Hello and welcome to The Big Night In. We talk recipes, restaurants, and the occasional bit of drivel. If somehow you have slipped into my house and are still not subscribed, don’t worry, we can fix that:
This Letter Includes:
The Steak Frites Recipe
A look at my NYC & London food trips.
A question for you reader!
Good evening chums, I am back; I left and didn’t warn you but I’m here now so stop fretting. I have a Steak Frites recipe to share with you and then, if you’re really good, next week I’ll give you all the recipes I made for my Thanksgiving/Friendsmas thing over the weekend. THEN if you’re spectacularly good, you’ll get my New York & London food guides.
If it’s alright with you, before steak, I’d like to take a minute to talk about me.
That’s a bit of a red herring, I actually want to talk about you, my readers/viewers/enemies/reluctant family members. I wanted to say a quick thank you for your support as I haphazardly wade through this thing. To the people who paid for this newsletter - even though not a single letter has been hidden behind a paywall (yet) - I am so grateful. You all have little dolls atop my mantle that I bow to each night and never plan to set on fire (unless you upset me of course). It means the world to both me and the little girl who worshipped Nigella Lawson (and made her parents visit her ‘restaurant’ complete with cardboard boxes and bowls of ham pasta).
There is a time and a place for writing long-winded bits and bobs about yourself. Today is not the time nor the place, but keep an eye out for when my writing subs in for therapy (all writers can attest to this common workplace hazard). So, tl;dr I’ve been lost in a post-grad and in my stupid head for the last, gosh, 14 weeks? Now I’m here! Both here as in my newsletter and here as in my new home.
I like new beginnings, big or small, that’s why I take up and subsequently put down a new hobby every 4 months. I need a shake up else I go mad (I blame my parents for constantly moving us around the world, how selfish). I guess, if things feel a little meh, I’m saying move house or start crocheting baby elephants.
Last bit of blah blah before I give you the steak that sort of went viral. How would we feel about housing all of my recipes (and my Substack) on a website? I’m trying to figure out the best way to get content to my readers and viewers. It is 80% for you, 10% wanting to build a brand, and 10% wanting to show you my canned chocolate t-shirt ideas.
Now onto the good stuff.
The Recipe
Steak Frites for the Home Cook
If you’ve seen the video for this dish here, here, or here, then you know I have strong steak opinions. I don’t eat it that often; I think it should be a luxury. I go through anti-beef phases for whatever reason (I choked on a chewy bit and needed to work through the trauma), so it takes a really good steak to get me back on the beef train*. I’m not surprised this video did so well, it’s steak and butter for gods sake. I do wish the more dour-looking recipes got this kind of attention - they’re not that fickle and taste really very good! But we can harp on that in one of our next letters.
*My ideal beef train includes filet mignon, dry-aged wagyu, and Paul Mescal.
The sauce can very much be played with to suit your liking. Stick to the butter, egg, and mustard in the sauce, but add or subtract things based on your preferences. Also, I’ve been warned this isn’t true entrecôte sauce (it’s not but it’s a good cousin so whatever, take your purity elsewhere). The steak should be thick and of good quality, don’t fret about french fries (make crispy as f*ck roast potatoes), and if you don’t know how to cut out lemon segments for the sauce, check out this handy video.
Entrecôte Sauce
200g butter
2 shallots, diced
6 anchovy filets
1 tablespoon of capers
1 tablespoon of dijon
Lemon segments & zest of 1 lemon
15g (handful) of parsley
15g tarragon (sub for basil if you can’t find tarragon)
1 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce
1 egg yolk
salt & pepper, to taste
Steak
2x Scotch fillets (or your preferred cut), about 3 inches thick.
Olive oil
Knob of butter
3-5 garlic cloves
Handful of thyme or rosemary
Frites
500g potatoes, peeled & quartered
Olive oil
6 cloves of garlic
Handful of rosemary or thyme
Steak
Generously season the steaks and leave them uncovered in the fridge on a wire rack for at least 45 minutes but up to a day. The reason for this is two-fold, the drying gives you a better sear and crust, and the reduced moisture gives a more even cook because you are avoiding steaming.
When ready to cook, let the steaks come up to room temperature. Meanwhile prepare your potatoes and sauce.
When your ‘frites’ are about 20 minutes from being done, turn the oven temp down to 180c and start cooking the steaks. Place a stainless steel or cast-iron pan over a high heat. Rub the steaks with a generous amount of olive oil then sear on one side for 2-3 minutes. Flip the steaks over, add in the butter, garlic, and herbs, then baste for 30 seconds.
Place the pan in the oven. If you have a thermometer, the temperatures are below (these will rise after rested). If you don’t have thermometer, a 3-inch steak will need about 4-5 minutes in the oven for a nice, pink, medium. Leave the steak to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Rare: 120-125°F (49-52°C)
Medium Rare: 130-135°F (54-57°C)
Medium: 140-145°F (60-63°C)
Medium Well: 150-155°F (66-68°C)
Well Done: 160°F+ (71°C+)
Frites
Preheat your oven to 220c (428f).
Add the potatoes to a large pot and cover them in cold water and a large pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and cook until a knife easily goes through all the way. (None of this par-boiling BS. They’re better when cooked).
Drain the potatoes, pour them back into the pot and drizzle over a good glug (3-4 tablespoons) of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper then cover with a lid and shake the potatoes vigorously. Bits of mashed/smashed potato is great because that’s what forms a crispy, lacy edge.
Pour the potatoes out on a large tray and place in the oven for 35 - 45 minutes or until really crispy. Toss them half way through roasting. Season as they come out of the oven.
Entrecôte Sauce
Melt down the butter in a pot over a medium heat, then add the shallots. Sauté until the shallots are translucent and soft. Let them cool for 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the temperature here so you don’t brown the butter or darken the shallots.
In a blender add the rest of the ingredients (without the butter) and blend until the sauce comes together. Then add in the butter and shallots and blend until the sauce is emulsified and glossy and coats the back of a spoon nicely.
Notes
If your sauce splits (is grainy), first try blending a little longer. If that doesn’t work try adding a bit of warm water. There are lots of reasons for splitting a sauce so you want to make sure you work fast to avoid this - if nothing is working, check chatGPT for the insane number of solutions it’s bound to give you.