Steak Night Part 2 – Feather Blade Beef Two Ways.

Steak night is a great concept. Particularly if one can get one’s hands on top quality meat. We are lucky in that respect. But, steak night would be no fun if we just cooked and ate a steak. We needed a bit of experimentation as we did with part 1. For part 2, we decided to check out the merits of Feather Blade steak both flash fried and sous vide. 

There was very little to be done by way of preparation. For either way of cooking, we needed only some seasoning and some oil or butter. First I sliced both steaks in half. This so I could get them to fit into the frying pan.

Both steaks were seasoned and cut in two.

I added a bit of butter and cooked one of the steaks in the sous vide at 55ºC for an hour. When it came out of the bath, it looked pretty grim. Most stuff from the sous vide looks this way.

Sous Vide on the left, looking grim. Raw on the right, looking great.

I then heated a frying pan to very hot and flash fried both steaks side by side.

Both got the same treatment. Which would be best?

Side note on bias in experimenting: It is in my nature to favour the one on the left. That is because I am a big sous vide fan. However, I had to put my inclinations to one side and conduct the experiment without inclining towards either. The uncooked one looks better….

I turned them within two seconds of each other and when I reckoned they were done, I removed them and let them rest.

Sous vide on the left. Getting more difficult to tell them apart now.

I let them rest for 5 minutes and then carved them into small slices across the grain.

The evidence

On first eating, we agreed that the ‘flash fried only’ was superior to the ‘sous vide’. It had a nicer texture, tasted jucier and had a stronger beef flavour. However, having sat around for a while swilling some wine and picking at the cooling beef, we discovered that as it cooled,  the two contenders switched place. The ‘flash fried only’ became a bit too chewy. The ‘sous vide’ firmed up a bit and became more tender and tasty.

Sous vide on the right this time. Flash fried only on the left.

The verdict

The verdict is that there really is no verdict except “try it yourself”. The simple, flash fried version was delicious. I can only recommend that you fry it fast, slice it thin and eat it just as quickly. Delicious. If you want to take your time, give it a sous vide bath and eat it having let it rest a bit longer. But, do give this cut of steak a go. Don’t overcook it, it tends to get very tough if you do.

Now, what’s our next steak night experiment? Suggestions welcomed.