Porterhouse Steak

We raise our own beef cattle on our family farm in East Devon, where the pastures overlook the Jurassic coast. The management of our herd is carried out according to strict animal welfare guidelines, including those required by the Red Tractor Food Assurance Scheme. We use an abattoir less than eight miles away from our farm, minimising this potentially stressful journey for the animals; on reaching Greendale Farm Shop, each carcass is hung and dry_aged for a minimum of three weeks, to allow it to mature, then expertly prepared by our skilled butchers. We take great pride in all our beef here at Greendale – not only because it’s exceptionally delicious and tender, but also because it’s fully traceable back to our farm.

This large steak is cut deliberately thick, so be careful when cooking; you don’t want to overdo it, because the lean fillet and tenderloin will end up too tough, but you do need to make sure the meat is cooked through (to be absolutely sure, use a meat thermometer to check the core temperature). The core temperature  should be at least 56°c.

For a medium_rare Porterhouse Steak: place a heavy_based pan on a high heat and preheat your oven to 200°C (Gas Mark 6). Season the steak with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, then massage it with a little olive oil (not Extra_Virgin), goose fat or rapeseed oil. Put the steak into the hot pan and cook for about eight minutes, then turn it over and cook the other sides for about five minutes – you need the steak to have formed a golden crust on each side (known as ‘sealing’ the meat). Take the steak out of the pan, put it into an oven_proof dish and cook it in the hot oven for up to 15 minutes. Remove the finished steak from the oven and leave it to rest in a warm place for about ten minutes before serving.