THE STEAK
Serves 2-4, depending on how hungry you are
1 well-aged, two-bone fore rib of beef (on the bone — ask your butcher) Black peppercorns
Sea salt
Smoked sea salt
Groundnut (peanut) oil
1 Using an oven thermometer, preheat the oven to 50C/120F/Gas Mark .
2 Place the fore rib in a roasting tin. Brown the outside as quickly as possible using a blowtorch. (If it’s not hot enough, the flame will start to cook the flesh. If yours isn’t up to the job, use a very hot pan instead.) Once the meat is browned, place it in the oven. Use a digital probe to establish when the internal temperature of the meat has reached 50C/ 120F (this takes 4–8 hours, depending on the animal; don’t let it go any higher — it will ruin the recipe), then let it cook at this temperature for a minimum of 18 hours. Remove from the oven, cover and leave to rest at room temperature for 2 hours — 4 would be better — it’s important that the meat cools down before it is subjected to the fierce heat of the pan.
3 To prepare the steaks, hold the fore rib upright with the rib bones side on. Run a sharp knife between the meat and the bones, and free what should be an L-shaped piece of meat. Trim off any overly charcoaled exterior. Slice the meat in half vertically to give two steaks, each about 5cm thick.
W of the steak, it kick-starts a complicated process known as the Maillard reaction, which adds depth and complexity to the flavours of meat. To get those flavours without drying out the steak, you need to brown the surface quickly and then take the heat right down. At the lower temperature, muscle proteins contract and squeeze out water more slowly, which is crucial to
keeping the meat moist. But the steak also needs to be tenderised, which, at this temperature, is done by enzymes that weaken or break down collagen and other proteins. Heating the meat slowly means these enzymes can perform their magic for several hours, effectively ageing the meat during cooking. The result is the tenderest, tastiest steak imaginable.
4 Place a large cast-iron pan over a high heat for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, take the blue-cheese-infused butter out of the fridge and remove the cheese. Crush the peppercorns using a pestle and mortar, add a little of the plain sea salt and smoked sea salt, and put this mixture on a plate. Dip both sides of each steak in the seasoning.
5 Add a film of the groundnut oil to the pan and, when it’s smoking, add the steaks. (The surface of each steak needs to be in contact with the pan, otherwise they won’t cook properly. If they overlap, fry one at a time.) Fry for 4 minutes, flipping every 30 seconds. They should develop a nice 1mm brown crust, while the interior should be uniformly pink.
6 Let the steaks rest. Allow the frying pan to cool slightly, then add the flavoured butter and stir to melt it and collect any bits of meat that remain. Pour into a jug.
7 Cut the steaks into diagonal slices. Add a few grindings of black pepper, and a sprinkling of sea salt and smoked sea salt, then drizzle the butter on top. Serve with a dollop of mushroom ketchup and tomato ketchup.
Chanterelle even more so!