Beef Recipes, Steak Recipes

Chateaubriand with Triple-Cooked Chips & Béarnaise Sauce

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This chateaubriand recipe is the perfect dish for a special occasion — the most famous of steaks with an equally revered sauce. A match made in heaven. Many kitchens up and down the land have witnessed the debate rage about which is the superior steak sauce. Is it the heat of a classic green peppercorn sauce recipe, the pure indulgence of a Bordelaise, the zing and bounce of a chimichurri (or indeed salsa verde), or is it the majesty of a silky béarnaise? Of course, there is no definitive answer, but it is clear to me that béarnaise is totally delicious and is not only a great accomplice for the beef but also for the chips, and that, to me, is important. For there is one thing that I can give a definitive answer to, and that is the question of the best thing to eat with steaks: chips.

Serves: 2-3

Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the béarnaise sauce

Method

For the béarnaise:

  1. To make a béarnaise sauce, you must first make a white wine vinegar reduction.  Put the vinegar, peppercorns, shallot, bay leaf, thyme and 4-sprigs of tarragon into a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. Allow the vinegar to simmer away and reduce by about two-thirds. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Now for the chips:

  1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chips. I personally don’t like them too chunky, but this is a decision for you to make.
  2. Put the chips in a large pan and place the pan in your sink. Wash the chips in water from the hot tap, as hot as possible. Stir them around the pan as the water pours, you will notice all the starch coming out of them. Wash like this for a couple of minutes.
  3. Then switch the water to cold and cover the chips. Season with sea salt and place over a high heat. Bring to a boil and then reduce slightly to a good simmer. Cook for 10-14 minutes – much will depend on the thickness of your chip. One of the tricks to a great chip is to be brave with the first blanching. Take them a little further than seems sensible.
  4. With care and a gentle touch, drain the chips into a colander and then transfer them to a tray to cool. It is best if they are in a single layer so they don’t get too smashed up. Leave them somewhere to cool completely.
  5. Heat your deep fryer, or a large pan, with beef dripping to 130°C. In batches, so as not to overfill the fryer, fry off the chips for 6-minutes. Drain any excess oil and then lay on a tray to cool.
  6. For the third phase of this triple cook, turn the fryer up to 185°C and, again in batches, fry off the chips for 3-4 minutes. Drain off any excess oil and tip into a bowl lined with kitchen towel. Season well with sea salt.

Finally the chateaubriand:

  1. Remove the steak from the fridge and its packaging and allow it to come up to room temperature.
  2. Season the steak well with sea salt and black pepper.
  3. Preheat your oven to 165°C.
  4. Place a cast-iron skillet or frying pan over a high heat with a tablespoon of oil. Once the oil begins to smoke, carefully lay the chateaubriand in the pan.
  5. Allow the meat to brown and caramelise on all sides, moving it and rotating it regularly.
  6. Once nicely caramelised, turn the heat down and add a large knob of butter to the pan. Once the butter starts to foam, use a spoon to baste the steak. Rotate and baste again.
  7. Transfer the pan to the oven and set a timer for 4-minutes.
  8. Remove from the oven and baste the steak again, then flip it over and baste some more.
  9. Return the pan to the oven and set the timer for 4-minutes, once more.
  10. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the chateaubriand to a plate or tray. Tip the hot butter from the pan over the meat and leave to rest, somewhere warm, for 15-minutes.

To make the béarnaise sauce

  1. Set a pan, half filled with water over a medium heat and bring to a simmer.
  2. In another pan melt the butter. It is important that the butter is completely melted but not, and this is important, too hot. If the temperature of the butter isn’t right, then the béarnaise will likely split.
  3. Tip the egg yolks into a heat-proof bowl that fits over the pan of water, along with a pinch of salt, 1 ½ tablespoons of the white wine vinegar reduction, and a tablespoon of water.
  4. Whisk all of this together, vigorously. Then set the bowl over the simmering water to create a bain marie. Do not stop whisking from now until the end of this process — you may want to enlist some help!
  5. When whisking be sure to venture into every corner of the bowl to ensure that nowhere is the yolk mixture allowed to catch on the bowl — if it does it will essentially scramble and result in a lumpy béarnaise.
  6. As the yolks cook and you incorporate more and more air into them, you will notice it stiffen and grow significantly. Once the yolks have reached the soft peaks stage, then you are ready to whisk in your butter.
  7. Pour in the butter in a slow steady stream whilst whisking continuously. The golden clarified butter should all be incorporated first and then a little of the milk solids which will have sunk to the bottom of the pan go in at the end. These will loosen the béarnaise a little so only add as much as you need for the desired consistency.
  8. Strip the leaves off 4-sprigs of tarragon and finely chop them with a very sharp knife. Fold these through the béarnaise and squeeze in a touch of lemon juice.
  9. Check the seasoning and adjust as necessary.
  10. Whip up a simple salad of radicchio, frisée, watercress and crushed pink peppercorns and enjoy the feast.

Order meat online

For 15 years, George worked in some of London’s most loved restaurants, including Padella and Primeur, and spent five years as Head Chef at the Garden Museum Café. He earned praise for his simple, thoughtful cooking, with dishes rooted in the classics and always respectful of the ingredients.

In 2021, George realised a long-held ambition with the release of his first cookbook, A Year in the Kitchen. It celebrates the annual cookery cycle, guiding readers through the British seasons, showcasing native produce and encouraging creativity year-round.

In 2022, George left London and returned to his native Yorkshire. His passion for seasonal cooking and respect for quality British ingredients have remained central to his work. Like his food, George is led by the seasons, open to new opportunities and always following his heart.

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  • The process of developing a dish with chefs is a rewarding one, made all the more so when we have the chance to eat the end product. As was the case here upon a recent (ish) visit to @rambutan_ldn Conversations around the best steak to use for this dish began months ago and we were able to offer our expert advice as Sofia and her team fine-tuned the balance of flavours, spices and textures. A few different cuts were trialled, and, in the end, it was our rump steaks which triumphed! Their flavour and fat able to be carried by that rich and deep curry sauce, with brighter notes and acidity being offered up by the parsley temper and little pearls of onion. It is truly a triumph. A marriage of Yorkshire beef and traditional Sri Lankan flavours and we couldn’t be prouder to see it on the menu and being enjoyed by their lucky guests!
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  • Take a little inspiration from our very own grill master @grylos when it comes to cooking your big, bone in steaks. This method takes time, skill and plenty of patience but the result is a deep, dark char, beautiful blushing pink flesh and melting buttery fat. We can safely say, after this day we spent in the field, that it is well worth the effort. Close to steak perfection. Plus, he knocked up a charred spring vegetable green sauce, which was an ideal foil for that most delicious of steaks – clever boy. The idea is to spend time building a char and crust with many short visits to the hottest part of the grill, interspersed with time away from the grill, somewhere warm, slowly coming up to temperature. Placing it directly on the coals at the end is a bit of a gimmick, however, it did yield excellent results, so maybe give it a go (only if you have good quality charcoal though!)! Steak perfection!!
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  • We are reaching the end of our wild garlic sausages, as the season begins to slip away and only the deeper, shaded pockets of woodland still offer the tender leaves we rely on. It is from these cooler, quieter areas that we are still able to gather what we need, though even here the plants are beginning to turn, and once the flowers arrive, the flavour shifts and our time with wild garlic comes to a close for another year. As ever, we follow the season rather than stretch it, working with what is left while it is still at its best, which means if you have been enjoying them, or have been meaning to try them, now is the time to cook them or put a few aside for later. Before long, they will be gone, and we will wait for spring to bring them back again.
  • A while back we had the pleasure of visiting @petea25 at the @cantonarms Arms, where we spoke about their ever evolving menu, a place that is not afraid to cook things until they are gone and then move on to something new. We saw how they treated the Swaledale pork chop, and it told you everything you needed to know. Cooked with care, handled properly, and full of flavour. It was, simply, delicious.
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
We are firmly of the belief that our pork is as good as it has ever been, the breeding, the rearing, the dry ageing and of course the butchery. All of it functioning in harmony to provide us with some high-grade pork. Loin chops seem to be having their moment in the sun, currently a firm favourite amongst our restaurant community, and rightly so. A classic; the leaner eye meat enveloped by a lovely cover of fat, cut thick and cooked well, they are so, so good. A little less well known, but no less delicious, and a cracking option for sharing, our shoulder chops are a slightly different beast. We split our shoulders in half and age the so-called Boston butt, when ready, the shoulder chops are cut from this section. The eye meat is made up of the collar or neck fillet and has excellent natural marbling. You then get a little of the blade and the muscles that surround it, this is darker, more richly flavoured meat. You still get the cover of fat, which, once rendered, tastes incredible. All in all, a fantastic sharing chop and a slight point of difference from the loin chops. Both supremely delicious!
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@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
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Follow
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@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
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A recent visit to see Ed Stavely’s pigs on the Swinton Estate, where a landscape not traditionally associated with pig keeping is slowly being reshaped through careful management and a willingness to do things a little differently. The pigs are largely native breeds, often crossed with Duroc to help them fare better through the long Yorkshire winters and the exposed conditions up on the estate. Hardy, slow-growing animals that seem to suit both the land and the philosophy behind the system. They are part of a wider effort to restore ground that had, in places, drifted too far from balance. Their rooting clears rougher areas, disturbs the soil naturally and creates opportunities for new herbal lays, healthier pasture and eventually species-rich hay meadows to return. There are certainly easier places to rear pigs, but it is difficult not to admire the determination to make this sort of farming work in a landscape like this, where the focus stretches beyond production alone and towards the long-term health of the land itself.
A recent visit to see Ed Stavely’s pigs on the Swinton Estate, where a landscape not traditionally associated with pig keeping is slowly being reshaped through careful management and a willingness to do things a little differently. The pigs are largely native breeds, often crossed with Duroc to help them fare better through the long Yorkshire winters and the exposed conditions up on the estate. Hardy, slow-growing animals that seem to suit both the land and the philosophy behind the system. They are part of a wider effort to restore ground that had, in places, drifted too far from balance. Their rooting clears rougher areas, disturbs the soil naturally and creates opportunities for new herbal lays, healthier pasture and eventually species-rich hay meadows to return. There are certainly easier places to rear pigs, but it is difficult not to admire the determination to make this sort of farming work in a landscape like this, where the focus stretches beyond production alone and towards the long-term health of the land itself.
A recent visit to see Ed Stavely’s pigs on the Swinton Estate, where a landscape not traditionally associated with pig keeping is slowly being reshaped through careful management and a willingness to do things a little differently. The pigs are largely native breeds, often crossed with Duroc to help them fare better through the long Yorkshire winters and the exposed conditions up on the estate. Hardy, slow-growing animals that seem to suit both the land and the philosophy behind the system. They are part of a wider effort to restore ground that had, in places, drifted too far from balance. Their rooting clears rougher areas, disturbs the soil naturally and creates opportunities for new herbal lays, healthier pasture and eventually species-rich hay meadows to return. There are certainly easier places to rear pigs, but it is difficult not to admire the determination to make this sort of farming work in a landscape like this, where the focus stretches beyond production alone and towards the long-term health of the land itself.
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
A recent visit to see Ed Stavely’s pigs on the Swinton Estate, where a landscape not traditionally associated with pig keeping is slowly being reshaped through careful management and a willingness to do things a little differently. The pigs are largely native breeds, often crossed with Duroc to help them fare better through the long Yorkshire winters and the exposed conditions up on the estate. Hardy, slow-growing animals that seem to suit both the land and the philosophy behind the system. They are part of a wider effort to restore ground that had, in places, drifted too far from balance. Their rooting clears rougher areas, disturbs the soil naturally and creates opportunities for new herbal lays, healthier pasture and eventually species-rich hay meadows to return. There are certainly easier places to rear pigs, but it is difficult not to admire the determination to make this sort of farming work in a landscape like this, where the focus stretches beyond production alone and towards the long-term health of the land itself.
3 weeks ago
462
View on Instagram |
4/8
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
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1 month ago
1,28832
View on Instagram |
5/8
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
To our friends down south, you might have noticed Yorkshire is still a good few weeks behind the march towards summer. The trees are only just coming into leaf in the Dales, especially up in Upper Wharfedale, and that gives us a little more time with the wild garlic. Here is @grylos with what feels like one of his best ideas to date. A proper use of those essential carcass balance cuts. Lamb hearts, though this would work just as well with tongues, sweetbreads or liver. Cooked simply, well seasoned, finished with a little lemon. Alongside it, wild garlic taken from the darker, shaded parts of the woodland where it is still fresh. Even if it has started to turn, it holds up. Treated like spinach, wilted down, then cooked with oil, salt and cream, left to reduce until it becomes rich and full of flavour. A brilliant little starter for our chefs blackboards, and something that will more than hold its own at home. A dish for the season, if ever there was one.
1 month ago
1839
View on Instagram |
6/8
We are reaching the end of our wild garlic sausages, as the season begins to slip away and only the deeper, shaded pockets of woodland still offer the tender leaves we rely on. It is from these cooler, quieter areas that we are still able to gather what we need, though even here the plants are beginning to turn, and once the flowers arrive, the flavour shifts and our time with wild garlic comes to a close for another year. As ever, we follow the season rather than stretch it, working with what is left while it is still at its best, which means if you have been enjoying them, or have been meaning to try them, now is the time to cook them or put a few aside for later. Before long, they will be gone, and we will wait for spring to bring them back again.
We are reaching the end of our wild garlic sausages, as the season begins to slip away and only the deeper, shaded pockets of woodland still offer the tender leaves we rely on. It is from these cooler, quieter areas that we are still able to gather what we need, though even here the plants are beginning to turn, and once the flowers arrive, the flavour shifts and our time with wild garlic comes to a close for another year. As ever, we follow the season rather than stretch it, working with what is left while it is still at its best, which means if you have been enjoying them, or have been meaning to try them, now is the time to cook them or put a few aside for later. Before long, they will be gone, and we will wait for spring to bring them back again.
We are reaching the end of our wild garlic sausages, as the season begins to slip away and only the deeper, shaded pockets of woodland still offer the tender leaves we rely on. It is from these cooler, quieter areas that we are still able to gather what we need, though even here the plants are beginning to turn, and once the flowers arrive, the flavour shifts and our time with wild garlic comes to a close for another year. As ever, we follow the season rather than stretch it, working with what is left while it is still at its best, which means if you have been enjoying them, or have been meaning to try them, now is the time to cook them or put a few aside for later. Before long, they will be gone, and we will wait for spring to bring them back again.
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
We are reaching the end of our wild garlic sausages, as the season begins to slip away and only the deeper, shaded pockets of woodland still offer the tender leaves we rely on. It is from these cooler, quieter areas that we are still able to gather what we need, though even here the plants are beginning to turn, and once the flowers arrive, the flavour shifts and our time with wild garlic comes to a close for another year. As ever, we follow the season rather than stretch it, working with what is left while it is still at its best, which means if you have been enjoying them, or have been meaning to try them, now is the time to cook them or put a few aside for later. Before long, they will be gone, and we will wait for spring to bring them back again.
1 month ago
761
View on Instagram |
7/8
@swaledalebutchers
@swaledalebutchers
•
Follow
A while back we had the pleasure of visiting @petea25 at the @cantonarms Arms, where we spoke about their ever evolving menu, a place that is not afraid to cook things until they are gone and then move on to something new. We saw how they treated the Swaledale pork chop, and it told you everything you needed to know. Cooked with care, handled properly, and full of flavour. It was, simply, delicious.
1 month ago
38110
View on Instagram |
8/8