Steak Supper

Times are tough. It's coming to the end of the month and I am running out of money.

What better way to cheer myself up than to indulge in a succulent steak drizzled with chimicurri sauce and a side of roasted and caramelised potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions?

I know... Student life.

First, take your steak out the fridge and leave it for an hour or two to come to room temperature before you frazzle it.

Pre-heat your oven to 190c / 375f / gas 5.

Take this time to prep your veg. Peel your potatoes and sweet potatoes, dice 'em up and throw them in a pot of boiling water for about 5 mins or until you can pierce them with a knife pretty easily.

Saving the worst till last. The dreaded onion.

Sling some oil in an oven-proof dish with some sea salt and some herbs. I used sage, rosemary and oregano. Put it in the oven. If your oil's hot when you add your veg, instead of soaking up the oil, they will crisp up.

Check your pots with a knife, when they're ready, drain them and shake them about in the pan so they become floury on the outside. Alternatively, you can lightly crush them with a masher...

Throw them into the hot oil, along with the onions and put them into your pre-heated oven for about an hour. Every twenty minutes give them a good stir to coat them in the oil & herbs.

Next is the chimichurri sauce. It's an Argentinian dressing similar to pesto but it's really tangy and zesty.

Put a large bunch of parsely in a food processor, along with a handful of coriander. Next add two garlic cloves, a shallot, a couple of sprinklings of chilli flakes (depending on how spicy you want to go), 1 tsp of dried oregano and blitz.

Next add 2 tsp red wine vinegar and finally, 2 and a half tbsp of oil. Delish!

Finally the steak. Put a frying pan over the hob and heat it up as hot as you dare. Pat the steaks dry with some kitchen roll and then hold the fatty edge of the steaks down in the pan until they are brown and have coated the pan in their meaty oil.

Lay the steaks flat in the frying pan and sprinkle on some salt & pepper. After about a minute, turn them over and season the other side. The high heat and meat fat will allow a caramel crust to form on the steak. Nom.

Then I add a wee bit of butter and baste my steaks while they cook for a further 2 minutes on each side (but you should play it by ear...)

This test works a treat.

Now rest it. Don't forgo the resting. About 5-10 mins will do.

All that's left to do is the eating...

SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

Steak

• 2 sirloin steaks
• butter
• salt & pepper

Roast Veg

• 1 baking potato
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 red onion
• shit-ton of oil
• Maldon sea salt (Invest. Once you have maldon-ed you will never look back)
• Any dried herbs that take your fancy: oregano, sage, rosemary, parsley, thyme etc.

Chimichurri Sauce

• parsley
• coriander
• 1 shallot
• 3 cloves of garlic
• chilli flakes
• dried oregano
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar 
• 3 tbsp of oil