Why Onglet and Bavette is the new Filet

I love a good medium-rare Filet Mignon. It's tender and when prepared correctly almost melts in your mouth. The only problem with filet, compared to other parts of a cow, is that it is not as flavorful. It doesn't have much fat and comes without a bone, which both usually add quite a bit of flavour to the meat. It's also kind of "lazy" meat and doesn't get used much by a cow, means, it sits nicely protected in a body part where there is not much muscle activity, which as well, would make more flavourful meat.

There are however parts that get used a lot and are quite active. That's where butchers cut steaks such as Bavette or Onglet. Bavette, which is also called Flank-steak is cut from the abdominal muscles of the cow. Onglet, or Hanger-steak, is V-shaped and obtained from the diaphragm of the heifer or the steer. Both are significantly tougher than other meats. Therefore it's best prepared when marinated and quickly seared on both sides for about 3 minutes in a hot cast-iron pan. When served you're better to cut it into thin slices. With thin and tough cuts like this, you should only salt the meat after searing it.

original image found on wikipedia

Especially Onglet used to be what butchers would rather keep for themselves. Everyone likes their meat to be as tender as possible, so there has not been much interest in those kinds of cuts, until now.
But a butcher's preference can't be that bad, right? And really, it's not that tough if you prepare it right. Just make sure it stays medium rare or absolute maximum medium. Then everything should be fine.

In a very hot (cast iron) pan sear the steaks on both sides for 2.5-3 minutes

Onglet is so strong in flavour that it almost tastes organy, like liver or heart. For some people maybe a bit too intense. Bavette is a little milder, so that might be a better to start off with. But really Onglet is pretty damn good. You should try it.

After searing, wrap the steaks in aluminium foil and let it sit for at least 6 minutes.

Here in Germany Onglet and Bavette are so unpopular, or let's better say unknown, that they get sold (if they get sold) surprisingly cheap. We bought both at Galerie Lafayette, that fancy department store on Friedrichstraße. They were well-aged and each costed around 10€ for about 500g. That's nothing over here, where 100g of filet usually ranges between 4 and 8€.

it's perfect when it's medium rare!

PS: we ate ours unmarinated. Just had it reach room temperature, rubbed it in crushed pepper corns and a tiny bit of olive oil and seared it from both sides for 2.5 - 3 minutes in an extremely hot cast iron pan. Than wrapped the steaks in aluminum foil and had them rest for at least 6 minutes.

Roast beef in a hay nest...

 Now that I finally got rid off my stomach flu or whatever that nasty little beast was, 

that got stuck in my intestines, I'm finally ready to make a blogpost again!

Bye bye bland food and herbal tea, and welcome back: 

BEEF!

I decided to make a roast beef and to add a little extra flavour to it by cooking it with hay. 

That's right, hay, as in "hay-from-the-pet-store". 

It adds a really nice aroma and subtle...(almost) sweetness to it, 

and it makes the whole house smell like an Alpine meadow. 

You can use hay with pretty much any kind of meat. 

Lamb or goat, for example, are supposed to be really good with it, as well.

I, however, bought a 1kg piece of lean and dry-aged beef (e.g. haunch)
from my favorite meat provider Filetstück.

You should make sure that the meat has room temperature before putting it in the oven.

If you cover it with a plate or foil you can easily leave it out for 2-3 hours before you start cooking.

I brushed the meat with a bit of olive oil and seasoned it 

with freshly ground szechuan pepper and some salt. 

Not too much salt though. You're better to add more later. 

Fire up the stove and let your pan (preferably cast iron) turn really, really hot. 

I know this seems totally wrong. 

But heat is the only way to sear the meat properly by giving it a nice and solid crust.

I recommend to open as many windows as possible. 

It will get quite smokey!

Sear the meat from both sides for 2-2,5 minutes.

In the meantime take a saucepan and and line with hay, 

some rosemary twigs and cut in half garlic cloves. 

After searing place the meat in the hay bed on top of the rosemary and garlic. 

Cover it with more rosemary twigs, garlic cloves and finally another layer of hay.

Then let it cook in the oven until rare/medium rare/medium...whatever you prefer.

Don't worry the hay won't burn!

It takes about 50 minutes at about 140-150ºC for the meat to be medium rare. 

We only have a gas oven and this is the lowest temperature we can cook it at. 

But feel free to cook it at lower temperature. 

It will take longer but the results will be even better, 

and the chances to f**k it up will be quite minimal.

When done cooking, remove the hay and wrapped in aluminium foil, 

let the meat rest for 10-15 minutes.

Slice the meat in thin slices... 

 

...and serve with a salad,  horseraddish and a smooth red.