A couple of weeks ago a fellow forum member wrote about Cardiff Crack, an allegedly addictive flavoring to a trip tip steak made by a place in California named Seaside Market in Cardiff.
With a name like that, I just had to try. The exact recipe is not known, but here’s an approximation. I decided to do two steaks, one â€Âregularâ€Â, and one with crack.
Another approximation is me using sirloin steak instead of a tri tip. Different countries/cultures have different ways of butchering an animal, and we just don’t have tri tip in Sweden. So, I opted for two sirloin steaks instead, figuring they were close enough.
So, here’s what I did. I dry brined the steaks overnight. In the morning I mixed the â€Âcrackâ€Â, and left one of the steaks in the wine/pepper solution for about 8 hours. I then cooked them low n’ slow, and did the reverse sear.
The sirloin steaks, with the burgundy pepper
In addition to that, I whipped up a Béarnaise sauce. This is one of the true greats among sauces. Invented by the French (who else), I honestly believe it is one of the best sauces ever to go with a steak. I would rank it right up there with Meathead’s â€Âchange your life rich red wine sauceâ€Â. If you’re having steak night, and don’t feel like red wine sauce, this is a must-try.
The melted butter and the egg yolk/herb mix:
Bearnaise sauce ingredients
200 g (7 oz) butter
4 egg yolks
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sherry or rice vinegar
1 tsp calf or beef stock
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp dried tarragon
Making the sauce
Heat the butter slowly in a pan. Keep it warm. You will see that the butter kind of separates, you get a clear part and some white stuff at the bottom. Leave the white stuff there, only use the clear butter.
Mix the egg yolks over very gentle heat (never go above 60 deg C / 140 deg F) with the mustard, vinegar, stock, parsley and tarragon in another pan. Whisk/mix until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove it from the stove at once. Now the hard part begins. Start by dripping the butter into the yolk mix, constantly whisking. After a while, pour the butter in a very thin stream into the yolks, constantly whisking. You want the egg yolks to bind/hold the butter in suspension. Two things are of utter importance to the success of this sauce:
1. Make sure the butter and yolk mix have the same temp before mixing. Use your Thermapen! I started mixing when they were both at 40 deg C / 104 deg F.
2. Don’t add too much butter at a time. You really should mix the butter very little at a time.
The finished sauce, divine goodness (this is half a recipe in the picture, as we were only two people):
The steaks, untreated to the left, cardiff crack version to the right:
Home made fries:
The plate:
Now to the comparison!
I knew beforehand that the wine would tenderize the meat. I was unsure of exactly how much of the wine and pepper flavor would be absorbed by the steaks though. Both steaks were just fine overall. The cracked one looked slightly better, but the plain one tasted better.
My verdict
To be honest I preferred the untreated steak. It tasted more like the original meat. The â€Âcracked†steak was definitely tender, because of the wine, but I felt a bit of the meat flavor was lost. No crack effect for me.
In all fairness this recipe isn’t the exact same concoction as the one used in Cali, and I used sirloin steak instead of tri tip. Also, I didn't inject the wine, I only marinated.
If any other forum members have tried this I would love to hear what you thoughts are of the whole thing.
With a name like that, I just had to try. The exact recipe is not known, but here’s an approximation. I decided to do two steaks, one â€Âregularâ€Â, and one with crack.
Another approximation is me using sirloin steak instead of a tri tip. Different countries/cultures have different ways of butchering an animal, and we just don’t have tri tip in Sweden. So, I opted for two sirloin steaks instead, figuring they were close enough.
So, here’s what I did. I dry brined the steaks overnight. In the morning I mixed the â€Âcrackâ€Â, and left one of the steaks in the wine/pepper solution for about 8 hours. I then cooked them low n’ slow, and did the reverse sear.
The sirloin steaks, with the burgundy pepper
In addition to that, I whipped up a Béarnaise sauce. This is one of the true greats among sauces. Invented by the French (who else), I honestly believe it is one of the best sauces ever to go with a steak. I would rank it right up there with Meathead’s â€Âchange your life rich red wine sauceâ€Â. If you’re having steak night, and don’t feel like red wine sauce, this is a must-try.
The melted butter and the egg yolk/herb mix:
Bearnaise sauce ingredients
200 g (7 oz) butter
4 egg yolks
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sherry or rice vinegar
1 tsp calf or beef stock
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp dried tarragon
Making the sauce
Heat the butter slowly in a pan. Keep it warm. You will see that the butter kind of separates, you get a clear part and some white stuff at the bottom. Leave the white stuff there, only use the clear butter.
Mix the egg yolks over very gentle heat (never go above 60 deg C / 140 deg F) with the mustard, vinegar, stock, parsley and tarragon in another pan. Whisk/mix until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove it from the stove at once. Now the hard part begins. Start by dripping the butter into the yolk mix, constantly whisking. After a while, pour the butter in a very thin stream into the yolks, constantly whisking. You want the egg yolks to bind/hold the butter in suspension. Two things are of utter importance to the success of this sauce:
1. Make sure the butter and yolk mix have the same temp before mixing. Use your Thermapen! I started mixing when they were both at 40 deg C / 104 deg F.
2. Don’t add too much butter at a time. You really should mix the butter very little at a time.
The finished sauce, divine goodness (this is half a recipe in the picture, as we were only two people):
The steaks, untreated to the left, cardiff crack version to the right:
Home made fries:
The plate:
Now to the comparison!
I knew beforehand that the wine would tenderize the meat. I was unsure of exactly how much of the wine and pepper flavor would be absorbed by the steaks though. Both steaks were just fine overall. The cracked one looked slightly better, but the plain one tasted better.
My verdict
To be honest I preferred the untreated steak. It tasted more like the original meat. The â€Âcracked†steak was definitely tender, because of the wine, but I felt a bit of the meat flavor was lost. No crack effect for me.
In all fairness this recipe isn’t the exact same concoction as the one used in Cali, and I used sirloin steak instead of tri tip. Also, I didn't inject the wine, I only marinated.
If any other forum members have tried this I would love to hear what you thoughts are of the whole thing.
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