Char Grilled Steak and Fries

With any steak dish,lets face it, you are to a large extent at the mercy of your butcher,sadly in Spain they slaughter meat too young and don't hang meat more than 10 days a crying shame.

In England where meat is amongst the best in the world it is slaughtered later in life and matured for 28 days,and boy Oh boy what a difference it makes,its darker not red,its marbled and the fat looks yellower,full of flavour and cuts like butter.

I always feel sorry for young inexperienced housewives buying the reddest meat with the least fat,you just know it will be like an old boot,and bet your life cooked on the side of caution to death.

Well this wasn't the best meat,but the best I could buy on the day,I took it out the fridge a good hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature,seasoned with coarsely ground pepper and rock salt and a good old glug of olive oil,and let it sit on the board

I get my Griddle pan so hot it you fear it will crack then sear the meat on both sides no more than a minute or two on either side pressing on the meat, bringing out a steamy smoke then place on a roasting tray and put in a pre heated oven to 200' for another 3 minutes ...take it out and let it relax at least 3 minutes.Rub a little cold butter on the top of the steak to give it a lovely shine,or make a herb butter and use that.

I served with Provencal tomato and a simple salad dressed with no more than salt,the juice of half a small lemon and olive oil,and some French fries..

Was it the best..well no,but a good impression of good,sometimes you have to make the very best of the ingredients you have,yes I did that and enjoyed with another bottle of Claret...and thats what you call cooking baby!!!