World's Best Steak and Chips

I firmly believe that almost anything can be made on a budget and I see no reason why something as decadent and luxurious as a steak should be reserved for the wealthy. As a student, I am always on the lookout for ways to cut costs and when it comes to meat the best way to do this, without skimping on flavour and quality, is to buy lesser known and therefore lower priced cuts.

In terms of steak, cuts such as flank, skirt, onglet or feather blade are all super tasty and relatively unheard of, which drives the price right down. Once you have your steak, you want to give it the royal treatment, accompanying it with the best side dishes that add to it rather than take away from the flavour of the meat. I serve mine with a mushroom sauce, fat chips and garlicky green beans. Yum.

World's Best Steak
Serves 1

200 g baking potato 
olive oil 
1 small onion 
50 g button mushrooms 
1 tbsp milk 
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard 
100 g frozen/tinned green beans 
1 clove of garlic 
1 steak of your choice (about 200g)

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Scrub the potato, then halve and slice into wedges. Parboil in a large pan of boiling salted water for 4 minutes, then drain and tip into a roasting tray. Drizzle over a little oil, add a pinch of salt and pepper, then toss together and cook for 30-40 minutes, or until golden and crispy, shaking occasionally.

Meanwhile, peel the onion, then slice with the mushrooms and put into a medium pan on a medium heat with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden, then add the milk, mustard and a splash of water and leave to simmer on a low heat, adding a splash more water if needed to stop it getting too thick.

Put the frozen/tinned beans into a frying pan on a medium heat with a lug of oil, stirring occasionally while they defrost/cook. Peel and slice the garlic and add to the pan once all the liquid has evaporated from the beans, then turn the heat down and cook for about 5 minutes, or until crispy and golden.

Season the steak with salt and pepper and rub with a little oil, then pound with your fists to flatten and tenderize. Sear it in a large hot frying pan on a high heat. Do not touch it for 3 minutes, then turn once and again do not touch it. This will provide you with a medium-rare steak. Remove to a board to rest for 2 minutes, then add any resting juices to the mushroom sauce and season it to perfection. Slice the steak thinly across the length (you'll notice there's a grain to the meat and you want to cut across that) and serve with the beans and wedges, spooning the mushroom sauce over the steak.

TIP: This recipe can of course be doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc. to serve as many people are needed.