The perfect steak

So I'm sharing this because I'm fed up of eating crappy steaks in restaurants and knowing how easy they are to cook!


I'll take a picture of a well cooked steak next time I make one to add to here (trust me it won't be long!) 


Steak and spinach is my default reward meal when on low carb/calorie diets - that big meaty steak with a huge pile of spinach feels like a real indulgence but actually isn't bad at all for you.

Get a good rump or sirloin steak - about 250g-300g - you really don't need bigger. Should be about 3/4 inch - 1 inch thick in my mind. I like both and rump is a lot cheaper. I regularly buy steak from the butcher counter at Morrisons, meat shelves at Tesco, as a joint from Costco - they're all good if you cook them right. I did find that its definitely economical to buy a large sirloin joint from Costco and slice it up yourself (compared with the beautiful but horrifically pricey steaks I bought from Waitrose recently which were about twice the price)


Take out of fridge at least 15 mins before cooking. Put some kitchen roll down, the steak on top and more kitchen roll on top of that then set aside for a while to get to room temperature and to allow the kitchen roll to soak up some surface moisture. Pat down to dry completely. If you don't dry your steak thoroughly, you will trap water under it in the pan and end up steaming it. (Same principle when frying onions - need to remember not to stir them for a while as you release water and will steam your onions rather than fry them)


Heat pan to a medium heat with a little oil. Make sure its up to temperature before starting (give it just a couple of minutes). 


Whilst you're doing that, season the steak - decent pinch on each of salt and pepper.


Add steak to pan, seasoned side down, and check clock. Cook on each side for 2 mins for rare, 3 mins for medium (roughly but trial and error will find you the time you like). Season other side in same way whilst its cooking.
Turn after your chosen time and if you have a big piece of fat on the edge, you may wish to hold the steak on its side to cook for a little while.


Your steak should have plenty of colour on the outside (ie dark brown almost burnt bits around the edges) but be very pink in the middle. If it goes too dark too quickly (or is too bloody) turn the pan down and keep the cooking times the same. If it doesn't brown quickly enough or is not pink enough in the middle, turn it up. Try and keep the cooking time about the same, just vary the heat of the pan.
Serve with a nice mustard, loads of raw spinach, maybe a big mushroom you can fry in same pan as the steak.


The numbers
nearly no carbohydrates in this (less than 10g for sure depending on how much mustard you have) - around 350-550 calories depending on how big your steak is.