On a white plate sits a Steak with Béarnaise Sauce poured over the top of it. The steak is cut up into strips so the pink inside is showing.

GILL MELLER’S STEAK WITH A CLASSIC (ISH) BÉARNAISE SAUCE

An essential sauce to have in your sorcerer’s armoury. It hails from the Béarn region of Southwest France and has been a constant companion to grilled steak ever since Chef Jean-Louis Françoise-Collinet invented it over a century ago.

Tarragon is the big player here, but our ambassador chef Gill Meller likes to add a touch of parsley and a few snipped chives – no offence meant Jean-louis!

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

2 x 200g ribeye or sirloin steak about 1 inch thick

1 tbsp of olive oil

4 – 5 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped

1/3 tbls of cracked black pepper

Sea salt

For the béarnaise sauce:

2 fresh Stonegate Estate Organic egg yolks

1 shallot very finely diced

2 tbls of tarragon vinegar (or white wine vinegar, if you don’t have it)

125g cold butter cut into small cubes

2 tbls of very finely sliced chives

2 tbls of finely chopped parley

A small bunch of fresh tarragon leaves picked and finely chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

  1. Heat a large, heavy grill over the fire. Turn the steaks through the olive oil then season them with the cracked black pepper and plenty of salt. Tear the thyme leaves from the stem and scatter these over the steaks. Massage the seasoning and herbs into the meat. Lay the steaks down on the hot grill. If the embers are as hot as they should be, the steaks will spit and sizzle.
  1. Cook the steak, pressing it down every so often with the back of a spatula, for 2 ½ – 3 minutes. Carefully turn the steak and cook for a further 2 minutes.
  1. (N.B These cooking times will give you a medium rare ribeye steak but if you’re cooking a bavette or fillet steak these timing may differ slightly. It’s sometimes worth checking the internal temperature with a digital meat thermometer. Take your steaks off the heat when they hit your preferred temp. See below)

  1. Rare – 48ºC

    Medium Rare – 52ºC

    Medium – 58ºC

    Medium Well – 62ºC

    Well Done – 68ºC

  1. Lift the steaks off the grill to a warm dish, cover loosely with parchment paper and let them rest while you make the sauce.
  1. Set a smallish pan down over the fire and add the shallot, the vinegar and 4 Tbls of water. Bring the contents of the pan up to a simmer and reduce by half. Remove the pan and tip the contents into a heat proof mixing bowl.
  1. When the vinegar and shallot reduction has cooled, stir in the egg yolks, then, holding the bowl over the hot fire (or over a pan of simmering water) start whisking the yolks and vinegar together until you have a nice light emulsified texture. Now start dropping in the butter a cube or two at a time and whisking until the butter has melted. Repeat this process with a couple more cubes of butter, whisking all the while until the butter has melted and the sauce is beginning to thicken. At this point you can whisk in the remaining butter. If at any stage, it looks like the sauce may be splitting add a few drops of ice water which should help bring it back together.
  1. You can, if you like, pass the sauce through a sieve at this point to remove the diced shallot, personally I never bother, I like the texture of the shallot in the sauce, what’s more, it seems wasteful.
  1. Either way, stir in the chopped tarragon, parsley and chives and season the bearnaise sauce with salt and plenty of black pepper.
  1. Carve the steaks into nice thick slices and serve at once with the bearnaise sauce and a nice big bowl of sauté potatoes or chips.
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