Steak and Chips – a Wood-fired Oven Treat for Any England World Cup Match

The nation watches with baited breath for England football games, with all hungry for more 1966-style success. But what could feed the hunger of all those footie fan friends who gather around your wood-fired oven from Valoriani?  What English fare could you serve up, to really fit the bill?

Well, the Orchard Ovens team reckons you can’t go far wrong with steak and chips.  That may come as a surprise on two counts.  Firstly, barbecue-style food isn’t something most of us associated with a wood-fired pizza oven.  Secondly, how on earth do you cook chips in an oven with a real flame fire burning bright inside it?

Luckily, Orchard Ovens’ owner, Andrew Manciocchi, has all the answers you need.

Cooking steak in the wood-fired oven

When it comes to cooking steak in the wood-fired oven, you have a couple of options. If you simply want to serve your steak as if ‘grilled’, you can make use of a Valoriani wood-fired oven accessory called the Tuscan grill.  You can just brush a little olive oil onto your steaks, put them on the Tuscan grill and cook them as you would normally grill any steak.

The other option is to do something a little more adventurous with your steak.  If you go down this route, you will need not just the steak but also:

-              Half a red onion per person

-              4 cherry tomatoes per person

-              4 large chestnut mushrooms per person

-              A handful of fresh peas, per person

-              2 tablespoons of red wine per steak

-              Seasoning for the steak – a combination of  a teaspoon of each of: black pepper; paprika; cumin; oregano; and turmeric, plus half an oxo cube and half a teaspoon of garlic salt, mixed together (you will need to increase the quantity according to number of steaks being cooked)

-              A tablespoon of olive oil per steak

Here, you  cook your steak in an ovenproof skillet. Using half the olive oil, sauté the onions, tomatoes and mushrooms, keeping the skillet in the mouth of the wood fired oven. Once the onions have softened, add the seasoned steak and peas to the pan and return to the oven until the steak has browned on the outside.  Add the red wine and cook until the steak is as you like it served.

Cooking chips in the Valoriani wood-fired oven

For the chips, you will need to slice potatoes of your choice, whether King Edward spuds or Jersey Royals.

You will cook these in an ovenproof pot, deep enough to take your choice of traditional cooking oil, plus the chips, and still ensure that at least an inch of the pot is visible above the oil level.

Keep the pot near the mouth of the wood-fired oven.  This is oil we are talking about, so it is hugely important to monitor it continuously and really thoroughly, so it does not bubble over or ignite. Keep it within easy reach, so if there are any issues, you can pull it out of the oven mouth quickly.  Make sure you have a very thick oven glove for this purpose, to avoid oil spillage and ignition and also facilitate easy manoeuvring of the pot. 

The oil will soon simmer nicely, if you follow the guidance and keep the pot close to the oven mouth. Add the chips when it is bubbling and cook the chips until golden, or however you like them, for approximately 15 minutes.

Remember that you are replicating the usage of a chip pan and you would not be advised to leave that unattended.  Be just as keen to observe what’s going on when cooking with a wood flame, remove from the heat if necessary and pay full attention to the dish.  15 minutes is not too long a time to have to do that!

The result

Once you have rustled up your steak and chips, you will have a feast worthy of the Three Lions and all their loyal supporters.  Invite your friends around, get the steak knives at the ready and eat like kings.  Whether your hunger for a World Cup victory will be satisfied is yet to be known but your rumbling ‘midfield’ will certainly be happy.

A final word 

To cook these – and our other World Cup recipes – just choose which wood-fired (or gas-fired) garden or kitchen oven best suits you, by heading to www.orchardovens.co.uk  or www.orchardovenscommercial.co.uk if you need a wood-fired, gas-fired or electric pizza oven for your commercial kitchen.

For homeowners, both ready-to-go and ovens designed to be built into a surround of your choice are available, as are build-your-own ‘pizza’ oven kits.  You can also call us on 07743 847647, with your queries.

Ends

Editors notes

Orchard Ovens is the domestic and commercial pizza oven supplier in the UK of Valoriani, based in Reggello, Tuscany - the manufacturer of Italy's hugely respected Valoriani pizza ovens, known as the Maserati of pizza ovens and the kings of clay. These ovens are made from superb refractory clay - cotto clay - found in the family's quarry and unique, thanks to having just the right alumina. This allows Valoriani ovens to heat up quickly and retain heat superbly, bring huge advantages to homeowners, as well as restaurant owners, hotels, pubs, mobile caterers, pizzerias, takeaways and more.

Orchard Ovens supplies some of Britain's best-known restaurants and chefs, whilst it is also a specialist creator of outdoor kitchens and wood-fired oven builds for the rich and famous, as well as everyday homeowners wishing to add value to their home and enjoy an outdoor lifestyle to the full.