Grilled T-bone Steak with Beurre Fondue and Tarragon

When it comes to steak, the T-bone satisfies most people. You get some sirloin, fillet and crisp fatty bits as well, and all cooked on the bone for extra flavour. One T-bone is enough for two people and if you ask your butcher to cut the T-bone twice as thick as normal, you have a handsome piece of meat which will be sufficient to feed four people. This is a most convenient way to grill beef for several people as you have 1 piece of meat, rather than four individual steaks.

Order the beef a week ahead from your butcher. Its an expensive treat and you will benefit from planning ahead

Pre-heat oven to 200c.

Heat a heavy grill pan until very hot. You may just see a haze of heat coming from the pan. While the pan is heating, rub the beef on both sides with a cut clove of garlic and the olive oil as if you were meanly moisturising them. With a small knife, score the fat on top of the steak to allow some of the fat to render out in the cooking and to allow the remaining fat to crisp up. Season generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the steak on the heated grill pan. It should sizzle immediately. Cook on one side until a rich colour has developed, and if you want, giving the steak a 90 degree turn half way through the cooking to attain a grid of marks on the cooked meat. Turn and cook on the other side until cooked to your liking. You will need to carefully control the heat all the way through the cooking. If the pan gets too hot you will burn the steaks and if the pan becomes cool, the meat will stew and toughen.

If you wish, once the steak is well coloured on both sides, you can place the grill pan in the pre-heated oven and cook for 3 minutes for rare, 5 minutes for medium and 10 minutes for well done.

Place the cooked steak on an upturned plate sitting on a larger plate, to capture any juices that run from the resting beef. Allow to rest for at least 5 minutes and up to 15 minutes seems to work for me. Keep them warm during the resting period in a warm oven set to 110c / 220f / gas ¼ .

Bring the steak to the table on a chopping board. First carve off the fillet and slice on to hot plates. Then remove the sirloin from the bone and carve the meat either with, or against the grain. Serve with the beurre fondue.

Beurre Fondue

A very quick and light butter sauce to serve with fish, meat, poultry and vegetables.

This brilliantly useful sauce, taking no longer than five minutes to make, can be served just as it is or varied with the addition of herbs or vegetables.

Strictly speaking the title of the sauce translates from French to English as melted butter, but it is more than that as the butter is emulsified to give a light sauce with a creamy consistency. Over a low heat butter is whisked into a warm liquid such as water or fish or chicken stock, or even lemon juice and cooked a frothy consistency. The resulting sauce is thinner and lighter in flavour than other butter sauces such as beurre blanc or hollandaise.

I use this sauce when I want a particularly light sauce to accompany delicate herbs and vegetables, and meat, fish or poultry. If I was having a vegetable such as asparagus or purple sprouting broccoli and did not want to go the hollandaise route, this is what I would make.

If I am making a sauce with herbs such as chervil, chives or tarragon or with vegetables such as broad beans or peas to accompany a baked fillet of plaice, brill or turbot, I make this using some of the water that the fish was baked in as the base into which the butter is beaten. A discovered bit of meat juice or jelly left over from a roast in my fridge will make a sauce for a steak or some grilled chicken or lamb.

With this trick up your sleeve, you will never be stuck, and it is quite magical how with the minimum of fuss and in the shortest time you can make a sauce with a delicacy and lightness that belies its quick and simple execution.

The ingredients

Serves 2-4

• 2 tablespoons water or the liquid of choice, such as chicken, meat or fish stock or cooking juices, vegetable cooking water or lemon juice
• 50g butter, cold and cut into 1 cm dice
• Lemon juice, a few drops

Place the water or liquid of choice in the smallest saucepan you have, and bring to a simmer. Draw the pan off the heat and turn the heat down to a minimum. With the saucepan still off the heat, start whisking in the butter, 3 or 4 pieces at a time. Nothing dramatic is going to happen for a minute or two. Replace the saucepan on the low heat and continue whisking in

the butter, allowing the previous addition to melt before adding more. Gradually the sauce will emulsify and take on a very light creamy appearance. Once all of the butter is added, remove from the heat and season the sauce as necessary with salt, black pe