Nothing beats a slow-cooked, salt-crusted rib eye steak to wet the appetite !
Using a kilo of salt with 4 egg whites in it, mix the salt so its soft and clumpy. Place a handful big enough to cover the steak on a baking tray and place the steak on top. Add seasoning as you like, I added Oregano and mixed herbs, some pepper and a slice of pancetta. Now fully enclose the whole steak in the remainder of the salt.
To start, set the oven temperature at 100deg C and put the salt crusted steak into the oven. To cook the steak properly, you will need a meat thermometer as it takes quite a while for the heat to penetrate the salt and the thick steak. For me, medium rare is 60deg C, and as the core temperature approaches 60degC reduce the oven temperature to maintain the 60degC. Once the core temperature hits hits 60deg C, you can stay at that temperature for hours and the steak wont overcook.
After an hour at 60-degC, bring the steak out and break open the crust. Brush off as much salt as you want and slice off the bone.
To finish, briefly sear the steak on a red hot BBQ to caramelise the surface but leave the inside still medium rare.
Serve with an awesome mushroom sauce.
Awesome Mushroom Sauce
1TB Olive Oil
1 Small Brown Onion Finely Diced
1 Clove Garlic Minced
5 Sprigs Thyme Finely Chopped
4 Field Mushrooms Roughly Chopped
6 Button Mushrooms – Quartered
50ml Red Wine
150ml Beef Stock
150ml Cream
Salt and Pepper
Instructions
1. In a small saucepan cook the onion and garlic in the olive oil until slightly golden.
2. Add the thyme and mushrooms and cook well over a medium heat to achieve a nice colour.
3. Add the red wine and reduce by half.
4. Add the beef stock and reduce by half again.
5. Add the cream and reduce over a low heat until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
If you want to send the flavour of your sauce through the roof – consider soaking and adding some Porcini mushrooms or a tiny amount of truffles.
Enjoy.
