I am certainly a big fan of a good steak. I am picky though. A food snob some might say. Well, tough, that is me, and I like quality. I also want a steak that isn’t from a cow that is clinically obese (USDA “prime”) and fed a ton of hormones and other dodgy chemicals. Too much to ask? Not if you ask me. I would also like a steak from a happy cow. Ohh, now that is the hippie in me. I don’t want a cow to have to go through being confined so it cannot move (and thus get bigger quicker), just so I can sink my teeth into some red meat.

 Too much to ask? Nope. Not if you get a steak from Skagit Valley Ranch. Happy cows that live in fields. Cows that are fed grass. Crazy theory.. a ruminant cow that eats grass. Cow’s that aren’t fed antibiotics or hormones. Organic.

I never did eat that much red meat. In the past I saw it as just too much saturated fat, and high in cholesterol. Well, that was then, and certainly not grass fed beef. The great thing about grass fed beef is the good balance of Omega 3, and Omega 6 (saturated) fats. In fact, a good cut of grass fed organic has about the same amount of saturated fat as a chicken breast. The downside? The price really. But you honestly get what you pay for. I would rather just have a decent steak once a month, than a pretty crappy one every week. I am sure my doctor would be thankful for that too.

In all honesty I haven’t cooked a ton of steak. Generally I pop them on a BBQ for a bit. Starting high, then turning down to low. Danika’s dad cooks a greatsteak (when we convince him that grass fed is worth the extra cash, and he should throw away his huge steaks from a large members-only store). He is one of those people that becomes obsessed with something, and doesn’t stop until he has perfected something. Always trying out new cooking methods, marinades, rubs and so forth. Not bad for someone that doesn’t really like cooking that much. But you know, give a bloke a hunk of meat, and some fire, and well, it is OK for even the most manly of chaps to cook. So, for this one I let the steak cooking up to Dan (Danika’s dad). I just simply seasoned the steaks, and the BBQ they went. Again, starting high, then turning down to low. Oh - one thing to note about grass fed beef is that it cooks much faster than “regular” steaks, and you certianly don’t want to overcook them.

 Lets start at the beginning shall we. The red wine jus. Blimey, this was good. Really good. Some what of a modification of the red wine jus recipe in Bouchon, the great cookbook from Thomas Keller. The simple premise is that a bunch of vegetables (carrots, onions, shallots, garlic, leeks) are chopped up a simmered with herbs (bay, thyme, parsley) in almost a bottle of red wine. Should be a good bottle of wine too. I used a Alexander and Fitch 2005 Cab Sauv. Picked that puppy up at Trader Joes, and I have to say is quite frankly one of the best reds I have tasted in a while. And the most ridiculous thing? The price. For some crazy reason it is only $5.99. I really hate to say that though, because I want my local TJ’s to never ever run out of the stuff.

So, the vegetables are slowly simmered for about 45 minutes, until the wine has reduced right down. It honestly smells fantastic, herbed wine if you will. Once this has reduced down you pour in some stock (the recipe called for veal stock, but I actually used chicken) - about 3 cups to be exact. Let this cook for another 30 minutes or so. You then just simply have to strain it. It is worth noting that I was cooking over at Danika’s dad’s so I didn’t have a super-fine strainer or cheesecloth. So, the jus in the picture isn’t as crystal clear as I would have liked. I would suggest straining it at least twice to get all the bits out.

So that is the sauce. On to the apples and onions. Dead simple here. Just slice up the onions and apples, and slowly, oh so very slowly saute them in butter. This will most likely take at least 20 minutes to do properly.

Let’s see. What is left? Ah, the toast. The idea of the toast is that it is going to soak up all of the great jus, and juices from the meat and onions/apples. Here it is a thick slice of really good sourdough from Essential Baking Co.

So the steak is cooked, the onions and apples are done, the bread is toasted, and the jus is warm. To plate, pour some of the jus onto a plate. Gently place the bread in the middle of the plate. Top this with the onions and apples. Finally, pop the steak on top. I am not normally that keen on food piles.. but the idea here is that you cut down through everything. Almost an open face sarnie, in red wine jus.

What made this so great? Really the bread in the jus. There was great contrast between the soft onions and apples and the crispy bread too. And obviously, the steaks were fabulous too.

All in all, you aren’t going to see many steak recipes on this site. I enjoy red meat, but fish is really my passion.

Cheers everyone!