Grilled Steak with a Sauce of Cognac, Raisins & Black Pepper

Serves 6

This recipe is an interpretation of a Roger Verge recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

4 tablespoons brown raisins

6 tablespoons Cognac or brandy, to taste

2 cups beef stock

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 beef filets or rib-eye steaks, each weighing about 6-8 ounces

INSTRUCTIONS:

Soak the raisins in the Cognac for an hour.

Put all but 2 teaspoons of the soaked raisins in the container of a food processor and finely chop.

Heat the beef stock and ground raisins and the remaining Cognac in a medium saucepan and reduce to 1 cup. Add the salt and pepper and whole raisins.

Season steaks with kosher salt and black pepper, then grill, broil or saute the filets about 3 to 3 1/2 minutes on each side for rare. Spoon the warm sauce over the cooked filets. Serve with potato gratin and choice of vegetable.

*whuffles matteo, accidentally drools on him a little bit*

Raisins with steak? Really?

Also - why is it every recipe site I read these days mentions kosher salt? What is kosher salt and why is it kosher?

Raisins with steak? Really?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't raisins (or the juice thereof) an ingredient in A1 sauce?

Kosher salt is different from table salt in texture. It has irregular sized granules, making it easier to judge a pinch amount, and gives little salty flavor bursts.

And yes, raisins are an ingredient in A1.

*eats steak about once every three years*

TheDonF, Kosher salt is not Kosher, if you pardon the pun -- it is often used to make meat Kosher. it has big-ass crystals and no additives, hence it dries up moisture very well -- to remove ALL blood from meat as the Torah instructs, sometimes (Kosher) salt is used as a final touch

*grateful for the Whuffles, hands Specklet a bib and a steaming plate of steak*

*sits under table panting, hoping for scraps*

*wants to eat steak about once every three minutes*

Mmmmm, steak. Thanks for the kosher salt info - I had no idea you could make meat kosher by adding salt. By the sounds of Specklet's description, it sounds a bit like sea salt, one of the best of which, is apparently Maldon Crystal Salt.
Dammit - look at that missing apostrophe on the banner of that site.

Ah, but adding kosher (coarse) salt to meat does NOT make it kosher. Kosher foods must meet ALL guidelines of Jewish law.

Anyway, to make the distinctions between different salts, I give you the Food Network's Q & A on it:

Q: What is the difference between kosher salt, sea salt, and table salt?

A: For the cook's purposes, the main difference between salts is in their texture. Table salt's fine granules dissolve quickly, making it the preferred salt of bakers. Sea salt and kosher salt possess larger, irregular grains that add a delightful crunch and hit of briny flavor when sprinkled on food at the last minute. Generally, savvy cooks prefer kosher salt when cooking, since its coarse texture is easier to take a pinch of when seasoning savory dishes.

Chemically there is little difference between kitchen salts. All are at least 97 1/2 percent sodium chloride. But there are significant differences in the provenance and processing of these salts.

Table salt is mined from underground salt deposits, and includes a small portion of calcium silicate, an anti-caking agent added to prevent clumping. It possesses very fine crystals and a sharp taste. Because of its fine grain a single teaspoon of table salt contains more salt than a tablespoon of kosher or sea salt.

Sea salt is harvested from evaporated seawater and receives little or no processing, leaving in tact the minerals from the water it came from. These minerals flavor and color the salt slightly. However, because these salts often come at a dear price, it is worth keeping in mind that they lose their unique flavor when cooked or dissolved.

Kosher salt takes its name from its use in the koshering process. It contains no preservatives and can be derived from either seawater or underground sources. Aside from being a great salt to keep within arm's reach when you are cooking, it is particularly useful in preserving, because its large crystals draw moisture out of meats and other foods more effectively than other salts.

Here's an informative post on MeFi about salt. dchase's comment is a good one, specifically this bit, "If you're sprinkling salt on a steak or vegetables to be grilled, seared or fried, no one, yes, no one, will notice the difference between the finest fleur de sel and the basest supermarket table salt (...)"

it sounds a bit like sea salt, one of the best of which, is apparently Maldon Crystal Salt.

Looks pretty much the same, but Kosher salt is mined, it's just processed differently to table salt, with no iodene added.

Maldon Salt is so tasty I have to keep it on a high shelf, otherwise I just eat big pinches of it when I'm in the kitchen. Even better is Fleur de Sel from the Île de Ré near La Rochelle - on some days in Summer, the temperature and wind speed combine to produce tiny extra-fine crystals on the top of the salt marsh ponds, which is scooped off with big wooden paddles. Smells of grass and flowers, tastes like sea. (Maldon doesn't have so much of a flavour because it's evaporated in artificially heated steel pans, instead of by the sun in ponds cut into salt marshes.)

Er, anyway, sauce sounds lovely, thanks matteo.

saucy thanks to everybody


let's go eat now