I had heard of braciole (pronounced bra’zhul) before but never really knew how to make it. Truth be told, I’m a huge fan of Everybody Loves Raymond and The Sopranos and there are endless Italian dishes on both of those shows that make me both hungry and curious.

Braciole is one of them. It’s been featured on both of those shows and I could never figure out exactly what it was.

It’s thin, stuffed steak that is rolled. At least, that’s the American version of this Italian treat.

Braciole is actually the plural form of braciola. See, you don’t just eat one of them. So why not just always use the plural form??? (See the braciole Wikipedia entry here.)

I did eventually ask my Italian-cuisine-expert-neighbor Eddie about it one day. And when his mother came to visit they made some and brought it over. It was to-die-for.

It’s good to have good neighbors.

Here’s a great recipe for it so you can try it on your own. Let me know what you think!!!

Braciole (Rolled stuffed steak) – from Chef Carmen Mazzola of A Mediterranean Cooking Experience at Relais Oasi Olimpia.  

Ingredients

• 2 thin slices of steak
• approx. ½ parsley
• 1 clove of garlic
• approx. ½ pine-nuts
• approx. ½ raisins
• a teaspoon of grated parmesan
• 1 can puréed tomato
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• ¾ cup of white wine
• salt & pepper

Preparation

Roll or pound the steak until thin.

Finely chop the parsley and garlic, pine-nuts and raisins, and mix with the grated parmesan, salt and pepper.

Spread on the steak, then roll the steak and fix in place with some toothpicks or butcher’s string.

Brown the rolled meat in a saucepan with extra-virgin olive oil and a chopped onion. Then add white wine and after 5 minutes the tomato purée. Cook over a very low heat for about an hour.

If you prefer, you can omit the raisins and pine-nuts.

Recipe and photo courtesy of theinternationalkitchen.com.

It’s always fun to see other people’s ideas of what makes a great steak. There are so many possibilities and there really are no WRONG answers.

I wish school had been that easy.

So here are some thoughts from Kathy Maister’s StartCooking.com.

3 Ways to Cook a Great Steak

Dry. Raw. Charred. Chewy. Why does cooking a decent steak give us the willies? For one, there are a number of different ways to cook steak. You can grill, broil or fry it, depending on your preference.

Kick things off with a steak that is at least 1-inch thick (strip steak, t-bone, porterhouse, etc.) — anything thinner will likely dry out, and anything thicker makes it difficult to gauge doneness. No matter which cooking style you choose, start by sprinkling the meat with a good dose of salt and pepper. I also like to take a crushed garlic clove and rub it all over the beef. If you’d like, try marinating the steak, but this isn’t necessary for any of the techniques below.

Now, let’s review our cooking options:

1. Fry: Simply put, you’re tossing a hunk of beef into a frying pan. Fire up a pan on medium heat, and warm up a teaspoon of oil for a minute, and then lay your steak in the pan. (Make sure you turn on your stovetop fan and keep your pan covered because this tends to be a smoky job.) A 1-inch thick steak should cook for about 4 minutes on each side, depending on how you like it cooked.

2. Oven Roasting: Restaurants often use this method of cooking steak, but it requires two steps:

Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees F and grab a heavy frying pan that’s oven-safe (like one of those black cast iron skillets your mom used to use).
Turn the burner or element on high heat, and warm up that skillet until it’s piping hot.
Drop a teaspoon of oil in the pan and let it heat up
Using tongs, gently put the steak in the pan and sear it for about 90 seconds on each side. This locks in the juices.
Now, place the pan in the oven to finish cooking. Roast the meat for 6-9 minutes, depending on how you like it cooked.
If you don’t have an iron skillet, all hope is not lost. Use a regular frying pan to sear the steak, and then transfer it and all the juices to an oven-safe pan to finish the roasting process.

3. Grill: This tends to be the method of choice for meat-lovers. Make sure your barbecue is piping hot (at least 450 degrees F). Pour a little olive oil on a paper towel or a small brush and rub the grill slats before you lay the steak down. Once it’s on the grill, reduce the heat to medium and keep the lid down (and quit peeking!) After 4-5 minutes, it’s time to turn the steak over and let it go another 4-5 minutes on the other side.

5 Tips for Cooking a Great Steak:
Decide before you start cooking on how you want the steak done. A few people like “blue” (near raw!) but most tend to prefer their steaks from medium rare to well-done. If you decide in advance, you’re more likely to pay attention to it and remove the meat in time.
Try to avoid turning the meat too many times. Ideally, you should have one flip — two at most. Resist the temptation to touch the meat too much.
Use a set of tongs to turn the steak. Poking it with a fork puts holes in it and allows the juice to seep out — and then you’re just asking for dry beef.
Don’t mash on the steak with your tongs. That’s just as bad as poking it with a fork, and presses out all the juices. If you’re testing for doneness, just gently press with the flat part of your tongs. The harder the meat is, the drier it will be.
Don’t just gobble up the steak the moment you stop cooking it. Put it on a plate and let it rest for a few minutes. You’ll notice that a lovely juice oozes out as it settles.

Quote and photo courtesy of StartCooking.com.

You be the judge.

Okay, you know if there’s a product out there called the “Perfect Steak System” we’re going to have to talk about it here. That’s just a fact.

I mean, really? It makes them perfect?

See for yourself. . .

The package includes a steak pan with integrated temperature gauge and something called a Digital Steak Pod Measuring Stick.

A quote:

Perfect Steak is the complete system that takes all the guess work out of cooking the perfect steak. Giving you control over the three T’s to perfect grilling; Temperature, Time, and Thickness. . .

With just a press of a button you’ll control when your steak is rare, medium, or well done, grilled perfectly every time.

Well, I’d certainly like to just press a button and have my steak come out perfectly. Totally.

But I’d miss those charred ribeyes we sometimes end up with when we forget about the steaks for 5 extra minutes.

If YOU’VE tried the Perfect Steak System, let me know what you thought!

Have a steaky weekend!!!!

Photo and quote courtesy of bestdirect.tv.