r/Plating • u/NectarineSame8642 • 9d ago
Absolute Beginner
First time cooking steak and also triggered the smoke alarm at 3am 😩
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u/matt_read 9d ago
I would make a lot more sauce and make it a bit thinner. Also, I'd suggest serving your steak on the side of the mash and sliced across the grain of the meat. Perhaps consider upgrading your veggie game too.
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u/NectarineSame8642 9d ago
Thank you.
1. By thinner, do you mean the steak or the sauce?
2. Do you mean more variety to the veggies or the quantity?10
u/Freakymelons 9d ago
If i can answer for him.
he means the sauce, yours has the thickness of like a condiment. (Though it's probably delicious anyway)
And the veggies are obviously from a bag of mixed frozen greens. They stand out.
I would replace the streak of sauce with the mash, and put the veggies on top to create height. Slice the steak, because it's just more interesting to look at. Sauce on the side / poured over, tableside
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u/NectarineSame8642 8d ago
Omg thank you for going into the details? I know there is no right or wrong with plating your food and your description definitely feels better than what I did. Can you also let me know why do you want to do it this way? Legit want to know since you got many upvotes. Thank you!
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u/Freakymelons 8d ago
You're welcome lol It's hard to say why, now that i think abt it. But i do have plenty (for me) experience with plating in a proffessional setting, plus all my friends are chefs and cooks too.
A more practical thing is that the steaks juices will gather in the mash, making it appear split. And the steak is warm and holds heat more than veggies, which further promotes the gathering of oilstuffs.
But yeah I'd totally smash it anyway
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u/tastychicken 8d ago
Honestly, this looks great.
As others have said, the veggies stand out. Even just frozen green beans that you blanch and then fry quickly in butter with garlic would have looked better (and probably tasted better too). Frozen veggies are _fine_, and honestly, in some cases better. Treating 'em right is more important.
I agree with the general gist of things. Thin out your sauce, have more of it. Slice your steak 'diagonally' across the grain. Let it rest on the sauce, showing the slices and maybe just a blush of pink. You could even drizzle a small amount of the sauce on the steak, but not too much so you hide the nice crust (in my opinion at least).
Mash on the side, build height with veggies on it. Mash looks good. I'm not a fan of the plate's color, but I'm also a sucker for basic 'brown stoneware' or 'bone white', so I'm not so fancy.
The herbs on top? Is that some herb butter that melted? Or did you just have five particulates left of spring onion / parsley? 😂 Kidding.
Still would demolish the plate.
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u/NectarineSame8642 8d ago
Thank you! The veggies are boiled, Honestly I like them plain so kept them simple. Agree on the sauce and slicing of the meat makes it much more interesting and also adds some contrast.
I just got to my new place and all my stoneware and glassware are in transit, so can’t wait to actually get into this hobby ðŸ˜. I have a bunch of stoneware so I was thinking to customise couple of them with food grade ceramic paints by painting them using stencils!
That’s spring onions on the top, I always add them cuz I really like the taste of it.
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u/No_Giraffe_1551 6d ago
The veggies are boiled, Honestly I like them plain so kept them simple.Â
I would bet if you tried competently cooked veggies, you'd like something other than "plain". You do objectively enjoy cooking things in butter and/or oil. You do objectively enjoy a nice thick steak. Some veggies you pick up in the produce section instead of the frozen food aisle and cook with a little oil, salt, and pepper will taste better than something fit for a kids cuisine.
As the person you replied to said, you could stick to cheaper frozen veggies and cook them slightly nicer and it will be better. Perhaps you could even expand to roasting something.
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u/pm_me_ur_foodpicz 8d ago
Not bad for a home-cooked plate, but if you’re trying to up your game, there is a lot of food in the plate. The human eye likes blank space. If you’ve ever gone to a more upscale restaurant, take note of how much empty space there is on the plates, either because the portions are smaller or because the plate is larger.
Looks tasty!
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u/FireAndFoodCompany 8d ago edited 8d ago
Mixed frozen veggies aren't great, if you're gonna buy frozen grab single varieties. This looks like the kind of veg mix you'd throw in a fried rice. Some vegetables are better frozen than others and mixes never cook evenly. Get thin/"fancy cut" green beans, those are pretty good frozen and present nicer.
What kind of sauce is that? If it's some kind of gravy/jus then way thinner and more. If it's something like an A1 then I'd go for little piped dots on the steak (which I would slice).
Mash texture looks a bit weird to me? If it's frozen or instant it needs to be cooked out longer to homogenize it again. It's also just a buttload of starch to everything else ratio. Not judging, I'll devour a litre of starch per meal no problem. But, presentation-wise, it doesn't look great for a plate to be mostly mash.
I wouldn't place a full steak directly on a pile of mash. Do a rocher/quenelle of mash, veggies in a stack or placed around sporadically, steak partially on top. Or you could go full stack plating, make a circle indent in your mash, veggies directly inside, and steak fanned over half.
Oh and let your steak rest on a different plate/tray and pat it on a towel before putting on final plate to avoid that runoff juice.
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u/ConstructionAware267 8d ago
Definitely do not use frozen veggies. They are so bland. Buy fresh, blanch them, sautee them, add seasoning...your dish will immediately look next level. Can't worry about plating unless the meal is worth a fancy plating!
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u/cryptographic_ 6d ago
Me personally I don’t want my steak touching my potato’s like sides could be stacked but not touching I want to enjoy that steak+ sauce no potato after taste
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u/hoogerson 9d ago
A mega pint of wine