Meat mains
Mustard-crumbed steak
'Tender it might be, but an escalope is never going to have the same eating qualities as a thick piece of grilling steak, so there is still work to be done. As usual, the Italians have come up with the answer – 'scaloppini' or 'escalope alla Milanese'. The basic technique is egging, crumbing, shallow frying and serving with a wedge of lemon, but using different flavourings in the egg and crumbs leaves plenty of room for creativity.' (Ben Watson)
Ingredients
- 2 frying steak
- olive oil
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 200g fresh breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 large egg, seasoned and beaten
- ½ a lemon
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas 4.
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Step 2
'Escalope' the steak by placing the slice between two layers of clingfilm and gently tapping with a heavy rolling pin or mallet. Start from one end and keep tapping until you have an even thickness of 3-4mm.
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Step 3
To make the mustard crumb, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil with the mustard until it melts through and then stir in the fresh breadcrumbs until they are well coated in the oil and mustard mixture.
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Step 4
Spread on a baking sheet and cook, stirring occasionally until they begin to brown. This will take only minutes, so watch them like a hawk!
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Step 5
Next, dust both sides of the beef with cornflour, dip in the egg and then the breadcrumbs. Repeat the egg and crumbing stages, making as many breadcrumbs stick as possible.
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Step 6
Heat some oil in a non-stick pan. When nearly smoking, fry the escalopes for about 90 seconds on one side, gently turn over and fry for another 60 seconds.
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Step 7
Serve with the lemon, new potatoes, and if it's the right time of year, some griddled British asparagus.
