Displaying items by tag: steaks

Lambrusco from Italy must surely be one of the most unfashionable wines of the past 20 years. Sweet, light and inexpensive, they have suffered a bad reputation. Many mature drinkers may still run as far as possible from the style, but an upsurge in quality is slowly changing people's perspective.Younger generations of winemakers are practicing new techniques and their wines can be enjoyed in many wine bars and top end restaurants throughout the world, and locally in our humble little back street bistro in Bury St Edmunds, Pea Porridge.

Its not entirely easy to obtain the wines that are fronting the “real” Lambrusco revival (although Waitrose have a simple one!) The best sources are in independent merchants and restaurants like Pea Porridge.We have a lovely light pinkish Lambrusco which we offer by the glass as an aperitif, but when it comes to eating meat we have an outstanding red Lambrusco from a producer called Quarticello.

Roberto Maestri works organically and biodynamically on 5 hectares of vines set on clay gravel soil. He only uses wild yeasts and his bubbles are made the traditional way in Emilia Romagna with the second fermentation completed in bottle.The wine is bone dry and full of earth with plenty of wild fruit. It practically screams for meat in any guise, especially those straight from the grill. In this case a big hunka T Bone of Longhorn beef!

Longhorn cattle are a brown and white breed originally from the north of England. This old fashioned breed was developed 200 years ago and was the breed that made England famous for its fine roast beef. It has been largely forgotten, but the quality remains outstanding, It is now certified rare breed . We buy it hung for 5 weeks so the fine grain, well marbled meat reaches its maturity and full potential. Wonderful paired with Lambrusco.

We have recently started cooking almost all of our meat over charcoal, for a natural and pure flavour with smoky hints. We use a Big Green Egg which is a ceramic unit in which you can grill, smoke, bake at exact temperatures by easily adjusting the airflow controls, maintaining precision and accuracy as well as outstanding flavour. 

So come check us out, try for yourself the combination of great charcoaled meat with a glass (or two) of pure, frothy,earthy Lambrusco.

• The Big Green Egg
• Hunka Hunka Longhorn
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In this video Peter Bayless from Braxted Park Cookery School in Witham, Essex explains how to cook the perfect steak. Peter won BBC Masterchef in 2006.

Steak is a staple of the Great British diet but all too often it doesn't get the attention it deserves. Peter shows how easy it is to cook up an exciting meal, and reveals how to make sure your steak is cooked exactly how you like it every time. Follow Peter's step-by-step guide to cooking the perfect steak accompanied with a tangy chimichurri dressing.

You will need the following:

 1 sirloin steak (or steak of your choice)

Olive oil & seasoning

Cast iron griddle pan with ridges

Kitchen foil

Tongs

They offered us another meal, we went back, it was much nicer.

The only table for four at this popular and crowded restaurant was at 5pm or 9pm so we went for the latter. I say crowded because it wasn't just busy - it was packed. We had to wait for our table so had a drink at the bar, which by 9pm you need to get in minutes, then nice starters (onion rings and Moons Green beer sticks, a delicious and great value biltong) Another wait for mains to arrive so that eventually we asked where it was, and then huge disappointment... (I think we were really a bit over-excited, Mark) Meat with little flavour, over-cooked chicken, a rare steak that was ordered as medium, so went back to be done again. A rare rib of beef (for two to three people) that we were told 'takes a long time to cook' and 'is best served medium to melt the fat marbling the meat', which I thought was gristle, but why not tell us that when we order? And the ensuing feedback to the concerned front of house staff that we feel will contribute, is embarassing and pointless for a restaurant of this calibre. Yes we like the cow in formaldehyde artwork but the meat could have come from the case hanging above us. The only good thing was the bill, at £35 a head it was a lot less than we expected. But then we're from Suffolk - where some of the steaks are proper good.