Steak frites
A thick steak, seared hard on a hot pan, rested, and finished with a simple butter-garlic-thyme pan sauce — served with twice-fried french fries that are crisp outside, fluffy inside. The plate is the same one at every corner bistro; the difference is that the fries were cooked twice, and the steak was rested before it met the pan sauce.
Inspired by
The steak-frites plate at the corner French bistro: a thick-cut steak (a rib-eye or a sirloin) over a deep-brown, twice-fried pile of frites, with a simple butter sauce on the side in a small dish. The plate is the one at every corner bistro, and the archetype is strong enough that the recipe below is written to it, not to a single house.
Technique notes
The whole plate is two techniques in the same pan: pan heat (the sear, the deglaze, and the pan sauce are the same move at three different scales) and frying (the frites are a twice-fry, which is the deep-fry article doing the job of the plate's second half).
Why the restaurant does it this way
The frites are fried twice, at two different temperatures, because that's the only way to get a crisp outside and a fluffy inside in the same piece: the first fry (at a low, gentle heat) cooks the potato through and sets the surface, and the second fry (at a high heat) is what browns and crisps the outside. A single fry gives you either a crisp shell with a raw center, or a soft, soggy, yellow piece. The twice-fry is what separates the bistro frites from the home fry. The steak is rested before it meets the sauce, because the juices that run out while it rests are the ones the sauce is going to pick up, and a steak that's been resting is the one that takes the sauce without losing the sear. The pan sauce is built from the same pan that seared the steak — the fond on the bottom of the pan is the flavor of the sauce, and the deglaze (a short pour of stock or wine) is what lifts it off the pan and into the sauce.
Equipment
- A 26-cm (10-inch) cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, with a tight lid if the steak is on the thicker side
- A deep pan, or a small Dutch oven, for the frites — enough to hold the potatoes in a single layer, or a batch of two, with 3 cm (1 inch) of oil above the potatoes
- A thermometer, or a good eye, for the oil
- A fork and a wire rack — the steak rests on the rack, not on a plate, so the juices don't pool and steam the underside
Ingredients
- 2 × 200 g (about 7 oz each) steak, a rib-eye or a sirloin, about 2–3 cm (¾–1 inch) thick — the thickness is the point, and it's what the sear is for
- 750 g (about 1 ½ lb) potatoes, a starchy variety (a russet, or a chair de la poule if you can find it), cut into 1 cm (½-inch) squares
- A good quantity of neutral oil, for the frites — a sunflower or a safflower oil, for the high-heat fry
- 30 g (2 tbsp) butter, for the pan sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, grated or thinly sliced
- 6 g (bunch) thyme, leaves only, for the sauce
- 60 ml (¼ cup) chicken or beef stock, or a dry white wine, for the deglaze
- Salt and black pepper, to taste — the steak is seasoned before the sear, and the frites are seasoned after the final fry
Method
- Take the steak out of the fridge 15 minutes before you're going to cook it, so it's not cold at the moment it hits the pan. (A cold steak in a hot pan is the sign the sear went bad — the surface releases its moisture and the pan temperature drops below the browning line, and the piece steams instead of searing.)
- Heat the pan over medium-high, add the oil, and wait for a drop to shimmer — not smoke — before the steak goes in. (The pan is first, the food is second; see the pan-heat article for the whole temperature map.)
- Season the steak with salt and pepper on both sides, and lay it in the pan. Don't move it for 2–3 minutes — the crust bonds to the pan the moment it forms, and if it's still stuck, it's not done browning on that side. (The same rule as the whole article: leave it alone for the first 1–2 minutes of the step.)
- Turn the steak, and cook the other side for the same length of time. For a 2–3 cm piece, about 3–4 minutes per side for medium — the internal temperature at the center of the piece is about 55 °C / 130 °F for medium, 65 °C / 150 °F for well.
- Lay the steak on a wire rack and let it rest for 5 minutes, covered loosely with foil. (The juices that run out while it rests are the ones the sauce is going to pick up; a steak that's been resting is the one that takes the sauce without losing the sear.)
- While the steak rests, start the frites. Cut the potatoes into 1 cm squares, and soak them in cold water for 10 minutes to wash off the surface starch. (The starch on the surface of the potato is what makes the frites glue to each other in the oil; the soak is the move that keeps them separate.)
- Heat the oil in the deep pan to 140 °C / 280 °F, and fry the frites in batches for 4–5 minutes, until they're pale yellow and the center of the piece is just cooked — the surface is still soft, and the frites are not brown yet. (This is the first fry: it cooks the potato through and sets the surface. The second fry, at a higher heat, is what browns and crisps the outside.)
- Drain the frites on paper, and let them cool to room temperature — 15 minutes is enough, and the frites can sit in this stage for an hour, or overnight in the fridge. (The cool, drained frites are the ones that take the second fry cleanly; the warm, wet frites go soggy on the surface, and the second fry gives you a crisp shell and a soft inside.)
- Build the pan sauce. Pour the stock (or the wine) into the pan that seared the steak — the fond on the bottom of the pan is the flavor of the sauce, and the deglaze lifts it off the surface. Reduce the stock by half, over a medium heat, in about 1–2 minutes. Swirl in the butter, the grated garlic, and the thyme leaves, and let them cook in the sauce for 30 seconds, until the garlic is just fragrant. (The garlic goes in at the end, not the start, and the butter is the last move of the sauce — it's the carrier, and the flavor.)
- Turn the oil up to 190 °C / 375 °F, and fry the frites for a second, shorter time — 2–3 minutes — until they're a deep, even gold and the outer layer is crisp. (The second fry is the plate, and it's the one that separates the bistro frites from the home fry. The frites are done when the outside is a deep, even brown and the inside is still fluffy.)
- Drain the frites, season them with salt straight on the plate, and serve them on a warm plate with the steak, the pan sauce on the side in a small dish. (The sauce on the side, not on top: the diner dips the frites into it, and the steak keeps its sear.)
Common failures
- The frites are soggy inside and crisp outside, in the wrong order — the crisp shell is there, but the inside is a raw, dense center. You skipped the first fry, or the first fry was too short. The first fry cooks the potato through; the second fry crisps and browns it. Do the first fry at 140 °C for 4–5 minutes, and the rest is what the second fry is for.
- The frites are soggy and glue each other into one big mass in the oil. The surface starch wasn't washed off before the first fry, and the frites stuck to each other in the oil. The soak — cold water, 10 minutes — is the move that keeps the frites separate in the second fry.
- The steak is grey and has no crust, and the pan is full of liquid at the end of the sear. The pan wasn't hot enough before the steak went in, or the steak went in cold. The pan is first, the food is second; wait for the oil to shimmer, and the steak to come to room temperature before it hits the pan.
- The pan sauce tastes flat, like butter on a plate — the flavor of the steak isn't in it. The deglaze was added to a clean pan, not the pan that seared the steak. The fond on the bottom of the pan is the flavor of the sauce, and the deglaze is what lifts it off the surface and into the sauce. If the pan is clean and the sauce is on top of it, the flavor is on the bottom of the pan, not in the sauce.
Variations & substitutions
- A different pan sauce. The garlic-thyme-butter sauce is the bistro way, but the same technique — deglaze, reduce, swirl in the butter and the aromatics — works for a peppercorn sauce (cracked black pepper, a short pour of dry white, reduced) or a mushroom-butter sauce (a handful of sliced mushrooms, cooked in the fond, and the same butter at the end). The pan is the one, and the fond on the bottom of the pan is the flavor of the sauce, whichever way you take it.
- A thicker steak, or a thinner one. A 4–5 cm (1½–2 inch) piece is the bistro's, with roughly the same sear time per side — the inside is what the cooking time is for, the outside is what the pan is for. A 1 cm piece is the diner's version, and the sear time is 2 minutes per side, not 3–4.
- The frites, on the side, at the table. Some bistros serve the frites on a separate plate, with a small dish of the pan sauce, and let the diner do the final mix at the table. It's the same plate, and the diner is the one who does the last move.
What to serve with it
A simple green salad — a little frisée or plain lettuce with a lemon-oil vinaigrette — to cut the richness. A dry red: a pinot noir, a carménère, or a Rioja. Or a cold lager for the frites.