After researching what it takes to make a good steak, I decided that maybe I should start a bit smaller. I had steak that needed to be used and I did not feel like I was comfortable enough to try my hand at making a whole steak… I also realized all of the instructions I have found for cooking steak inside so far have included a baking period. I made this dinner last week when it was very hot so I did not want the extra heat in my house. I figured making a stir fry would allow me to have a more personal experience with the steak as it cooked. I read several articles and blogs about using the texture of steak to determine when it is done. Because I have never cooked steak before I have never been able to test this so I wanted a method that would allow me to poke and play with the steak as it cooked to judge this idea for myself.
I searched for some recipes for beef stir fry and ended up basing mine after this Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry recipe. Most had complicated ingredients and I recently ran out of oyster sauce and fish sauce so many recipes were out before I even got through the ingredients. I wanted something with lots of vegetables too so this recipe was the one I chose.
I searched for some recipes for beef stir fry and ended up basing mine after this Teriyaki Beef Stir Fry recipe. Most had complicated ingredients and I recently ran out of oyster sauce and fish sauce so many recipes were out before I even got through the ingredients. I wanted something with lots of vegetables too so this recipe was the one I chose.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/teriyaki-beef-stir-fry-for-3
I love to cook Asian inspired dishes so I made some of my own modifications to the recipe but I followed the directions about how to prepare and cook the steak exactly.
Here is my steak after marinating for an hour:
Here is my steak after marinating for an hour:
Cooking with steak was a strange experience for me. It is so… bloody. I followed the directions and cooked it in strips for 2-3 minutes each side until the outside was no longer pink. I also found several more recipes (which are posted in my Pinterest) which told me to cook the steak in oil on high heat. I was quite happy with the result:
While this steak was cooked more medium (with just a hint of pink in the middle) I have a much better idea of what I am looking for. Now I know what the difference in feel is between raw steak and almost cooked steak and medium steak. The medium cooking worked well for this recipe but I will have to do more research to find out how to avoid overcooking the meat when I try to make whole steaks.
Here is a picture of the final result after adding other things that don’t really have anything to do with cooking steak ;)
Here is a picture of the final result after adding other things that don’t really have anything to do with cooking steak ;)
I learned several things from this experience:
1. I need to identify specific things to measure for my learning outcomes
2. Cooking steak this way resulted in tasty steak but the texture, while perfect for me, was probably a bit too tough (we had friends over so I asked my husband and friends for their rating)
3. Steak continues to cook after you take it off of the heat
4. Most pieces had a touch of pink in the middle. The ones with more pink (even though it still was not much) were more tender
1. I need to identify specific things to measure for my learning outcomes
2. Cooking steak this way resulted in tasty steak but the texture, while perfect for me, was probably a bit too tough (we had friends over so I asked my husband and friends for their rating)
3. Steak continues to cook after you take it off of the heat
4. Most pieces had a touch of pink in the middle. The ones with more pink (even though it still was not much) were more tender