Steak with Red Wine Gravy

Here's a meat-feast as promised. I think a good steak meal, no matter how cultured or refined you may think you are, is still one of the most complete and balanced dishes possible. The accompaniment can be almost anything you like, though I find that good old-fashioned potato wedges work very nicely, especially with a big dollop of ketchup on the plate. After years of trying and failing to grill the perfect steak, I used a cast-iron grill pan, the type with lines on it, and was amazed at the results. If you are looking for a reliable way to cook steak and other meats, I highly recommend one of these babies!

PREPARE THE STEAK AND WEDGES

Steak cuts are very much a personal thing, though my favourite for cooking in this way for both flavour and price is sirloin. Avoid fillet steak, it's too lean and won't give you nearly as much of a charred, BBQ taste on the griddle. To prepare the meat, I generally keep it simple. Follow the steps below for a nice, tender steak which is not masked by additional flavours.

1. Use a meat tenderizer to give the steaks a good bashing, but try not to flatten them too much or they will cook too quickly and be dry and tough, rather than soft and juicy.
2. Rub the steak with some olive oil, salt, pepper and a little Tabasco if you want them to have an interesting zing to them.
3. Leave the skins on the potatoes and cut them in half. Slice each of these halves into thick wedges and place on an oven tray. 

COOK THE STEAK

1. Allow you pan to become searingly hot, then add your oiled and salted steak and cook the first side quickly, for about 3 minutes.
2. Turn the heat down a touch and flip the steak, cook it on this side for the remainder of the time. Keep checking the texture of the steak. The harder it is, the better it is cooked.

COOK THE WEDGES

1. Take your boiled potato wedges and pop them into a roasting tin. Pour oil all over them and toss them with salt and pepper. Bake for approximately 45 minutes at 200 Celsius until golden brown and crunchy. 
2. Remove from the tin and drop into a large bowl lined with kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil.

PREPARE THE GRAVY & SERVE

1. Remove the steak and the pan and leave it somewhere to rest. Pour a few glasses of red wine into the pan and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon to remove all the beefy bits from the metal. Reduce the wine and season with salt, pepper and add a touch of water and some gravy granules (a cheat, I know, but when combined with the wine they make a splendidly rich sauce). Stir until fully incorporated.
2. Serve the steak on a large plate with a generous pile of wedges, ketchup and a few lettuce leaves and tomato segments. Pour the gravy over the steak and enjoy.