When you order a steak at a Paris bistro, instead of saying “rare”, many folks ask for their steak “blue”, the hue of the meat when it is so rare/raw that it is purplish blue. As an added amusement, most waiters don’t even listen to most foreign customers when they say “medium” or “well-done”, and bring the steaks rare or blue anyways. If you had asked me when I was 12 years old if I would ever eat a piece of meat so rare it looked like it was ripped straight off the side of cow, I would have laughed nervously and shook my head violently. Well, now, depending on the cut of meat, I sometimes like it blue. :)
A couple of weeks ago, in my mad search for large turkeys, I spied a whole onglet or hanging tender or hanger steak at Santis delicatessen. I was thrilled to spot it, as it is a more economically priced cut of meat, with excellent attributes, packed with flavor and an appealing texture. I immediately bought it and put it in the freezer for a future use. A popular cut in Europe, the onglet or hanger steak has become rather chic in top American restaurants looking to serve more than just your well known cuts like tenderloin, rib-eyes or sirloin steaks.
For a more technical description, try this one from The Meat Buyer’s Guide, and I quote: “…a soft, grainy-textured, elliptical-shaped muscle approximately 7 inches long. There is only one hanging tender in a carcass and it is found between the 12th and 13th ribs on the right side of the carcass close to the backbone.” It’s best if you remove that central piece of gristle or tendon before cooking the hanging tender. I used to think it came from the belly area, but apparently it does not…
Some folks like to marinate this cut overnight or for several hours at least. We had an impromptu dinner a few nights ago, so didn’t have the time to do that. I simply prepared the meat, sprinkled it with salt and pepper and rolled it in some fresh thyme leaves, seared it on a hot cast iron pan and served it very rare. For side dishes, we cooked some very thin pommes frites or french fries, and I prepared a creamed spinach with truffle oil as well. The creamed spinach was particularly good, and the addition of truffle oil inspired (I read this in a cookbook somewhere). There are several decent recipes for creamed spinach on the net, but essentially it is good cream reduced down to thicken it further, blanched or steamed frozen or fresh spinach that has been squeezed to remove excess water, lots of butter, lots of grated parmesan or other cheese, salt and pepper, and in this case, a tablespoon or two of black truffle oil and finished with a bit of truffle salt before serving. My version was a bit too creamy, but it tasted good nonetheless. Then again how can anything swimming in cream, butter and truffle oil taste bad? :)
For a simple appetizer, we served this intense two year old plus aged cheddar from Washington State (a present from Farida at the Vancouver eyeball) with a bit of homemade guava jelly and crackers. Thanks, Farida! People often ask me for restaurant recommendations, and I often answer that I don’t eat out THAT much. The reason? I actually find much better value, comfort and pleasure dining at home. And if you look at my actual plate two photos up, that’s how I like to enjoy this meal, with steak sauce on the side, and lots of ketchup for my fries (and this is the first serving, I had seconds)… While it may not have been made by a chef or a professional kitchen, this dinner probably cost some PHP500 each to prepare per person, while in a restaurant, you would have to pay upwards of say PHP1,500 each, assuming you could even find a good onglet on offer paired with creamed spinach with truffle oil… Then again, I enjoy cooking, and others simply do not or can not be bothered.
26 Responses
I think creamed spinach with truffle oil is such an excellent idea! Yum!
Hi MM, love this site! Love this cut but not able to find here, which santis did u find it in. Please.
Heidi, I got it at their main branch on Yakal Street, and I suspect you can order it from any other branch if the butcher is your suki…
love the cheese knife…i love knives with ceramic handles.
Well, if I had the same knowledge and skills that you have with cooking then I would also forgo eating out often. Alas, we’re not there yet. However, reading through all these food posts do motivate us readers to try harder and do our own experiments at home.
I always thought the onglet was the diaphragm. Your fries look like they came straight out of the restaurant, did you do those from scratch? I’ll take my fries with ketchup in most cases, when there is none, i’ll take them with a good Dijon mustard.
I’ill save the Nov issue of Edible Manhattan for you, it has an article on the Sabatini family that imports and markets truffles and truffles products in the USA.
Nacho, yes, they were from scratch, local potatoes, mandoline for uniform size, fried. They were a bit soft, better if double fried or in lard… They actually look better than they were… :)
Ketchup?!?!?!? Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!! Mayo is the condiment of choice for properly made frites! ;-)
Well, mayo mixed with ketchup is pretty good, too.
My most memorable meals growing up were eaten at home. It is much better value and quality to cook at home rather than eat in a restaurant. That being said, lately I’ve been getting inspiration from dishes I’ve eaten in restaurants to try to recreate it at home
Rona, hahaha, you are right, but I grew up LOVING ketchup.
I said to the waiter at Royal Luxembourg near the Pantheon, “He (my husband) likes it bloody.” Their fries were terrific and the sauce bearnaise was lovely!!! I do not think the waiters and waitresses in Paris tend listen to the preference of non-French speaking tourists. I ordered a salad without the parmesan cheese and the salad came with parmesan cheese (it was at Cafe de l’Alma), anyways, the waitress apologised. Maliit tuloy ang tip namin sa kanila LOLZ. I sampled Salad Landaise at one cafe in Ile St Louis and it was gorgeous!!! It was the first time I tasted foie gras.
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atbnorway…in Europe, service is always included in your bill and unless the service is extra-ordinary, you give a tip.
Off topic, MM…since we experienced power outage here in the Northeast for the last few days, I have been accessing the internet through our local library…I was not able to access your site as it’s tagged as a pornography site!
My boys’ obsession when it comes to dipping sauce for fries…McDo’s chicken sauce…but home, I just mix Kewpie mayo with tartar sauce or ranch dressing and a drop of catsup…yummmmm!
”I don’t eat out THAT much. The reason? I actually find much better value, comfort and pleasure dining at home”
VERY WELL SAID MM.
My suki at the local wet market sold me a huge bunch of sharp spinach for $2! I usually just make quiche, but will try creamed spinach for Sunday lunch. I’ve never used a smoker foil bag for the oven, but will try it with pork belly tomorrow too.
MM – diet over? 2 servings of pomme frites?!?!?!
I so love the idea of fruit jelly and cheese. I’ve never thought of it before but I’ll definitely do that for the next family cheese platter. Thanks MM!
I’ve been looking for hanger steak for so long!! I’ve seen some skirt steak and chuck steak at Unimart and have tried cooking with them. These cheap cuts of meat are really value for money, very beefy without the bloated price. :)
Wow the creamed spinach looks really good.. Will try that soon!
Lol, hi MM, funny, I saw the wedge of cheese and thought that looked familiar. Yes, you are very welcome. Hope it was good as claimed.
@bettyq, did you ever get a can of the cheese at Costco here? Oh yes, Costco also has this large container of different kinds of dried mushrooms for 15.99, so I think I will use this instead of getting the fresh chanterelles for the mushroom stuffing. What do you think?
Oh wow. That creamed spinach got me first then that steak…oooh. MM, Pardon my ignorance — as long as the meat is of good quality, I can freeze it first then still serve it blue? I love my steak rare, but have been hesitant to do that here in Manila because I don’t know if the meat has been refrozen a number of times.
Unfortunately, Farida, it was out of stock when my nephew’s friend went across the border. . Also, look at the ingredient list of the mushroom plastic bag. If what it says… porcini, lobster, hedgehog, matsutakes, …you are in for a really good deal. However, if it says…shitake, oyster, portobello…you might as well just use the fresh ones.
The Meat Buyers Guide : Meat, Lamb, Veal, Pork and Poultry by NAMP North American Meat Processors Association
336 pages | Wiley (April 7, 2006) | ISBN: 0471747211 | PDF | 22 MB
https://www.filesonic.com/file/1090134894
US$145 new at Amazon. WHAAAT??!