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United States, Camping

Campfire Garlic Butter Steak Bites

Bite-size steak seared hard in a cast-iron skillet on a camp stove, then tossed in garlic butter and eaten off toothpicks: an American campsite favourite.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time17 min
DifficultyEasy
About servingsKeep raw meat in the cooler at 4 °C or below, and use separate boards, tongs and plates for raw and cooked food. Never use a camp stove inside a tent or its vestibule.

Method

  1. Set the camp stove on firm, level ground away from tents and branches and put up a windscreen. Keep the steak in the cooler until just before cooking, then pat it very dry with paper towels and cut it into 2.5 cm cubes on a board kept just for raw meat, trimming off thick gristle and fat. Season all over with the salt and pepper, and wash your hands or clean them with wipes and hand sanitiser right after handling raw meat.

    Add in this stepSirloin steak, at least 2.5 cm thick 340 gSalt ½ tspCoarsely ground black pepper ½ tsp

  2. Heat a 25 cm cast-iron skillet over high heat for , until a drop of water skitters and vanishes instantly. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan; it should shimmer.

    Add in this stepVegetable oil 1 tbsp

    high heat

  3. Add the steak in a single layer with space between the pieces, working in 1 batch(es) for this amount. Leave them untouched for the first 1 1/2 minutes to build a brown crust, then turn with tongs and cook over high heat for in total per batch. That gives a deep brown outside and a slightly pink, medium centre. Move the cooked steak to a clean plate, not the one that held the raw meat.

    high heat

  4. Turn the heat down to medium heat, add the butter, garlic and red pepper flakes and stir for , until the butter foams and the garlic smells fragrant and turns pale gold. Don't let the garlic brown, or it turns bitter.

    Add in this stepButter 25 gGarlic cloves, minced 3Red pepper flakes (optional) to taste

    medium heat

  5. Return all the steak and any juices from the plate to the skillet and toss for to coat every piece in garlic butter and warm it through.

  6. Take the skillet off the heat, sprinkle with the parsley and toss. Serve straight from the skillet with toothpicks or forks. The cast-iron handle is extremely hot, so always grab it with a glove or a thick cloth.

    Add in this stepParsley, chopped 2 tbsp

Cook's tip

Crowding the pan drops the temperature, so the steak steams instead of searing; always cook in batches. Check doneness by cutting one open, or use a thermometer: 57 °C in the centre for medium-rare, 63 °C for medium. Strip loin or flat iron steak works just as well as sirloin.

Cooking it at camp

At home, heat a cast-iron or heavy stainless steel pan over high heat on the stove and cook exactly the same way. It makes plenty of smoke, so turn the range hood to high and open a window. Avoid nonstick pans, since long heating on high damages the coating.