Boneless rib-eye steaks with root vegetable chips and cheat’s bearnaise

Recipe | September 29, 2020

Photo by Jason Loucas

Author notes

Our take on steak and chips is a crowd-pleaser with plenty of colour and depth of flavour. Oven-baked chips are a fuss-free alternative to deep frying, while a cheat’s bearnaise sauce packs in all the flavour of the classic without the hassle.

What’s so special about bearnaise? As the godfather of modern French cuisine Fernand Point (1897-1955) famously stated, “A bearnaise sauce is simply clarified butter, an egg yolk, a shallot, a little tarragon vinegar. It takes years of practice for the result to be perfect.” Perfect means smooth, emulsified, rich and slightly tart, with butter held in delicate suspension by whipped yolks. There’s nothing like it on top of a seared steak!

Boneless rib-eye (also called Scotch fillet) is full of flavour and quick to cook but there’s no cut that wouldn’t work with this recipe. Serve with a simple leafy green salad and dinner is sorted.

PREP TIME 20 minutes

COOK TIME 1 hour (plus resting)

SERVES 4

Ingredients

---

For the steak
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
4 x 200g (7 oz) Westholme boneless rib-eye, at room temperature

For the root vegetable chips
4 waxy potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1.5cm (½ in) thick chips
3 small sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1.5cm (½ in) thick chips
3 carrots, scrubbed and cut into 1.5cm (½ in) thick chips
2 large beetroot, peeled and cut into 1.5cm (½ in) thick chips
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp coarsely chopped rosemary
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
leafy green salad, to serve, optional

For the cheat’s bearnaise
150g (1⅓ sticks) butter, diced
3 egg yolks
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp finely chopped tarragon
salt and pepper, to taste
squeeze lemon juice

Method

---

1. Preheat oven to 200C (390F). Combine olive oil, rosemary and garlic in a bowl, season to taste and set aside to marinate for 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, to make the vegetable chips, toss ingredients in a large roasting tray lined with baking paper to combine well, season to taste and roast for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and tender.

3. To make the bearnaise, melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Blitz egg yolks and vinegar in a small food processor to combine. With the motor running, add melted butter in a thin steady stream and process until emulsified. Add tarragon, season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice and process to combine. Set aside and keep warm.

4. Heat a large frypan over medium-high heat. Add steaks and cook without turning for 2-3 minutes until browned well. Turn and cook remaining side for 2-3 minutes until browned well and cooked medium-rare. If you prefer your steak more well done, transfer to a low oven until cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate, tent with foil and rest for 5 minutes. Serve thinly sliced across the grain with vegetable chips and bearnaise and green salad, if serving.

Notes

• We love a boneless rib-eye steak for this recipe as it’s quick to cook while being full of flavour, but you could also use sirloin or eye fillet. In fact, these more-ish chips are perfect alongside almost any steak dish.
• If you want an even easier dish, use store-bought aioli in place of bearnaise.

---