Monday, June 11, 2007

Giant stuffed steak

Giant stuffed steak

I was looking for something on my other blog archives when I saw a stuffed pork loin I made last year. Then I decided to make something similar, using beef instead.
There’s a dish here called “bife à rolê” that my husband likes a lot – steaks are filled with chopped carrots, bacon and green olives, secured with toothpicks and cooked in a simple broth (most people here use a pressure cooker for that). It’s similar to bracciola, except for the tomato sauce.
I created a giant “bife à rolê”, stuffed with farofa and served it with fresh homemade tomato sauce – click here and here if you’re interested in my other recipes with farofa.
Although I thought the farofa had disappeared at the end, João loved this dish.

Giant stuffed steak

450g rump/top sirloin, cut as a very large steak
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
½ small onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped bacon
2 tablespoons pitted and chopped green olives
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
salt
freshly ground black pepper
boiling water, enough to cover the beef – you may use beef stock if you like, but be careful with the amount of salt
your favorite tomato sauce

Make the farofa: heat olive oil in a small saucepan, over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until golden. Add the onion and cook until golden as well. Add the breadcrumbs, olives and parsley, season with salt and pepper, mix well and remove from heat. Set aside to cool. Place the steak open on a chopping board and season with salt and pepper. Spread the farofa on the center and roll the steak, closing all the sides so the stuffing won’t fall out. Secure with cooking string:

In a large saucepan, heat butter over high heat until it’s melted. Add the stuffed steak and cook until all the sides are evenly and nicely browned.
Add the boiling water (or stock, if using), season with a bit of salt, close the lid and cook until the beef is tender – I used a pressure cooker (in a hurry!).
Remove from the pan, cut the string and remove it.
Heat the tomato sauce and spread it over the steak.
Slice it when serving.

Serves 2 very well, with rice, potatoes or a nice salad.

32 comments:

  1. I had not seen this dish is absolutely ages. Since I left Brazil.lovely dish. lucky hubbie.

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  2. Yum!! Could've made little beef rolls as well :)

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  3. Delicious! Did you pound the steak to make it thin? It looks wonderful -- something my husband would like, too.

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  4. That looks moist and tender! Yum!

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  5. Delicious and quite healthy to boot. It reminded me of the Italian saltimboca my father makes quite often with sage, prosciutto and cheese and I managed to find a similar recipe here http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/italian/03/rec0369.html
    Sometimes he serves it with tomato sauce like you did here, sometimes with a mushroom sauce... either way, it´s very good, give it a go if you haven´t tried it yet.

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  6. Yum, my favourite! Giant anything! This stuffed steak looks great!

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  7. I love anything with olives. I've made a German variation on this, rouladen. The steak is stuffed with pickles or carrots, then cooked on stove in its own gravy. I like the idea of pressure cooking; it does make everything tender but quick.

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  8. Patricia,
    I have never heard of farofa, so I learn something from you again :)
    Like the stuffed steak idea too. Another new dish to try!

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  9. AnonymousJune 11, 2007

    Your blog has the most unique recipes! This sounds really good.

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  10. Hi Patricia, This looks and sounds really good. Love it that you served with rice and potatoes too... Girl after my own heart. Amanda

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  11. Pat, this recipe is a winner! I would love to make it some time soon to feed my friends who love meat!

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  12. What a fantastic dish! This is just the sort of thing I love to cook. It looks mouthwatering! Where's my fork?

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  13. I have not made beef rolls like these before, so I should give it a try, esp. since I like to do a lot of things in the oven these days because of the cold weather.
    p/s: welcome back. I missed you! I hope you had a good vacation.

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  14. Looks fantastic. I am always amazed at the fact that so many cuisine share similar recipe techniques and different ingredients. Thanks for educating me on farofa.

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  15. Hi Patricia - I had never heard of farofa, either, but when I read your instructions on how to make it, I decided that it was going on my menu list! This looks incredible!

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  16. AnonymousJune 12, 2007

    Patricia, that looks incredible! I'm so hungry just by looking at the mouthwatering photos. Especially, you've added rice. ;)

    Funny cos, i eat rice and roast potatoes at the same time too with my roast dinner sometimes.

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  17. AnonymousJune 12, 2007

    I was thinking the same as Mae! That it was nice to see someone else who can eat rice and potatoes on the same plate :) Count me in!

    That dish looks incredibly good and tasty!

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  18. Hey, I´m glad to see you have meat. I thought Swedish people had all the meat from Brazil.

    More than 80 % of our import of meat from Brazil is fresh meat. The rest is frozen. Brazilian fillets of beef is rather low at cost actually.

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  19. That sounds and looks so delicious - plus potatoes and rice I like it ;) :)

    KJxx

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  20. Tina, I'm lucky, too. :D

    Jeff, I make the little rolls sometimes, too. :)

    Lydia, tks!! It wasn't necessary to pound it, I already bought it thin.

    Janet, thank you!

    Marce, that recipe sounds delicious, João would love it! Tks for sharing it with me. I'll certainly try it!

    Freya, I had a laugh with you, sweetie!

    Susan, me too - I always have olives at home, both black and green. That steak would be a hit with João!
    And we use pressure cooker a lot here in Brazil - I know it scares most people. :)

    Mandy, farofa is so common here and there are so many possibilities of flavors. You can use whatever you find in your fridge. :)
    I'm glad you liked it!

    Kristen, you are so sweet, my dear friend! Thank you!

    Amanda, João wouldn't have it any other way - loads of carbs!! :D

    Anh, I hope they like it, sweetie!

    Truffle, thank you, dear! Please, have some!

    Nora, you can make them big , like this one, or individual rolls. It works both ways - you can secure the small ones with toothpicks.
    And thank you for your lovely comment, it means so much to me!

    Helen, thank you, dear. I'm always learning something from you!

    Toni, it's pretty easy and even a good way to use leftovers!

    Mae, you are so kind, thank you!
    Loads of carbs make my husband happy - and rice is HUGE here in Brazil. :)

    Joey, we do it here all the time - not good for our waistlines!! lol

    Karin, I didn't know that! I don't eat beef, but I've heard many times that Brazilian beef is one of the best.

    Kelly-Jane, thank you, sweetie!
    xoxo

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  21. I am a sucker for stuffed-meat dishes and this one is outstanding. Will try this sometime. Thanks for sharing Patricia.

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  22. AnonymousJune 13, 2007

    Oooooh my goodness! I've never had a stuffed steak before, but I think I MUST try this one! It looks absolutely fabulous!

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  23. AnonymousJune 13, 2007

    Oh Patricia this dish looks delicious! The beef looks so tender, I'm getting the midnight munchies. :P

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  24. I've never heard of farofa before. A giant beef roll so tempting like this is always a hit.

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  25. AnonymousJune 13, 2007

    I'm always in trouble when I visit you before lunch, Patricia. Now you've got me hungry! This looks delicious, tender and hearty.

    Probably using a low-sodium beef broth would help solve some of the salt issues you mentioned. I'm finding that using low-sodium chicken broth when recipes call for it also cuts back on the tendency for the dish to turn out tasting like chicken soup.

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  26. AnonymousJune 13, 2007

    oh goodness...just by the name alone it makes me hungry. This looks absolutely delicious!

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  27. AnonymousJune 14, 2007

    Hi Patricia--this looks delicious! I love the inclusion of the green olives. I'm always looking for new things to do with my pressure cooker . . .

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  28. Cynthia, I'm so glad you liked it - it's pretty simple to make.

    Ellie, you are such a dear, tks!!

    Amy, it really was tender - it was difficult slicing it! :)

    Rose, farofa is so popular here and the possibilities of flavors are endless.

    Terry, that tip is really good - I don't use broth to make this but I know many people do. Great info!

    Veron, thank you, sweetie!

    Sarah, I always get the feeling that people abroad are scared of using a pressure cooker. It's such a common thing for us here - we use it all the time. For instance, one of the most famous Brazilian dishes are rice and beans, and the beans are NEVER canned beans. We use dry beans and cook them in the pressure cooker.
    Good to know you like it too!

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  29. Wow that looks so colorful and delicious!

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  30. Oh Patricia that looks so amazingly good!! I love stuffed steak.. especially one smothered in a tomato-y sauce.. yum!

    Beautiful!
    xoxo

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  31. That looks perfect! Seriously! The tomatoes look so pretty, I can almost taste them. Wish I could ACTUALLY taste the whole dish!

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  32. AnonymousJuly 19, 2008

    I plan to give this a try. It gets so hot here in Texas that I usually cook with a pressure cooker. It is quick and doesn't heat the house up like an oven. Some people are scared of them but I grew up canning with my mom. I decided to start back in canning again with the price of food going up.

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