meat Archives - Naked Plate

In Finland this dish is called Sailors Steak; it’s said to be old favorite in sailorman galley. Browned meat, non alcoholic malt drink or beer, potatoes and onion is cooked in casserole in oven, or on top of the stove. I make it always in oven, that’s the beauty of it, Sailors beef steak cooks without attention. Preparation takes 15 minutes and cooking by itself 2 hours. This is fool proof recipe with the unique flavor.

SAILORS BEEFSTEAK RECIPE: (serves 4)

INGREDIENTS:

600 g organic beef tenderloin (or any meat cuts for your liking)

8 potatoes (abt. 1 kg)

4 small onions sliced (two sautéed and two raw)

25 g butter or cooking oil

Salt and pepper

1 sprig of thyme

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups of beer or malt drink

For serving: pickled cucumber or beetroot and sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley

METHOD:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 °C
Cut the meat into slices across the grain. If you use other cuts than tenderloin, pound the meat cuts with a mallet to tenderize.
Brown the meat in a hot skillet quickly on both sides using only half the butter or oil. Remove to a plate.
Lower the heat and sauté 2 of sliced onions in skillet slowly in the rest of the butter until they are soft and golden.
Peel and slice the potatoes as thinly as possible.
In a 1liter (1 quart) casserole dish, layer the potatoes with the browned meat and onions, sprinkling each meat layer with dash of the salt and pepper. I start with a layer of potatoes, meat and sautéed and raw onions. Repeat and make the last layer one of potatoes.
Rinse the skillet with the beer. Pour into the casserole. Add the bay leaves.
Cover with lid. Bake for 2 hours in 180 °C oven or until the meat is tender and potatoes are soft.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley. Sailors Steak is traditionally served with pickled beetroots or cucumbers.

I have used OBE Organic beef tenderloin which I bought as a part of Ramadan collaboration with the good folks at @OBEOrganicHalal, an organic beef company from the Outback of Australia that’s available right here in the UAE. This Sailors Beefsteak – Finnish recipe (in Finnish ‘Merimiespihvi’) is one of my favorite because of the effortless cooking, practically it takes 15 minutes to prepare, plus cooking time in oven without no stress and standing by stove. I did not want to share this as part of Ramadan recipes because it has beer, nevertheless it’s non-alcoholic malt drink available here in UAE in every supermarket, but it can be easily associated to it’s boozy version.

DID YOU KNOW: OBE Organic’s beef is certified organic, 100% grass-fed and halal? Find @obeorganichalal beef in the meat section at select Carrefour stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. And while you’re at it, “like” their page here on Facebook: www.facebook.com/obeorganichalal.

Whaaat! A carnivore and cannot pullout decent juicy steak for a meal! Yes that’s me. It’s only my second try to cook perfect steak, I have been cooking meat in any other forms but not steaks, for reason. It just have been too scary to waste nice meat by my amateur hand, so I have left steaks to be an occasional treat done by real chef de rôtisseurs.

This time I took the challenge when I was offered to try OBE Organic meat. Lucky me I got to take home from Carrefour (local Dubai distributor of OBE Organic meats) nice big piece of organic fillet mignon.

I undersign OBE Organic’s words about their meat, it’s amazingly good flavor organic beef and is something that has to be tasted to be believed. I have shifted my cooking as much as possible to organic produce and near grown foods. Knowing there’s a clean, certified 100% organic and natural, free of chemicals and growth promotants and Halal certified meat option in Dubai ticks all boxes in every ones requirement list, doesn’t it?

Making the perfect steak is two fold challenge. First you must have good quality of correctly cut meat and secondly you must know how to cook it. First one is easy part, just locate the best butcher in your neighborhood and you are all done. The real challenge is to win yourself to give it a try. Follow simple steps and you cannot fail. The sear-roasting technique seems the most easiest to follow, kind of fool-proof way to prepare steaks.

Sear-Roasting Steaks:

1. Take the meat to room temperature at least 1 hour before you cook it.

2. Rub the steaks with oil and mill couple of rounds salt and pepper on both sides and set steaks aside.

3. Preheat oven to very hot (ax. 250°C).

4. Use cast iron skillet it is the best in terms of heat and taste it gives to meat (any ovenproof pan works as well) and place it on stove, let it heat until drops of water sizzle on it. Brush with cooking oil.

5. Set steaks on hot pan and cook 1 to 2 minutes without moving. Turn with tongs and cook another 1 to 2 minutes.

6. Remove skillet from hot stove and put it with the steaks into the preheated hot oven. Cook an additional 3 to 5 minutes, depending on thickness of steaks and desired doneness. (see on video on 4.20 sec how to make simple finger test, seriously and I don’t mean to burn your fingers… )

If you have thermometer it will be quite useful now. Stick the thermometer into the meat from side to test right doneness for you:

Extra-rare or Blue	very red and cold	46–49 °C	115–120 °F
Rare	cold red center; soft	52–55 °C	125–130 °F
Medium rare	warm red center; firmer	55–60 °C	130–140 °F
Medium	pink and firm	60–65 °C	140–150 °F
Medium well	small amount of pink in the center	65–69 °C	150–155 °F
Well done	gray-brown throughout; firm	71–100 °C	160–212 °F

7. When the steaks are done to your liking, remove from the hot pan, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest another 5 minutes before serving.

To be perfect serve on heated warm plates. I served mine with boiled new potatoes sauteed with fresh rosemary, some air fried sweet potatoes and parsley butter.

Here’s the best easygoing video clip I found to get the idea of sear-roasting method. I guarantee it’s really easy when done in oven.

Where to buy OBE products

Note from editor, I got 100 AED Carrefour voucher to spend to OBE Organics meat to try and cook. I chose 370 g beef fillet which cost 190 AED per kilo. I bought also ribeye steak of 200 g and it was darn good as well. I will definitely return for fillet again, now that I mastered the fillet mignon!!! It’s so bliss to know that meat does not contain any residue of medicines or chemicals, just clean, healthy and nutritious safe meat.

Sailors Beefsteak – Finnish recipe (Merimiespihvi)

Budding steak master – Organic Fillet Mignon

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