Sometimes I get strange and creative cravings that inspire me to make food in a certain way that goes beyond what the normal person would make for lunch.
Case in point, I made this very laborious lunch for my girlfriend and me but it was worth every second. In fact, it was so good I craved for more but there was none left.
I cannot remember where I saw it, but I think some YouTube cook scored their vegetables very similarly one would score meat, butter-basted it like one would steak in a pan, and it looked so good. I tried it with carrots and it worked so well. And today, I tried with butternut, and it worked even better. (In the future, I am going to write a Cooking Manifesto titled Cook vegetables like meat, or something.)
In any case, I want to show you the process of how I cooked this dish so that you can also make it, either to impress your friends and family or to make something delicious for yourself. One can spoil oneself once in a while! Plus, this dish is so cheap to make, and I would argue very healthy (depending on how you feel about meat and fat of course).
Without further ado, let me show you how I made this!
Ingredients List/Recipe
For this dish, I used the following ingredients:
- 300 grams of pork rump steak,
- 2 thick slices of butternut (about 1cm thick),
- 1 tsp lard/pork fat,
- 2 tbsp of sesame seeds,
- 1 tsp sugar,
- 2 tbsp feta cheese, and
- optional garlic for basting the meat/butternut (which I opted not to use),
- optional spices for the meat (I used mustard powder and smoked paprika).
Method/Process
The cooking of this dish involves three steps, but you can skip the first step if you have enough lard on hand. Or maybe four step if you count the cutting of vegetables as a step.
Step 0: Prepare the veggies
In the "first" step of sorts, I cut the butternut "steaks", if you want to call them that. I cut maybe 1 cm thick slabs of butternut which I find the ideal thickness. The cooking time obviously depends on how thick you cut your veggies, but 1 cm thickness works for me as it cooks the same length as the meat, which is about 15 minutes.
I scored the veggies like I would score my meat. I just used a sharp knife to cut 45 degree cuts all over the front and back surface of the butternut.
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Step 1: Rendering the Fat
Pork contains a lot of fat. Depending on your stance or opinion on pork fat and fat in general, this step will be optional. I like to render as much fat as possible out of my cuts of meat if it contains fat.
Rendering fat out of meat is simple. Start with low heat and slowly cook the fat until all of the liquid fat has rendered out. Pork rump steaks, at least the ones I buy, have a thick piece of fat which is not the best to eat like that. It helps to render the fat out on low heat until it is crispy and almost like pork crackling.
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| I placed the meat on the fat side and on a low heat I cooked until all of the fat rendered out. | The fat will become crispy like pork crackling. I also scored/cut the fat so that there is more surface area. | If you did everything correctly, you will have a nice big pool of fat in the pan. |
Step 2: Caramelizing the Sunflower Seeds
Whilst the pork fat was rendering out, I caramelized the sunflower seeds. This is as simple as adding a bit of fat/oil, pan-roasting them for a minute or two and then adding sugar.
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If you have never had this treat, do make it for yourself. It is crunchy, sweet, and has some savoury elements. Put this in any salad, and you are in for a treat! I am sure if you add this to chocolate as well, it would be delicious!
Step 3: Cook the Meat and Butternut
When the sunflower seeds are done, cooling in a separate bowl, I begin with the meat and the butternut. Depending on what vegetable you use, the cooking time will change. My pork cooked for about 12-15 minutes, which was also the perfect time for the butternut.
I flipped the steak about every 2 minutes or so, and I only flipped the butternut as soon as it developed a nice dark colour.
When I was done with this, I turned off the heat and used the extra tsp of lard at this stage. I then basted the steak and butternut for about 2-5 minutes. (See my little video below.)
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When I think the pork is done, I begin to baste both the meat and the butternut with the lard in the pan and the extra tsp of fat I added. Be careful as the fat is extremely hot!
Plating
And now I plate! This was a fun process and I snapped a photograph of each segment.
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| Firstly, I added the butternut on the bottom. | Secondly, I added three slices of pork. | Thirdly, I added a tsp or so of crumbled feta cheese. |
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| Fourthly, I added the caramelized sunflower seeds. | And lastly, I added some wild rocket leaves from my garden. |
And there you have it! As simple as that. It really is not that much work if you think about it, but it might be a bit much for lunch. I think from the start to the finish it took me about 45 minutes to cook. For a quick lunch, this is too time-consuming. For a fancy dinner date idea, I think it is perfect!
My girlfriend could not stop eating. In the end, she almost had half of mine as well! Sharing is caring they say. But this just goes to show that I cooked too little of it. I needed to make four butternut "steaks".
The savoury of the meat balances so nicely with the sweet of the sunflower seeds and the salt of the feta cheese. And the butternut developed such a deep and complex flavour if you cook it like a steak. It pairs so well with the pork.
I can see how you can make this without the meat or any animal products as well. Using coconut oil instead, and adding either tofu or vegan bacon to this dish will make it vegan and maybe even healthier!
I stood with a bottle of balsamic reduction in my hand the other day and I did not buy it. What would have made this dish even better is the balsamic vinegar. If you make this for yourself, add that much-needed balsamic vinegar, it will take this beyond the next level. But even without it, the pan-seared and lard-basted butternut is just something special that you need to try.
In any case, I hope that you will make this dish for you! As always, experiment. I am already thinking about potatoes cooked in this way or maybe mushrooms as well. Or a simple pan-charred sweet potato and goat's cheese. There are so many options.
Experiment, that is the key!
For now, happy cooking, and do let me know in the comments if you made this, or if you have any similar types of ideas!
Happy cooking.
All of the writings in the post as well as the recipe are my own. The photographs are also my own, taken with my iPhone.