Steak ‘n chips

I know that recently I have talked about how you don’t need expensive meat all the time to make a delicious meal but in the same breath I have to say I couldn’t live without steak and chips every now and then. To me it is a luxury. It is mouth-wateringly perfect in every way. Soft, juicy, tender meat with crisp, salty chips and now to further this treat a slice of cold, flavoured butter that gently oozes all over the steak, which is charred on the outside and quivering and pink on the inside. As long as you are not a vegetarian I feel sure you will be salivating by now.
I offer not the perfect steak recipe, nor the best technique for cooking the meat, but instead simply how I do it because I know no better way at the moment.
This flavoured butter was my attempt to recreate a bloody Mary butter served on some steak Will and I had at a wonderful restaurant in the Cotswolds called the Boathouse. My version was pretty good, but not the best steak butter I have ever had. A trusty combination is lemon and thyme smashed into the butter.

For the chips: Chop good cooking potatoes (red skinned potatoes work particularly well) into wedge shapes with the skin left on. A quick tip is to make sure the skin is completely dry because the chips will crisp better this way. Put in a tray with a good few glugs of olive oil, salt, pepper and my secret ingredient a very small sprinkle of mild chilli powder (specifically that blended type you can get in the supermarket which is chilli, garlic, salt and cumin mixed together). I don’t know why but this addition is so good but you should try it. You must not put so much on that you can taste chilli powder, it just needs to be a warm background flavour. Toss together and place in a pre-heated oven at 220 degrees for between 30-40 minutes. Don’t try to move them in the first 20 minutes they will be stuck to the tray.

For the bloody Mary butter: Put a big blob of unsalted real butter in a bowl and allow to warm until it is pliable. Add a few sun dried tomatoes finely chopped, five or six shakes of Tabasco sauce and salt and pepper. Place it onto a long piece of cling film and roll into a sausage shape and twist tightly at each end to secure it. Leave it in the fridge for at least an hour (or if you haven’t much time then throw it in the freezer for 20 minutes) just before you need it take it out of the fridge and slice into rounds.

For the steak: Simply season the steak and brush with olive oil. Cook on a hot griddle until it is cooked as you like. Always rest for a few minutes and serve with the chips and a thick slice of the butter.