Tag: Culotte steak

culotte steak, Pimientos de Padrón 8/4/10

  • fennel-flavored taralli
  • Pimientos de Padrón from Lani’s Farm in the Greenmarket [this time there wasn’t just the occasional hot pepper;  instead, perhaps a third or more were hot, and although Barry and I are not greenhorns we found them painfully, insanely, hot];  accompanied by slices of Rustic Italian bread from Amy’s [and then some quickly-marshalled roasted peanuts and milk – yes, milk! – to fight the Scoville heat units]
  • [a phenomenal] culotte steak, from Dickson’s Farm Stand Meats, seared, then baked briefly in a moderately-hot (375 degrees) oven, finished with oil. lemon, parsley and allowed to sit for a few minutes;  accompanied by some lemon-and-oil-dressed watercress; grilled plum tomatoes from the Greenmarket, finished with balsamic; and a bit more of the Rustic Italian bread
  • wine: [the totally] excellent Ercavio Tempranillo Roble Castilla 2007, from K&D Wine and Spirits
  • Charentais Melon from Norwich Meadows Farm in the Greenmarket

steak, balsamic potatoes, cress 5/23/10

  • thick culotte steak, from Dickson’s Farm Stand Meats, pan-seared, then cooked briefly in a hot oven and finished with shallots, oil, lemon;  accompanied with roasted Yellow Finn potato wedges, from Healthway Farms via the Greenmarket, finished sprinkled with balsamic vinegar;  wilted cress from Woori Farm in the Greenmarket;  and garnished with a small tomato halved and sauteed, also from the Greenmarket
  • cheesees:  Pata de Cabra,, a Spanish washed-rind goat cheese;   Gardunha (rustic Portuguese goat cheese made near the Spanish border);  and Amanteigado, a Portuguese sheep’s milk cheese produced in the coastal plain west of Lisbon (all three from Murray”s Cheese;  accompanied with slices of a Royal Crown Brick Oven Baguette (Brooklyn) purchased at Garden of Eden
  • wine:  Argentine, Malbec, Tikal Amorio 2007 Mendoza, the gift of a friend

culotte steak, tomatoes, nettles 5/10/10

  • mixed olives served with Taralli Pugliesi (Finocchio) from Puglia Sapori, both purchased at Garden of Eden
  • thick culotte steak, from Dickson’s Farm Stand Meats, pan-seared, then cooked briefly in a hot oven and finished with a drizzle of oil and lemon and the addition of  chopped parsley; accompanied by halved tiny ripe cherry tomatoes from Garden of Eden briefly heated in oil and finished with some chopped thyme; and wild nettles from the stall of Paffenroth Gardens in the Union Square Greenmarket wilted inside a large pan in which chopped ramps had been briefly sauteed, then finished with a squeeze of lemon
  • goat cheese, “Le Cendrillon”, served with thinly-sliced ciabatta toasts (Sullivan Street Bakery, via Garden of Eden)
  • wine:  a medium French red, from Roussillon,  Le Vignes de Bila-Haut, Côtes du Roussillon Villages 2008, M. Chapoutier, from K & D wines

dinner, April 25, 2010

For some time I’ve been waiting for the opportunity to sample a very attractively-presented cut of steak I’d first heard of and seen at The Meat Hook in Williamsburg, and spotted several times after that at Dickson’s Farm Stand Meats in Chelsea Market.  On April 25 I decided it was time.  I was in the Dickson’s shop without a shopping list and saw two handsome, arched and skewered steaks pressed near the window of their display cooler.  I pumped the very helpful guy behind the counter for information, including cooking tips, and then picked out the larger of the two pieces (it weighed in at about 12 ounces, including a beautiful layer of fat on one side).

Barry and I weren’t disappointed with the results.  It was one of the finest steaks I’ve ever eaten.

  • culotte steak (a small, boneless steak cut from the sirloin, known as “coulotte” in France, “picanha” in Brazil), from Dickson’s Farm Stand Meats, seasoned and seared (I used my handy and much-treasured small red oval enameled iron pan throughout) for about two minutes on the fat side and for about 45 second on the other, then placed inside a 375 degree oven for about seven or eight minutes (I don’t remember now whether I afterward added oil, lemon and/or herbs, as I sometimes do when a steak has been taken out of the pan);  accompanied by La Ratte potatoes purchased at the Union Square Greenmarket from Berried Treasures Farm (the picture shows they go pretty fast) which have been halved, tossed with oil and salt & pepper, roasted cut-side down on a ceramic oven tray, then mixed with sauteed ramps, also from Berried Treasures
  • wine:  Rhone, Domaine Catherine le Goeuil Cotes du Rhone Villages Cairanne Cuvee Lea Felsch 2007, a gift of a friend