Côte De Boeuf with Peppercorn Sauce & Beef-Fat Chips

Côte De Boeuf with Peppercorn Sauce & Beef-Fat Chips

For many, this dish may rank near the top of your 'last supper' meals. A medium-rare steak glistening with buttery fat, served with crisped-to-perfection chips and the greatest of all steak accompaniment — a fragrant peppercorn sauce, rich with cream and brandy.

Ingredients

Spring · Serves 2

  • 1

    grass-fed côte de boeuf

  • 1 tsp

    beef dripping

  • a knob of grass-fed butter

  • 2

    garlic cloves, bashed

  • 2 sprigs

    rosemary

  • 1 tsp

    capers

  • flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • For the beef-fat chips

    50g (1¾oz)

    beef dripping

  • 1kg (2lb 4oz)

    floury potatoes (I use Desiree), peeled and cut into thinnish chips

  • 2 sprigs

    rosemary, leaves picked

  • 2 sprigs

    thyme, leaves picked

  • For the peppercorn sauce

    40g (1½oz)

    grass-fed butter

  • 2 large

    shallots, finely chopped

  • 50ml (2fl oz)

    Somerset cider brandy

  • 150ml (5fl oz)

    beef stock

  • 200ml (7fl oz)

    double cream

  • 1 tbsp

    green peppercorns

  • 1 tbsp

    roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Buy available ingredients
Recipe image

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Remove the steak from the fridge, pat dry and allow it to come up to room temperature.

Meanwhile, make the chips. Set a saucepan of salted boiling water over a high heat, tip in the potatoes and cook for 3–4 minutes. Drain in a colander and leave to steam for a minute or two.

Spoon the beef dripping into a roasting tray and place into the oven to heat. Once it's sizzling hot, remove the tray from the oven and carefully tip in the potatoes. Stir them through the fat, then scatter over the rosemary and thyme. Place the tray back in the oven and cook for 40 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, make the peppercorn sauce. Set a saucepan over a low–medium heat, add the butter and the shallots and cook for a couple of minutes, until soft. Increase the heat, add the cider brandy and simmer until it has reduced by two-thirds. Add the stock and reduce it by two-thirds. Pour in the cream and simmer until the sauce has thickened. Stir in the peppercorns and parsley. Season, if necessary. Turn the heat right down to keep the sauce warm while you cook the steak.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Season the steak well with salt and pepper. Set a cast-iron frying pan over a high heat and spoon in the beef dripping. Once the fat is sizzling hot, add the steak to the pan. Leave it to sizzle on one side for 4–5 minutes, until a proper caramelized crust has formed, then turn it over and repeat the process. Add the butter, garlic, rosemary and capers and allow it to foam up, then baste the steak for a minute or two. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for 15 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, aim for 48–52°C (118–125°F) for rare; 52–58°C (125–136°F) for medium; for well done, don't bother cooking this beautiful cut. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Slice the steak and serve it with the crispy chips and a generous amount of peppercorn sauce, perhaps also with a sharply dressed green salad to cut through the richness.
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