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“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Steaks Catalina

I told you earlier that I would let you all know how my steak sauce turned out. Wanna see?

 I invented this sauce many years ago when I didn't have the exact ingredients for the sauce I wanted to make. I actually forget what the original recipe was for... but this one turned out so good, I was asked to make it again and again.

Every time I made it, it was slightly different, but three things remained constant...

1) It needed a beefy element, whether it be a bouillon cube, a can of Beef Consomme or Beefy Mushroom soup, or a gravy mix, perhaps;
2) It had to have a peppery/herby element, whether it be thyme and black pepper, mixed herbs and paprika, or what have you; and
3) It had to have a bottle of Kraft Catalina dressing in it.
Possibly the greatest salad dressing ever.
Now, it doesn't have  to be Catalina. It can be Honey Catalina or Honey French at a pinch. But it does have to be a tangy tomato-based dressing. Catalina is hard to come by here in the UK. Dressings are completely different. French dressing in the USA is a bright red affair, whereas here it is more of an oil-and-vinegar deal.
Usually my sauce has a glass or two of red wine, a small bottle of the dressing, a couple tablespoons of pepper and herbs, a can of beefy soup of a couple of cubes (or equivalent) of beefy stock or gravy mix, and some canned tomatoes. Put all that together in a pan and let it combine, simmer and reduce for a good while - at least 45 minutes on a low heat. Today I didn't have any red wine, so I put in a splash of Pimm's just for grins.
I had three nice pieces of rump steak. Rump steak is otherwise known as Round Steak, and is cut from the rump of the animal. Duh.
I had thawed these from frozen and helped them along with a little balsamic vinegar marinade. Then I ladled some of the reduced sauce onto them and placed them in a skillet on a medium heat.

As I cooked the steaks I slowly added more of the sauce every time I turned them, so that they stayed moist and started to braise a little.

I also had some cabbage with bacon and pine nuts which I had purchased already frozen from my place of employment, Cook.

Along with those I added some Dauphinoise Potatoes.

Here's what it looked like on the dish.

Yum!

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