How to cook a tender steak

How to cook steak? The secret to a good steak is more to do with the resting of the meat than cooking. Resting, will keep the juices inside the meat allowing it to relax and the steak will be more tender as a result. 

For this 170g piece of fillet steak, we cooked each side for about 2 minutes then placed in the oven for 4 minutes (medium rare). Then we let the meat rest for 5 minutes, covered with foil, briefly returning it to the frying pan and flash frying before serving. The juices were added to the sauce for more flavour.

Here's the recipe for the sauce. You can swap the peppercorns for sliced mushrooms if you prefer. If you do this, add them to the pan along with the shallots.

Peppercorn sauce

Ingredients



2 finely diced shallots


1 clove garlic (chopped)


2 teaspoons 

Worcestershire sauce


2 tablespoons of Brandy 


90ml of beef stock (or half a stock cube)


fresh double cream


1 teaspoon peppercorns 


1 teaspoon Dijon mustard


salt/pepper 
*


Lightly fry the shallots until soft and stir in the garlic.
 

Add the Worcestershire sauce, Brandy, stock and mustard.


Simmer for around 20 minutes - to reduce it to about a third.


Sieve out the onions and garlic.


Season with salt and pepper - taste the sauce first as the Worcestershire sauce/stock can be salty.

Add peppercorns.

Turn off the heat.

Stir in the cream - we used around 3 tablespoons. 

*

Be who you want to be.

Do you know how many calories you can eat each day?

Our very first blog post about our weight loss journey - back in 2011.

You'll find our successful weight loss story here. Tweak what you eat and lose weight.

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2014), all rights reserved.
Please do not copy any of this material without our express permission.

PEPPERCORN SAUCE

Steak with PEPPERCORN SAUCE is a lovely combination. The sauce is very quick and easy to make too.
You can't beat good steak and chips… so if you're having this tonight why not give this creamy sauce a try?

Peppercorn Sauce

Ingredients

2 finely diced shallots

1 clove garlic (chopped)

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons of Brandy (optional)

90ml of beef stock (or half a stock cube)

fresh cream

1 teaspoon peppercorns

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

salt/pepper (if necessary)

***

Lightly fry the shallots until soft and stir in the garlic.

Add the Worcestershire sauce, Brandy, stock and mustard.

Simmer for around 20 minutes - to reduce it to about a third.

Sieve out the onions and garlic.

Season to taste, but the Worcestershire sauce/stock may already be enough.

Add peppercorns and cream - we used around 3 tablespoons. Serve.

***

Do you know how many calories you are allowed each day? Once we found out, our weight loss really began to take shape.

Here's a link to our very first blog post about our weight loss journey, which began in January 2011. We started this blog as a way of recording what we ate while losing weight. The blog is a food diary, and contains lots of recipes, tips and ideas about losing weight.

You'll find our WEIGHT LOSS PLAN here. 

Copyright © forget dieting forever (2014), all rights reserved. Please do not copy any of this material without my express permission.

STEAK & CHASSEUR SAUCE

Chasseur sauce is easy to rustle up, and it's made without cream so all the flavour of the mushrooms comes through. We've come up with a version using less butter than the classic recipe. See our tip about how to prevent the sauce splitting.
Instead of chips you could pan fry potatoes in a small amount of oil/butter, as we did here. Chasseur sauce will go well with chicken too. Use the same recipe to cook chicken legs in the sauce.
We're off out for a walk. It's rained virtually non-stop here so while the sun is shining we'll be heading for Blaise Castle.
Sauces really bring a dish alive, so why not have a go at making this one. The whole dish is around 650 calories and very filling. Here's how we made the chasseur sauce.

LEMON SOLE for WEIGHT LOSS

Worrying about weight gain after the festive season? Why not follow our unique weight loss system. Lose weight and never go hungry - this is weight loss that works.
We've shown you can lose weight easily eating a lot more than some well known diets would impose on you. In fact our weight loss system was so easy, we ended up losing 7 stone between us. Not bad when you consider the very high diet failure rate. Until I used this system I found it difficult to lose weight and keep it off.
Here's what we ate yesterday. We used normal cooking techniques too with butter and oil.
LEMON SOLE has such a delicate flavour you would think this powerful caper sauce would do it an injustice. In fact, the opposite was true.
When I tasted the caper sauce on its own, it was so acidic I thought I had better get the ketchup ready on standby. But… together they were divine. Like chalk and cheese - yet an unexpected perfect match.
Despite the butter, the dish came in under 450 calories. There was quite a bit of the sauce left in the pan - so it could stretch to serving four with less reduction. It was so much tastier than anticipated.
I had a jar of capers in the fridge - they've been haunting me for months, so I thought I'd better use them. (One of those purchases you make when you feel creative while shopping).
Our weight loss philosophy is to eat what you enjoy - nothing is banned. Live life to the full and savour your food. Forget about all that substitute low-fat food - just eat the real thing, and you will probably find you naturally eat less of it. As in this dish - we used full fat ingredients, yet there was plenty of sauce left in the frying pan. It's about not being afraid, and taking a leap of faith.
After enjoying such a wonderful treat, I can thoroughly recommend this dish. We were very surprised at just how balanced the fish was, and better still, you can prepare it within 30 minutes - the potatoes taking the longest! So why not experiment, try something new and enjoy this fabulous recipe:

Pork & cider with creamy mustard sauce

What a delicious dish (and very EASY recipe) this was… PORK & CIDER with creamy MUSTARD sauce.
Slow cooked, moist and meltingly tender. In fact this was SO easy to make, we quickly came to the conclusion that we will be making it again! It has to be one of the most tasty pork dishes we've eaten.
Despite using cream, the dish came to somewhere in the region of 650 calories.
We used loin of pork for the dish so there was very little fat on the surface. Skimming the casserole with a spoon took care of what little fat there was.
If you are looking for a bit of inspiration, this just might fit the bill. Serve the pork with rice if you like. Here's our fab recipe:

BEEF BOLOGNESE

I made this BEEF LASAGNE (new recipe) after cooking a batch of bolognese sauce with the intention of making a spaghetti bolognese.
Unfortunately, I used cheaper pre-packed minced beef, but found the grainy texture of the meat disappointing, and I didn't want to use it in a spaghetti bolognese.
Without wishing to waste all my hard work, I reasoned the bolognese would benefit from further slow cooking. And... I wasn't disappointed either; the resulting lasagne, slow cooked in the oven yesterday, proved to be a hit and was devoured in minutes. What a great rescue plan.
Making meals from scratch takes effort and time - both can be in short supply! Then if things go wrong, it can be very frustrating. So, as I've just learned, it makes sense to start with good ingredients. They may cost a bit more, but the end result will be worth it.
I'm experimenting with garlic too - and found this smoked garlic (front of pic) in Morrisons supermarket at just 59p. I wish I could 'attach' the wonderful smoky aroma to this post!
We love pasta, and have eaten it right from the start of our fabulous weight loss. It's filling, tasty and this lasagne for example is under 500 calories! What more can you ask? Oh, and egg pasta is more filling because it contains egg (protein).
If you are going to turn this beef bolognese into a LASAGNE here's a link to how we achieved the perfectly smooth white sauce - it never fails!!
Here's the NEW bolognese recipe I was trying out - experimenting with smoked garlic and other vegetables. The sauce was positively bursting with so much flavour.

Duck with cherry sauce

Dieting can often be a bland experience especially if you have developed a great palate for food and drink (like us).
If you've only ever thought weight loss was possible through dieting, then why not take a look at how we lost all our weight.
This CRISPY DUCK WITH CHERRY SAUCE was served with fondant potato, savoy cabbage and bacon. Take a look at how we cooked our fondant potato too!
Some dishes, like this one, look more complicated than they actually are so why not try this recipe.
Don't be put off by those TV chefs (we know who you are) who often use an endless list of costly and fancy ingredients. We like to suggest alternative ingredients and tips, as with this recipe. This delicious cherry sauce was used in our

BBQ side dishes & ideas

Here are FOUR of our favourite BBQ sauces. It'll give you some idea of what we're eating this weekend too.
It's usually the little bits on the side that make a great barbeque.
1)  This easy GUACAMOLE was so refreshing and made good use of my over ripe avocado.
GUACAMOLE Ingredients: Blend one avocado, juice of half a lime, half a small red chilli and a little red onion. Season with salt and pepper and add a little olive oil to loosen the mixture. Love that hint of spice!
2)  Or what about this cooling RAITA?

Tomato and onion salad

There is nothing quite like tomatoes when they are IN SEASON. Not only are they much cheaper, but they are generally sweeter and more juicy.
I cannot understand why we've never eaten this simple TOMATO AND ONION SALAD before! It was absolutely delicious. We usually have these two main ingredients lurking in the kitchen, but never realised just how well they worked together.
I love red onion, even when it's quite strong, and I was worried that soaking them would take something away. Fear not - the end result speaks for itself.
In my 'yo-yo dieting' days, I used to avoid oils and opt for low-calorie dressings which often contained more sugar. Now I always use good oils in my dressings - not only do they fill me up for much longer, but they taste so good. If you don't have time to make this dressing, then buy ready made. My dressing uses 3 teaspoons of oil between two - that's 60 calories per person, so it's hardly going to break the Calorie Bank.
You could eat this on its own as a first course with some crusty bread to mop up all those wonderful juices. We ate ours with a tandoori chicken breast. It was so delicious we're having it again this week. Here's how we made ours with that all important, colourful dressing.

TERIYAKI SALMON

In a hurry and just want to eat great fast food without the cost of a ready meal or takeaway? Why not try this quick and easy TERIYAKI SALMON with a refreshing bean sprout and noodle salad. Everything works well together and the salmon had a lovely sticky sweet flavour.
This HOT weather has changed what we fancy eating, and we are enjoying the oriental flavours at the moment.
Earlier this week, we ate TERIYAKI BEEF with egg fried rice. We enjoyed it so much, we couldn't resist trying the same marinade with salmon.
Lunch is ready in no time, once you've prepared a few vegetables.
The salad on its own is so refreshing and spicy - at around 150 calories per portion.  It would make a great lunch box side salad. Make more of the dressing and keep it in the fridge for a few days and add to your salads. We used the dressing for our prawn noodle salad last week.
This is fast food with big flavours, and so much cheaper than buying ready meal equivalents. You can always buy a ready made teriyaki sauce if you don't have all the ingredients. Here's our delicious recipe:

Egg fried rice with teriyaki beef

Wouldn't it be nice to open the fridge and have all the ingredients waiting to be transformed into this tasty TERIYAKI BEEF dish, without having to resort to a takeaway.
Our home grown peas are bursting out of their pods, and every time we walk past them we end up picking one or two. So, before they disappear entirely, I thought I'd add them to this delicate EGG FRIED RICE recipe. You can always use frozen peas of course.
TIP: The trick with egg fried rice is to use cold rice, which will stop the rice sticking together.
If you just want to try this without splashing out too much on the more expensive ingredients, I've suggested some cheaper alternatives.
Despite a little bit of preparation beforehand, the rest of the dish will take just minutes to rustle up, and you won't believe just how tasty it is. We served ours with pak choi on the side.
The dish is around 400 calories and 100g of beef was enough to satisfy the largest of appetites - in our opinion! So why not have a go at this dish and forget that takeaway. Here's our easy recipe:

Mozzarella with tomato and pepper sauce

Surveying the fridge for inspiration... one left over red pepper and some tomatoes that were going over. Perfect for a quick lunch. Preparation time about 25 minutes, but it was well worth it. You could prepare the sauce the night before.
We were able to warm our sauce through, but it would work well cold. The sauce worked nicely with mozzarella on toasted ciabatta. We sliced the mozzarella first and added it to the warm sauce to marinate for a few minutes.
You may like to cube some feta cheese and add it to the sauce, warm through then pile onto toast. The lunch in this photograph was quite low in calories too (see below).

Lambs' kidneys on brioche

We've been waiting to cook LAMBS' KIDNEYS in port sauce ever since eating something similar in a restaurant.
The dish is very easy to make, and despite its budget status, the lambs kidneys were extremely more-ish. We served ours on sweet toasted brioche with a few pieces of grilled sweet bacon and a sticky port sauce.
Did you know kidneys contain approximately one calorie per gram, making this tasty starter very low in calories. Here's our easy recipe:

RAITA SAUCE

A cool, fresh RAITA sauce is delicious with barbecued meat (as well as curry). Why not try our quick and easy recipe? Despite its creamy texture, this raita is low in calories too.
This weekend we ate mostly outdoors. It's been a long time since we've enjoyed a whole weekend of sunshine.
The raita was perfect for our home made beef burgers. If you want a meaty burger why not make your own. Our RECIPE is very quick and easy.
Or why not take try our SMOKY BBQ SAUCE recipe. These sauces only take a few minutes to put together, and we're sure you'll enjoy them just as much as we do.
Here's our recipe for RAITA:

SMOKY BBQ PORK SPARE RIBS

These PORK SPARE RIBS disappeared in no time over the Bank Holiday weekend. 

To ensure your spare ribs are tender, simmer them for 30-40 minutes before marinating them in this rich BBQ sauce.

Why not try our recipe below. We're sure you will really enjoy the freshness of the sauce which will liven up whatever meat you are eating! They work equally as well cooked in the oven.

Haddock with spicy sauce

Haddock with spicy sauce has to be fast food at it's freshest.
I found this HADDOCK on offer at our local supermarket. At half price this was incredibly  cheap and as it looked so fresh, I just couldn't resist buying it.
Over the weekend, when we ate this spicy monkfish, we enjoyed the sauce so much that we said we MUST make it again. Now we had the perfect opportunity.
So here's our haddock in the spicy sauce.
After a leisurely stroll to the pub - what else do you do when the weather is so glorious - we returned to this simply cooked meal.
We opened a can of cannellini beans and ate these instead of potatoes. A few chunks of crusty bread completed the meal. We made the spicy sauce before going out, so upon return the meal was ready within 15 minutes.
Fish is around 1 calorie per gram - so our 150g portion of haddock was extremely low in calories. The only part of the dish that was quite high in calories was the bread, which was necessary for mopping up all those wonderful tomato juices... Here's our recipe:

ROASTED QUAIL

We found the quail in the supermarket and decided to give it a go despite having never eaten it before. After searching the internet for cooking instructions, we came to a conclusion - 20-25 minutes would do the trick. The result was much tastier than we anticipated, which surprised us. Here's our recipe:

CHICKEN SCRATCHINGS

Chicken scratchings, poached chicken breast and ballotine of chicken.  A refreshing change to our usual Sunday roast. We estimate this meal at around 500 calories, and found it surprisingly filling too.
Wondering how a restaurant could produce such a tasty piece of chicken as this, we set about trying to recreate it.
Here's what we did - and reproduced the succulent chicken and super crunchy scratchings.

HOW TO COOK PERFECT ROAST CHICKEN - SUCCULENT AND CRISPY

There's nothing quite like a Sunday roast dinner... Everyone congregates in the kitchen - so we have to hide the chicken. But it's so satisfying.
TIP FOR A SUCCULENT SUNDAY ROAST CHICKEN.  We cook our chicken in a large metal oval roaster - with a lid. If you don't have this, then use a metal roasting tin and cover tightly with foil.
Chop stock vegetables and place these in the roasting tin, add enough water to just cover the vegetables. Then place the chicken on top. Next, place the roasting tin with lid on, onto the hob and bring it to the boil. This helps give the chicken a burst of heat to start the cooking process.
Now place into the oven at the normal cooking temperature for HALF the cooking time. (Calculate the cooking time according to the instructions on the pack). Remove the lid. Pour out most of the liquid at this stage and save for making the gravy later. Return the roasting pan to the oven (with the vegetables), sprinkle with salt/pepper or chicken seasoning and continue roasting for the remainder of the cooking time.
HOW TO MAKE PERFECT GRAVY. Remove the chicken to rest on a plate. Return the liquid you removed at half time. Boil on the hob, stir to loosen any bits that have stuck to the pan. Sieve all the juices back into a saucepan (or fat separating jug) and remove the fat from the top. You will see the fat floating, and this can be scooped off. Taste and season if necessary, then thicken with cornflour if you wish. If you need to add a bit of colour you can always add a splash of gravy browning. Delicious.
We've never failed to produce a wonderful moist roast chicken by cooking it this way.
Enjoy.
If you miss eating something, it might just play on your mind until... you find yourself craving it. So why not eat the food you really love - just like we do. We lost 7 stone in weight eating the food we love.
With our simple method, you might just wonder why you never thought of it yourself. But, thinking outside the 'diet' box has had an amazing impact on our lives.
Take a look at our METHOD of weight loss and find out how we have lost weight eating the food we love.
Copyright © forgetdietingforever 2013, all rights reserved.

STEAK night

We haven't lost weight by following a restrictive diet. We follow our own unique method, which supports the idea of 'calories in - calories out', but we've added our own twist.
Saturday night was beef steak with chasseur sauce. Simple. Delicious. Classic. Calories - well we didn't really count, but we know they are roughly within our calorie allowance for the weekend (see our method). As we have a FULL calorie allowance today, this meal is allowed. As you can see, not a diet meal in sight.
The potatoes were devine - cooked in oil and a smidge of garlic in the frying pan. We have the recipe for the absolutely delicious chasseur sauce here on the blog. The steak is as we like it - resting the meat is probably the most important lesson to learn (as the juices return to the meat and do not run over the plate). Carrots and broad beans... that's it. In a restaurant you would pay a price for something as delicious. We washed it down with a very good glass of red wine... house wine here is very good value for money too.
See how eating this way has been successful for our weight loss on our  ABOUT US page. Calories DO COUNT and seeing is believing!!
If you would like to know more about how we have achieved our fabulous weight loss eating all this wonderful food - see OUR UNIQUE METHOD.

Copyright © forgetdietingforever 2013, all rights reserved.