – try to get vacuum packed aged steaks)
Olive oil
Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
For sarmie:
2 ciabatta rolls
Good quality ready-made mayonnaise
Dijon or English mustard
1 large or 2 small white onions, sliced and marinated briefly in vinegar to remove the sharp taste
Baby tomatoes
Gherkins
Capers, drained
Method:
Marinade your steaks in a mixture of olive oil and a good few splashes of Worcestershire sauce for about one to two hours.
Get your braai ready and when the coals are nice and glowing, put on the steaks, adding a few grinds of salt and pepper on to the steaks. Don’t bow to the temptation to check them out prematurely when they are on the fire – allow them to sear and then cook for about four to five minutes on each side.
Depending on your preference, the rarer you like them the softer they should be to a gentle pressing in the middle.
For a medium steak they should be firm but still indent when you touch them.
Remove the steaks when they are done to your liking and allow them to rest for about three to four minutes.
To make the sarmies, cut each roll in half. Make a mixture of two thirds mayo and one third mustard and spread liberally on each roll.
Cut the steaks on the diagonal; about ½ cm thick and place at an angle on the roll.
Top with sliced pickled gherkins, then tomatoes, halved, and thinly sliced marinaded onions; and optional is to scatter over a few capers.
Cover with the top of the roll and take a big bite.
Wash down with a good merlot or a beer.
