Growing up in Trás-os-Montes, Portugal, I have so many cherished memories of the delicious food my mother would make. One dish that always brings back fond memories is Posta à Mirandesa – a tender veal steak cooked to perfection and served with a flavorful sauce. I can still remember the smell of the steak grilling and the anticipation of sitting down to enjoy it with my family.
Posta à Mirandesa is a traditional dish from my home region of Trás-os-Montes. It’s made with high-quality veal steak that is seasoned with coarse salt and grilled over hot embers. The result is a tender and juicy steak that is full of flavor.
The secret to making perfect Posta à Mirandesa lies in choosing the right cut of meat. My mother always stressed the importance of selecting a thick and well-marbled veal steak to ensure that it stayed juicy during cooking. She would also cook the steak over high heat so that it developed a nice crust on the outside while remaining tender on the inside.
In addition to the steak itself, my mother would always serve Posta à Mirandesa with a sauce made from olive oil, vinegar, garlic, sweet paprika and chili pepper. This sauce added an extra layer of flavor to the dish and complemented the taste of the veal perfectly.
For me, Posta à Mirandesa is more than just a delicious meal – it’s a taste of home. Whenever I make this dish now that I’m living in the USA, I’m transported back to my childhood in Trás-os-Montes and all of the happy memories that come with it. I hope that by sharing this recipe with you, you too can experience a little bit of Portugal in your own kitchen.
Ingredients
- 4 Mirandesa veal steaks (1.2 to 1.6 inches thick with about 10.6 oz each)
- Coarse salt to taste
- For the Posta à Mirandesa sauce:
- 0.42 cups of olive oil
- 0.85 fl oz of white vinegar
- 0.88 oz of garlic
- 0.88 oz of sweet paprika
- Coarse salt to taste
- Finely chopped chili pepper to taste
Instructions
- Make strong embers, distribute them evenly and place the grill at a height of about 4 inches.
- Arrange the Mirandesa beef steaks on top of the grill (without any seasoning).
- Season with a little coarse salt as soon as the steaks start to heat up.
- When small “pearls of blood” begin to appear on the surface, turn each steak (make sure the embers are still very hot).
- Season again with a little coarse salt.
- Remove from the grill when such “pearls of blood” appear again on the surface.
- For the sauce: Start by chopping the garlic and adding it to the remaining ingredients. Mix everything together and add in the meat cooking sauce.
Notes
- Some good side dishes for Posta à Mirandesa include potatoes (boiled, roasted or fried), turnip greens or mushrooms, or a simple salad.
- You could also try some other Portuguese side dishes such as Portuguese tomato rice (arroz de tomate) or a Portuguese salad with tomatoes, red pepper, onions, cucumbers and olives.
- When choosing a good veal steak, there are a few things to consider. First, look for marbling - the white fat running through the steak that gives it juiciness and flavor. You typically want long lines of fat rather than chunks.
- Also pay attention to the thickness of the steak - you want to find a steak that is at least 1-inch thick.
- The grade that the USDA gives steaks indicates its overall quality. Higher grades often coincide with more marbling. When you buy your steak, you have four options for grade: Prime (highest quality), Choice, Select and Standard (lowest quality).
- It’s also important to consider where your veal comes from and how it was raised. If you’re interested in buying humanely-raised meat (i.e. animals raised outside of tiny crates), ask for “free-range” and “grass-fed” veal. Talk to your butcher: He or she will know where the meat is from and how it was raised.
