Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts video 5. Raw Essentials

Here is the fifth of our daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

The Onglet is a family favourite it has a massive flavour kick when properly cooked. To some the cut looks unattractive when removed from the carcass, a good knife can quickly transform it into a real beauty. Watching Dermot and Darragh O'Shea preparing it is like poetry in motion. Onglet is two muscles divided by tough connective tissue, which must be removed, and is taken from the diaphragm of the animal. Because of it's location it has a slight gamey, offally flavour not present in any of the other loin cuts. In terms of ageing this cut does not require or benefit much from more than 21 to 28 days.

Fillet is the most tender steak of all, but it is not necessarily the one with the most flavour. It is sought after for its delicate structure and lack of fat but ironically these are the characteristics that can make it rather bland when compared to the other great beef cuts like Onglet, Rib eye and Rump.

Fillet is cut from the inside of the beef loin, it does very little work and is therefore very tender. It can be improve when dry-aged and cut on the bone. We age our Irish and Scottish Black Angus Grass Fed and Barley Finished Fillet for around 21- 28 days but even at 15 days it can produce superb results when cooked and served correctly.

Fillet doesn't benefit from long ageing. If left too long in a vacuum it can develop a metallic taste as the enzymes over work. Too long hanging on the bone and it will dry out, losing some of it's moisture and tenderness .

The Rib Eye on the bone or Cowboy Steak as Americans call it and Côte de Boeuf as it's known in France is normally cut for two to share so perfect for lovers and good friends.In fact I know some couples who call it the kiss and make up steak. It is basically a thick rib eye with the bone attached. The bone always enhances a steak and this cut presents beautifully and theatrically when carved, and served at the table either in a restaurant or at home . This is one of the cuts that does benefit from aging at O'Shea's it is aged for 45 - 55 days. A well aged and marbled Côte de Boeuf should not need a sauce and is perfect with good Mustard or Bearnaise as a condiment.

In the video below Henry Harris Chef Patron of Racine and Darragh O'Shea of O'Shea's Knightsbridge discuss the raw essentials of Onglet , Fillet and Côte de Boeuf.

Steak Frites : Mastering the cuts video 3. Filet au poivre

This is the third of our daily release of the videos, shot by Brian Jones and co-produced by Dino Joannides Dino Joannides and Daniel Young, will form the backdrop of our “why do you love steak frites?” competition on twitter, hopefully inspiring your most poetic, passionate or playful responses. [HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION].

Fillet is the most tender steak of all, but not necessarily the one with the most flavour. It is sought after for its delicate structure and lack of fat but ironically these are the characteristics that can make it rather bland when compared to the other great beef cuts like Onglet, Ribeye and Rump.

Fillet is cut from the inside of the beef loin, it does very little work and is therefore very tender. It can be improve when dry-aged and cut on the bone. O'Shea's of Knightsbridge age their Irish and Scottish Black Angus Grass Fed and Barley Finished Fillet for around 21- 28 days but even at 15 days it can produce superb results when cooked and served correctly.

Fillet doesn't benefit from long ageing. If left too long in a vacuum it can develop a metallic taste as the enzymes over work. Too long hanging on the bone and it will dry out, losing some of it's moisture and tenderness .

Unfortunately like with the other cuts you need to be very careful when selecting your beef as quality varies hugely so my advice is find a good Butcher ask about the provenance of the meat , the breed , what it's fed on , husbandry and so on. If the Butcher says things like Scotch, English or Argentinian and not much more you are probably in the wrong place.

Great Chefs like Henry Harris of Racine Restaurant as well as home cooks will always prepare a sauce with this delicate cut and, in the video below you can see him cook Fillet au Poivre a dish he learned to cook under the tutelage of the great Simon Hopkinson in the seminal mid 1980's restaurant Hilaire , just around the corner in Old Brompton road. That kitchen brigade then moved on to open Bibendum with Terrance Conran. The combination of veal stock , butter , black pepper , brandy and top class Fillet steak produces a wonderful steak dis that also goes very well with pommes frites. The first time I remember having this dish was when I was a child in Paris at a restaurant called Pharamond in Les Halles and it was served with pommes souffles. However I can confirm that the combination of O'Shea's of Knightsbridge Fillet and Henry Harris's cooking produced simply the best one I have ever had.

Racine , London

Henry Harris is back as Chef Patron at Racine after a shortish stint as Executive Chef of the Soho House Group. I have eaten Henry's fine Bourgeois cooking for more years than I care to count going back to Hilare, Bibendum and 5h Floor at Harvey Nicholls.

It turns out that Henry also knows and worked with one of my best friends from University at The Old Ship in Brighton many moons ago. Strangely all this became apparent when Henry and I engaged on Twitter in a discussion on La Meranda in Nice that also involved restaurateur Charlie McVeigh and food critic/writer Daniel Young.

Racine reminds me of several Paris restaurants that falls into the category of Bistros/Brasseries * with a delightful room that has a wood floor, brown leather banquettes with mirrors above them and pale yellow walls.

Racine though is really about the food and as you can imagine when the Chef Patron has spent his formative years working with Simon Hopkinson you are most likely to be guaranteed well executed classic Bourgeois cooking.

John, Henry’s old colleague from Brighton and I had an exemplary lunch on Friday, July 3rd 2009. The food and service was really top notch and as it turns out it was Henry’s last service before a well-earned holiday.

We were greeted by Henry who gave us some of his own home made delightful cured middle white proscuito .

I strated with Smoked duck, French bean and girolle salad which was really very good indeed. The beans were perfectly cooked “al dente” and the duck was succulent with the delightful small girolles complimenting the ensemble of ingredients.

John was delighted with his Lincolnshire smoked eel, salmon roe, watercress and horseradish salad.

To follow I had Filet au poivre made with a lovely piece of well hung Filet served with hand cut chips and simple mixed leaf salad. The sauce presumably made with a veal stock reduction was really delicious and worked well with the tenderest but not necessarily the most flavorful cut of beef.

John said his Breast of guinea fowl, peas, broad beans and tarragon was really outstanding.

We drank a half bottle of Gewurztraminer, Cote de Rouffach, Rene Mure followed by a chilled Brouilly, Chateau de la Perriere as well as “several” Marc’s de Bourgogne with our espressos; we were really too full to be tempted by the classic deserts or the fine cheeses from La Fromagerie.

Racine is a delightful restaurant with excellent service providing very good and well executed Bourgeois cooking based on well selected ingredients from top suppliers. To paraphrase the by line of Benoît in Paris "Chez toi Racine, on boit, festoie, en rois”

Update Summer of 2009

Henry started to source amazing Cote de Boeuf from O'Shea's of Knightsbridge these Irish Black Angus Grass Fed , Barley Finished 44 day + aged Ribeyes on the Bone are in my humble opinion simply the best steak you can have in the UK !

* see the excellent Bistros , Brasseries and Wine Bars of Paris : Everyday Recipes from the Real Paris by Daniel Young , Harper Collins NY, NY 2006.