Gavin Swift is head chef at The Coach House – Middleton Lodge’s casual eating space – where steak is a firm favourite on the menu. Here, he talks us through the different cuts and how best to serve them.
RUMP
A deep, flavoursome, lesser appreciated cut of steak. Pan fry, grill or chargrill it. It’s best cooked medium rare to medium but can take being cooked a little more if that’s how you prefer it. Serve with thick cut chips, grilled vine tomatoes and a dressed green salad.
RIBEYE
This is well-marbled beef from the ribs. Tender, juicy and full of flavour, this is my personal favourite. Chargrill or barbecue the steak over white hot coals. Serve medium rare, with some rosemary salted skinny fries, a classic béarnaise sauce and a handful of watercress.
FILLET
The most prized cut of beef, exquisitely tender, requiring little or no cooking. Serve simply seared and thinly sliced as a carpaccio, with grated aged parmesan, extra virgin olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, lemon and sea salt – and perhaps a little peppery roquette salad. My indulgence with fillet steak is to pan roast it, and finish with foaming butter, cooked rare and served with a black truffle (perigourdine) sauce.
CÔTE DE BOEUF
This is a well-marbled, prime cut rib of beef cooked on the bone. Extremely flavoursome and tender due to the fat melting during the cooking process, it’s best cooked chargrilled or on the barbecue and accompanied by herb butter. Accompany with seasoned fries or rosemary and garlic roasted new potatoes, and roast field mushrooms.
CHATEAUBRIAND
This is a cut from the head of the fillet. It’s thick, tender and is great for sharing amongst two or three. Fine marbling of the fillet means that the meat is flavoursome and moist. To cook, colour in a pan over a high heat, season and finish off in the oven. Serve as rare as you would like. Allow sufficient time to rest before carving. I would serve this with a big dish of dauphinoise potatoes, some purple sprouting broccoli from the garden and a rich red wine jus. Alternatively, in the summer months serve with some buttered new seasons garden potatoes, a dressed garden salad, some freshly picked tomatoes and a pot of hollandaise sauce.
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