The Garden Fence - proper Old Style support and chat!

CRANKY40

Softstuff the nice lady in Costco let me try a square of their aberdeen angus rump steak today and it was delicious. She was cooking it in a frying pan that had a little olive oil with some ground black pepper and ground salt added. It was delicious. As I've decided to do without carbs as much as possible for now I think I will repeat her technique at home.

My sister and I were always told that steak was a treat when we were children. It was many years later that we discovered that mum was actually a hopeless cook and steak was not meant to have the texture of a welly boot and each mouthful should not need chewing at least fifty times before it could be swallowed.

[Deleted User]

SOFTSTUFF on hose rare occasions when I find YS steak I cook it by the 10 minute rule. Put your griddle on the hob and get it as hot as it takes to not be able to hold your hand over it at a height of 6" because it's just too hot. The 10 minute rule as invented by Tamasin Day Lewis is that however you like your steak 10 minutes is all it takes for cooking and resting even for well done SO once your griddle is hot enough whack on your extractor fan full blast and close any doors you can to keep the cooking effects in the kitchen, if it's summer open the windows and whack on your steak thus:-

1) for rare steak cook for 2 minutes each side, turn of the heat and leave the steak on the griddle but off the hottest part for 6 minutes, then serve

2) for medium steak cook for 2 and a half minutes on each side and rest for 5 minutes then serve

3) for well done steak cook for 3 to 3 and a half minutes each side and rest for 4 or 3 minutes then serve

I've used the method for years and unless you get a 'wafty' steak that's tough because it hasn't been hung for long enough the results are consistent. There are degrees of medium so you could try the 2 and a half minutes and if that's too much do 2 and a quarter if it's not enough do 2 and three quarters and adjust the resting time accordingly, really works, good luck!

Nargleblast

Leftover steak from Saturday night's barbie was dealt with in two ways - some sliced thinly against the grain, drizzled with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper as a carpaccio sort of thing, served with salad. The remainder was cubed and made into a beef stew with dumplings.

OH got a letter today for an appointment with an oncologist at the end of the month. We assume from this he will be needing a course of chemo, but will know more when we see the surgeon and the Macmillan nurse on Friday. No big deal, it will be a means to an end, and talks with people who have been through it indicate it is not such a horrific experience nowadays.

ivyleaf

Wishing him well, Nargleblast x

Softstuff

Thanks Maryb, and that's what I did, it certainly works and the steak was delicious.... but the smoke took two hours to clear :rotfl:

Cranky, steak is still a bit of a treat here, but there's a lovely new meat range at one of the Australian supermarkets. It's beautiful, grass fed and I swear even a bad cook couldn't ruin it. I'd not been a fan of steak at home before (I cooked it to welly stage too ), but this is fabulous. It's a wee bit dearer, but frankly it's still way cheaper than a meal out and that's how I treat it.

MrsLW, your instructions are great thank you, and highlight 3 of my problems to me: my current kitchen extractor fan seems not to work, my house is very much 1 level open plan and if I open my windows in an evening , we're in fear of bug invasion :rotfl: I think my outdoors idea on a little portable hob might have to be the go at present (at least until we redo the kitchen and put in some decent extraction).

Nargleblast, wishing your OH the best with the oncologist appointment, fingers crossed it's for a discussion of results.

FairyPrincessk

Morning all,

Nargle, I hope you have a bit more certainty about what is coming soon and that your husband is able to take it in his stride.

I use a similar process to Mrs LW for cooking steak. I think it is the only thing I actually time in the kitchen. We don't eat it often. I hated it as a child as mum and dad always liked it very well done.

I tried a new yoga class last night which was really lovely. I'll definitely be going back. I think tea tonight is burrito bowls--spinach, pinto beans, rice, salsa, avocado and very carefully weighed cheese.

Well, I have plenty of marking to get on with and then writing. It looks lovely and sunny today so I may swap the gym for a walk this afternoon.

Hugs to all who need them.x

ivyleaf

Lyn, thank you for those instructions re steak - so easy to remember! We don't have it very often, but now I reckon i might get some and hav ea go at the weekend

Hobsons Choice The box tree sounds lovely, what a bargain! A neighbour has one on each side of her front door, and they look so nice. I must say I'm surprised that so far they haven't been nicked overnight!

nursemaggie Even if you stay where you are for some while, it's lovely to hear of you having space tp put things away :j

Lovely sunny day here so far. I need to go to the library - I borrowed a book by Levison Wood and was looking forward to reading it, but somehow I can't seem to get on with it at the moment, so it can go back for someone else to enjoy and perhaps I'll try it again another time.

DS is very excited atm. Out of the blue he's been approached to offer him a job involving lots of travel. Just what he needs atm The boss rang him last night in hopes he was free to come for a chat today, but sadly not! I did point out that a lot of the "interesting places" he's been told he'll see will actually be airports and hotel rooms, but he doesn't mind. We're so pleased for him, as he was feeling in a bit of a rut.

monnagran

I hope that things work out well for your DH Nargle. The waiting around between appointments must seem endless, those weeks are wasted from your lives because I bet you can't really put your minds to anything else.

Another bright sunny day. This is getting boring. The plan for today is a walk up to the village and then a bit of household cleansing.

After such an action-packed morning I will calm myself down with a bit of ironing.
I dont know how to contain my excitement.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

The 5x5 rule. If it's not going to matter in 5 years time, don't waste more than 5 minutes being upset by it.

monnagran

Ivyleaf. Good news for your DS. He may even get an opportunity to see something of the interesting places on the journey between air port and hotel room.

maryb

Nargleblast wishing you both well for Friday and beyond. DH continues to mend slowly. He's happier now he has got rid of his dressings (and it makes showering so much easier) but feels quite low as if he'll never feel well again. However I can see a steady improvement especially when you think the operation was only two weeks ago today. And he is beginning to do more often without thinking about it so we will get there