Grass Fed Crumbed Steak

A crispy, herb crumb around a tender steak with all the goodness of being grass fed and chemical free – this is a fabulous recipe for topside steak. Cook in tallow for that extra crispness and for the great anti-inflammatory health benefits that go with it.
Topside steak comes from the hind quarter of the animal. It is a high use muscle that is very lean, meaning it is one of the less forgiving cuts of meat with regard to how it is cooked. I like to stir fry it quickly at a high temperature– having cut it into thin strips across the grain of the meat. Some will slow cook it in a casserole, but I find it a bit lean for this.
This crumbed steak however, is now by far my favourite way to cook topside steak! It means getting at the steak with a meat tenderiser (without this, I wouldn’t cook topside as a steak in a pan or on a BBQ), but these are readily available and are not expensive to buy. Give it a go!
1 pack Conscious Farmer topside steak (600g)
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (I whir up frozen bread in my stick blender)
¼ cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
¼ cup finely grated parmesan
Plain flour
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
2 eggs
Preparation
Mix the breadcrumbs, parsley, mint and parmesan together in a bowl. Place the plain flour in another bowl and add a generous pinch of the sea salt and pepper. Take a third bowl, crack the eggs into it and beat with a fork.
Take the topside steak and cut each steak into 3 pieces. I do this for two reasons – the first is that the steaks become a lot bigger after tenderising and the second, it allows more places for crumbs! Take each piece and hit with a meat tenderising mallet. Be sure to do this on an older chopping board as it will pock the timber somewhat. My mallet has a side with larger ‘teeth’ and then a side with smaller. Start tenderising the steak with the large then move to the small.
Once tenderised, take each steak and coat lightly in the plain flour then dip into the beaten egg. Place in the bowl of crumbs. Sprinkle some over the top and press down so that the crumbs stick to both sides. Place on a plate ready for cooking. Repeat the process with the other pieces of steak.
Cooking
Take a large pan and place a generous piece of tallow in the pan to melt – or whatever oil you choose to use. I think the key to great crispy crumbs is keeping oil in the base of the pan while cooking. Don’t let it dry right out.
Place the steaks in the pan and cook until the crumbs are coloured and crisp, turn and cook the other side.
Serve with a fresh Greek salad or with vegetables and creamy mashed potato.
Interestingly, I have cooked these steaks with tallow and with olive oil and the olive oil crisped quite well, but didn’t hold the crisp once coming off the heat as well as the tallow.
Topside steak is in many of our hampers – if you’d like to order a hamper for Grass Fed Crumbed Steaks – see our hamper selection here.
Happy Crumbing!
Kirrily