Topic: Longhorn Beef

[chriswg]

I'm guessing most people on here are like me in loving a nice piece of meat. I was browsing the internet the other week for the perfect fillet steak and stumbled across a Heston Blumenthal recipe for the ultimate steak. As part of the program his team tasted lots of different types of rare breed beef and they all agreed that top of the pile was the Longhorn. If you go the the Fat Duck for a Sunday lunch, he uses Longhorn for that too.

Most places online are ridiculously expensive and most of the farms with Longhorn cattle are in the middle of nowhere. If you are really lucky you might live close to one, if not your only place to look should be http://www.thelonghornbeefcompany.co.uk.

?50 for 5kg is good value, ?100 for 12kg is even better. It works out only a bit more than the supermarkets and much cheaper then the farm shops. Their fillet steak is even better value at ?27.50 per kg. Sainsburys cheap fillet steak is ?25 p/kg, it's about ?27.50 for their organic and a whopping ?33 p/kg for their taste the difference range - and thats for regular beef. My local farm shop sells their fillet steak for ?40 per kg.

Anyway, enough plugging. My 5kg box plus 6 fillet steaks arrived this morning and they look amazing. The service is great too, they sent out the meat then emailed to say it was on its way and would I mind sending them a cheque or doing an online transfer - talk about trusting!

I'll let you know how it tastes this weekend.

[solarsplace]

Hi

How are you planning to cook the steaks? grill, griddle pan?

I'm sure I am teaching a hen to suck eggs or whatever the phrase is, but don't forget to let the steaks reach room temperature before you cook them, and oil the steaks not the pan and only turn once

Can't wait to see how they turn out!

cheers

[chriswg]

I have a really good method for cooking them. I usually coat them in salt and leave them in a cupboard for about 30 mins, this gets them to room temperature, plus the salt starts to break down the meat meaning it is even more tender than usual. After 30 mins I wash all the salt off, pat them dry and give each a quick twist of black pepper. Then its into a hot dry pan (griddle pan ideally) for a couple of mins each side, then the whole pan goes into the oven for about 5 mins at 180.

That's about as good as I can make them.

[solarsplace]

Delicious

[George]

Anyway, enough plugging.

I don't see it as plugging. This is one of the most interesting posts I've read on here for ages. Many thanks. I've always found farmers-markets to be hyper-expensive and seemingly poor value, too.

[chriswg]

I just remembered I never reported back on this. All I can say is WOW! Who knew beef could taste so good. Even the silverside joint that can sometimes be a bit bland was incredible.

I'm using the mince to make mozorella beef burgers tomorrow - can't wait!

If you like beef - order a box now, you wont be disappointed. I just ordered a 4kg rib joint for Christmas.

[Peripatetic Phil]

After 30 mins I wash all the salt off them.

This part surprises me : are you not concerned that, by washing them, you are washing away blood, and hence washing away flavour ?

** Phil.

[Domi]

Hope you don't mind me asking, but how much for the 4k rib joint, Chris? I usually buy from the local farm shops (quite a few in my area but some are extortionate, tasty but very expensive!).