Bastille Day Steak and Chips

There is no reason to call this Bastille Day Steak other than the fact that we chose to cook it on Bastille Day with part of our French family!!  The only real link with France there than the timing is the fact that the so called Tomahawk Steak we chose is indeed French Trimmed!  The Tomahawk Steak is simply an on-the bone Rib Steak.  It is cut from the Fore-rib but the entire rib bone left attached.  There is a usually a good deal of inter muscular fat  which together with the advantages of ‘bone in’ cooking leads to a great final result.  The Thickness of the steak is based in the thickness of the rib bone but usually approaches 5cm leading to a steak weighing around 1.2Kg.  Ideal therefore for sharing it is usually suggested that this will serve 2 – well in fact it will serve more, especially if it is part of a multiple course meal.  Ours comfortably served 4, and we have never been accused of having poor appetites!

Whilst technically a steak, it is big enough to also be considered as a roasting cut – rather like the Bistecca alla Fiorentina.   We were going to cook it the same way as we did for that  by cooking it as a revers sear.  As we were at home and had the luxury of more than one Big Green Egg to cook on, the Large BGE was set up in indirect mode at around 100C with a little cherry wood added for a gentle smoky flavour.  The steak had been removed from its wrappings and left for the surface to dry at room temperature for a couple of hours.  Just before putting the steak in the BGE it was generously salted and peppered and placed in the BGE with an indwelling temperature probe in place.  I was running the EGG with the CyberCloud controlling the cooking temperature and monitoring the core temperature of the meat.  We were looking for an overall finishing temperature of around 54C (that boarder between rare and medium rare) after the final sear – so that meant cooking at this temperature until the core came to around 48C.  At this stage, the steak does look rather unappetising (see left).

Working on 2 BGEs had the advantage that we were able to hold the partially cooked steak at around 48C by wrapping in foil and tea towels and placing in a cool box until ready to do the final sear, earning me extra ‘Brownie points” for serving the steak bang on time.  The second egg was therefore set up for direct cooking at around 250C dome temperature.  I was doing this on the MiniMax which has the great advantage of coming up to temperature very quickly – but as you will see from the pictures the disadvantage of being a little small for the Tomahawk steak!  Fortunately the searing only takes a very short time until that lovely golden colour is achieved and although the handle of the Tomahawk extended outside the EGG, it was possible to ‘nearly close’ the EGG!!

The Steak was taken off the grill once the outside was took on the appropriate beautifully flame grilled colour and finish as above – at this point the core temperature measured with a Thermopen was around 52C.  The Steak was again wrapped in foil and covered to rest for around 10 mins whilst the chips and the beans were cooked.  The chips were decidedly British rather than French fries but served with mayonnaise as a mark of the Entente Cordial.  They were triple fried, the first 2 fries being done whilst the steak was cooking and then just finished at this last moment – Just before serving the steak lightly salt and then slice across the grain.  The steak had a lovely gentle smoky taste and the classical ‘smoke ring’ on the edge of the steak as can be seen in the picture on the right.

This was a lovely dish with which to share Bastille Day with our French Family – but this is a perfect dish to do any time you want something a bit special.

………….do have a go!