Ladies in Beef! British Beef Week, St George’s Day & Pub Style Peppered Stilton Steaks With Charred Onions and Chips

Pub Style Peppered Stilton Steaks With Charred Onions and Chips

Ladies in Beef!

Ladies in Beef for British Beef Week

British Beef Week and St George’s Day

St George and the Dragon

Pub Style Peppered Stilton Steaks With Charred Onions and Chips

Celebrate Great British Beef Week 23rd to 30th April

Monday the 23rd April is the start of British Beef Week, as well as St George’s Day of course; I consider myself to be British, and therefore you will see me highlighting all the British patron saints on my blog throughout the year – St Andrew for Scotland, St David for Wales and St Patrick for Ireland too. St George’s Day is England’s national day, and many people in England that are fighting St George’s Day to be made a national holiday, although I suspect that will be harder to achieve than the slaying of the mythical dragon!

Home reared British beef is wonderful, and this week is a great chance to support our local butchers and producers, as well as all of our Ladies in Beef, which is a country-wide network of champions.  All the ladies are British beef farmers and proud of it! Taking place around St George’s Day each year from April 23 − 30, the second Great British Beef Week is perfectly timed to create positive PR and promotion about Red Tractor Assured British beef. A number of multiple retailers have pledged their support for Ladies in Beef and Great British Beef Week. Independent butchers throughout the country are also helping to drive sales during the week too.

 Here’s some more information taken from the Great British Beef website:

Beef is exceptionally versatile, nutritious and delicious. Available in a variety of cuts, from premium to lesser known and value cuts, the mealtime options are endless! Packed with protein, beef is loaded with a variety of vitamins and minerals, which are essential to a balanced diet.  A good source of Iron, Zinc, and Vitamins B12 and Vitamin D, beef helps to satisfy your appetite and fills you up for longer.

Beef facts at a glance:

Red meats, including beef and lamb, can play an important part in a healthy balanced diet as they have a high nutrient density. This means that they contain a wide variety of nutrients in a relatively small amount of food.

Protein

Meat is a major source of protein, which fills you up for longer. Protein-rich foods also help to control weight.

Iron

Iron is a vital mineral for red blood cell formation. A deficiency of iron in the diet is the most common dietary cause of anaemia. Currently a quarter of females aged 19 to 64 in the UK have iron intakes below the minimum recommended to stay healthy.

• The type of iron found in red meat (haem iron) is more easily absorbed and used by the body than the iron in plant foods such as pulses, nuts, seeds and leafy green vegetables (non-haem iron).

Zinc

Red meat is a good source of readily absorbable Zinc, which is important for the healthy functioning of the immune system, growth, wound healing and fertility. We get about 30% of our dietary intake of Zinc from red meat and meat products.

Vitamins

Red meat is a significant source of B vitamins, including B12, which is not found naturally in foods of plant origin and is important for healthy red blood cells, growth and the production of energy.

• It has also recently been found to make an important contribution to vitamin D intakes. Vitamin D works with calcium and phosphorous to build strong bones and teeth.

Fat

Red meat is far lower in fat now than it was 20 years ago. On average fully trimmed raw lean beef contains just 5% fat and fully trimmed raw lean lamb 8%. These reductions have been achieved by breeding techniques on the farm and new butchery techniques, which trim off most of the fat.

• About half of the fat found in red meat is in the unsaturated form, which is believed to be healthier. Surveys show that meat is a major contributor of mono-unsaturated fat in the diet. Red meat contains small amounts of omega-3 fats, which help to keep the heart healthy.

Salt

Fresh red meat is naturally low in salt.

Pub Style Peppered Stilton Steaks With Charred Onions and Chips

Now I must be honest, I am not a big red meat eater; I like it now and then, so all the more reason that when I do buy beef, it will be British and usually locally reared too. However, I do love a nice grilled steak now and then, and one of my favourite combinations is Stilton cheese with walnuts and charred onions, a real pub style steak and chips meal, and a real treat for St George’s Day. You don’t have to serve this steak with chips, a lovely fresh salad also makes a wonderful accompanied, but, there is something really decadent about mopping up the saucy meat juices with chunky crisp chips, and why not now and then!

Pub Style Peppered Stilton Steaks With Charred Onions and Chips

Thick steaks are encrusted with cracked black peppercorns, pan-fried to collect all the juices, served with a Stilton cheese & toasted walnut topping, with charred fried onions on the side…………phew……..AND chips. This is a dish I have eaten countless times in numerous local Pubs in the North of England – it has to be my favourite way to eat steak. You don’t need anything else, apart from a mixed side salad maybe AND a pint of “real” ale to wash it down with. I have recreated this dish at home – and once you have peeled and sliced you onions and sorted out your Stilton cheese and chips, it’s a doddle. Pub Style Peppered Stilton Steaks With Charred Onions and Chips, has only one mandatory requirement, good (British) beef of course; I have suggested Rump Steak, Sirloin Steak or an Entrecôte for this recipe, but do use a locally reared cut of your choice. I like my steaks cooked medium-rare, but cook the steaks according to personal taste.

Pub Style Peppered Stilton Steaks With Charred Onions and Chips

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Serves	2
Prep time	1 hour
Cook time	7 minutes
Total time	1 hour, 7 minutes
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish
Misc	Serve Hot
Occasion	Casual Party, Formal Party
Region	British
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

Thick rump or Sirloin steaks, encrusted with cracked black peppercorns, pan-fried to collect all the juices, served with a Stilton cheese & toasted walnut topping, with charred fried onions on the side............phew........AND chips!

Ingredients

• 4 ounces (115g) Stilton cheese
• 1 ounce (25g) softened butter
• 3 ounces (75g) shelled walnuts, roasted and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon cracked black peppercorns
• 2 ounces (50g) butter
• 2 (8 ounce/225g) Rump steaks (or Sirloin steaks, Entrecote steaks)
• 1 large onions, peeled and sliced into rings
• Chips, to serve ((French Fries))

Note

Try to choose locally produced beef for your steak, and preferably organic, and of course it must be British!

Directions

Step 1	Crumble the Stilton cheese into a mixing bowl and add the softened butter and the toasted walnut pieces, mash together well. Cover & set to one side - in a cool place.
Step 2	Press the cracked peppercorns into both sides of the steaks, ensuring they adhere well. Cover and leave to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Step 3	Take 1 ounce (25g) of butter from the 2 ounces of butter, and heat it up over a very high heat in a sturdy frying pan/skillet. Add the onion rings and stir well - allow them to char at the edges before turning down the heat and cooking over a slow heat for about 10 minutes more. Set to one side.
Step 4	5 minutes before you want to start cooking your steaks, start to fry your chips - unless you are oven baking them, in which case you need them to be in the oven at least 45 minutes before you want to serve the steaks.
Step 5	Heat up the remaining butter in a large sturdy frying pan/skillet and as soon as the butter starts to smoke but NOT burn, add you steaks.
Step 6	Tip: Here is a rough cooking chart for you: For steaks about 1" thick, Rare is 3 minutes each side; Medium is 5 minutes each side and Well Done is 7 minutes each side - depending in the thickness of your steaks.
Step 7	As soon as you have cooked your first side, turn the steak over and crumble half of the Stilton and walnut mixture over the top of each steak, continue to cook until the steaks are cooked to your liking.
Step 8	At the same time that you crumbled the Stilton mixture over the top, add the pre-fried onions and scatter them around in the frying pan to finish cooking them. Serve the Stilton and Pepper Steaks immediately with the charred onions and Chips/French Fries

That’s all for today, Happy St George’s Day and if you eat beef, do try to support British Beef Week – I may buy a roast joint for a special mid-week meal, big enough for lots of leftovers and for more meals, as well as a beef sandwich or two. Have a wonderful start to the week, and see you later. Karen

Great British Beef

What is your favourite Beef recipe?

What will you be cooking this week?

Do you have any local beef producers that you support?