Choo Choo! All aboard the steak train!
I’ve finally got round to tomahawk steak, a phenomenon that has existed for the last couple of summers, fueled by some pretty hardcore marketing by supermarkets and online butchers.
They look good don’t they?
As I understand it, a tomahawk steak is basically a big rib-eye, with the bone left on, allowing the diner the opportunity to pick the whole thing up in one hand and pile in like a George A Romero creation attacking an unsuspecting consumer in a shopping mall.
Generally speaking, we get our beef from a butcher (usually Philip Warren online or Webbs in Wychbold) as providence and animal welfare matter to us, so as we got this one from Waitrose on a bit of an impulse buy, I was really interested to see what it was like.
It. Is. Massive.
The flesh was a deep red and there was a lovely marbling of fat throughout, plus a good bit around the outside, some of which I trimmed away once out of the vac-pack. I then dried it off with kitchen paper and sprinkled a good pinch of Maldon salt on each side to start the magical process of de-naturing proteins. It really is worth it. I’ve previously covered the reverse sear method for steak cooking and for a slab of beef like this one, it is the perfect way.
Once the salt had worked it’s magic, I gave the beef a good sprinkling of Braai seasoning. The Egg was set to 100C and I used Hickory smoking chips to give a strong smoky flavour. It took about 40 minutes for the steak to come up to 45C whereupon I took it off the heat and wrapped it in foil. The Meater+ probe showed that in 15 minutes of resting, it went up to 50C; this is always something that I find interesting. There must be some kind of thermodynamic effect going on here which I can’t explain; my A level physics course (which I failed) only seemed to cover the effects of heat on solids like copper and iron or liquids, not cow-based organic material.
Meanwhile, I opened the vents on the Egg to get up to searing temperature (250C+). The tomahawk went on for about an additional 2-3 minutes on each side, turned 90 degrees to get the pleasing bar marks and the Maillard reaction (basically the science of artfully burning).
At this point, I tried a thing which I’d seen on Marcus Bawden’s (@countrywoodsmoke) YouTube channel where you stick a good block of flavoured butter onto the cooked beef, then plonk a bit of hot charcoal on the butter to melt and caramelise it. I made a garlic/rosemary/anchovy butter (see below) and it was great. The charcoal certainly added an extra layer of flavour. I’d definitely recommend giving this technique a go.
Despite the temptation to eat it all with our bare hands, I did actually carve it into sturdy slices. Polly made a luscious salad of green leaves, tomatoes and artichoke hearts, plus we had new potatoes on the side which was just perfect. I think Waitrose have done us proud. There is LOTS left over – Polly and I didn’t exactly hold back and there was definitely enough for a family of 4 so I think it represented pretty good value for money.
All in all, the Tomahawk train was definitely worth getting on board.
Steak Butter
- 100g butter
- 25g beef tallow (optional)
- A big sprig of rosemary – chopped very finely
- 3 garlic cloves – crushed with the back of your knife into a fine paste
- 2 anchovy fillets – chopped very finely
This was definitely an experiment, but one that worked and I will repeat in the future. You could make this with just butter, but I have a jar of beef tallow that I made so I experimented to see if it added an extra beefy flavour (it did).
First, measure out your butter and beef fat (if using) and melt it super-slowly over the lowest flame you can get on your hob. Once melted, add all the other ingredients, give everything a good stir, turn the heat off and put a lid on your pot. Leave to infuse for 10-15 minutes. At this point, I used a stick blender to whizz everything together which helped to break down the anchovies even more. Pour the whole lot into a small dish or ramekin and bung in the fridge. Every 20 minutes or so, you’ll need to give the mixture a quick stir otherwise all the garlic/rosemary/anchovies will sink to the bottom. The more it chills, the more solid it gets and the more the bits are evenly distributed.
Live Fire Journal 