Steak with Béarnaise Sauce
Tender grilled steak with decadent Bearnaise sauce and crispy fries. You’ll find this dish in almost every brasserie in Paris. The great thing is you don’t have to take a trip to Paris to enjoy this traditional French meal. Bon Appetit!
Ingredients
- 4 sirloin steaks (if you’re feeling fancy, substitute fillet mignon steak)
- 1 cup butter
- ¼ cup white wine
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or Champagne vinegar)
- 4 teaspoons water
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- Salt and Pepper
- 1/2 bouquet chervil, finely chopped (you can omit this if you can't find it)
- 1/2 bouquet tarragon, finely chopped
- Dash of olive oill
Instructions
- Clarify your butter – melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Simmer gently until the foam rises to the top. This should only take a few minutes. You should see the milk solids starting to separate. You don’t want it to brown, so be sure to have the heat on low and watch carefully. Set aside to cool slightly, discard the foam, and pour the clear clarified butter in a bowl. You only want to keep the ‘clear’ butter which is perfect for cooking on high temperature and making sauces.
- In another saucepan, boil the vinegar, white wine, finely chopped shallots, half of the herbs, salt and pepper until it has reduced and turned slightly syrup-like, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat, add the 4 egg yolks and the 4 tsp of water and whisk rapidly and continuously. Return to very low heat, continue to whisk, and remove from heat every 1 minute – repeat this process for 10 minutes, constantly whisking until the sauce becomes frothy and starts thickening. By now your sauce should have reached its goal and become lovely and thick. Remove from heat and add the cooled clarified butter, continue to whisk. You should obtain a beautiful thick yet smooth sauce. Add the rest of the chopped herbs. The key to success is to constantly whisk the sauce, alternating on/off the heat.
- Heat a cast iron pan or griddle on a high heat, and add a tsp of oil. Fry steak on both sides – I like mine medium, so about 2-4 minutes on each side, depending on how thick the steak is.
- Here are three golden rules when cooking steak: 1) Always take out the meat from the fridge 1 hour before cooking. 2) Salt the steak before cooking it. 3) Do not move or touch the steak when cooking. Just let it sizzle.
Notes
EASY TIP: To make the bearnaise sauce in a blender: Bring the vinegar, wine, shallots, 1/2 the herbs, salt and pepper to a boil in a small saucepan. Boil for about 5 minutes. Melt the butter. I put the butter in a glass measuring cup and melt it in the microwave. Let the mixture cool, then add to blender with egg yolks and salt. Blend for about 30 seconds. Then, with the blender on, slowly (very slowly so you don’t scramble the eggs) add the melted butter (be sure it’s still hot!). You want to drizzle the butter into the blender. Add remaining herbs. Blend for another second or two. If it’s too thick, add 1 tablespoon of white wine to thin it out a bit. Let it sit in the blender while you prepare the steaks.
Have you made this recipe?I’d love to know! Leave a comment or recipe rating and tag me @amenuforyou on social media!