I came a little late to the Jamie Oliver craze. It was his work with school nutrition in England that really caught my attention. I have been a long-time advocate for better nutrition is schools, but lacked the training, understanding and insight that Oliver was able to bring. If you can catch the TV shows that he did for this – one in his native UK and another in the US – he will make a believer out of you too.
So, in his most recent book, 5 Ingredients – Quick & Easy Food, Jamie Oliver brings his same philosophy of simple food with good ingredients to the fore. They are not all 30 minute recipes. The quick in the title refers to the prep rather than the cooking. I used an electric pressure cooker to make my beans from scratch and so added time to this recipe, but some (especially his recipe for Bangin’ Beef Stew which cooks for 2 hours in the oven and is on my list as the first thing to cook when the weather turns cold) take some time to make.
I made this on a busy day when I needed to produce something quick, tasty and comforting. I made the beans from scratch ahead of time and made sure that I made too many so that I would have the on hand again later! It did not disappoint.
You can see that I was limited in what was available (and within budget), so these are two 2 cm rib-eyes. Adjust your cooking time accordingly. Since this is not a stew, you can time the rib-eye according to your regular grilling practice. Since I want to deglaze the yummy proteins, I am going to cook off the steak in cast-iron on the stove top.
These are Jamie’s instructions:
EPIC RIB-EYE STEAK
SERVES 4 | TOTAL 26 MINUTES
600g piece of rib-eye steak (ideally 5cm thick), fat removed
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 cloves of garlic
350g mixed mushrooms
1 × 660g jar of white beans
Place a large non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat. Rub the steak all over with a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then sear on all sides for 10 minutes in total, so you achieve good colour on the outside but keep it medium rare in the middle, or cook to your liking, turning regularly with tongs.
Meanwhile, strip the rosemary leaves off the sprigs, peel and finely slice the garlic, and tear up any larger mushrooms. When the steak’s done, remove to a plate and cover with tin foil. Reduce the heat under the pan to medium, and crisp up the rosemary for 30 seconds.
Then add the garlic and mushrooms and cook for 8 minutes, or until golden, tossing regularly.
Pour in the beans and their juice, add 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and simmer for 5 minutes, then season to perfection. Sit the steak on top and pour over any resting juices. Slice and serve at the table, finishing with a little extra virgin olive oil, if you like.
Philip’s Note:
Do not forget the red wine vinegar. It makes all of the difference!
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