Even MORE Butter: Steak

The butter saga continues and there's no sign of it letting up.

Last week's beef class was an ode to excess. We took great care in choosing thick cuts of choice meat, cooking them to perfection and, of course, coating them in a hearty amount of buerre. Tis all about butter my Frenchy friends! Welcome to FCI.

Grilled strip steak, shown above, was the first dish on our agenda and something you could find in almost any bistro in Paris. The combination is simple(steak & potatoes is even more classic than PB&J)and it never ceases to satisfy if it's cooked well. Here's what we did to give the ole' couple it's due.

FOR THE STEAK: Grilled steak can be best with little adornment other than salt and pepper. We seasoned our meat and grilled it to create "quadrillage", or cross-hatched grill marks. When you grill any item, indoors or out, it's important to remember three things:

1. Your grill must be very hot.
   
2. Your grill must be clean.
   
3. You must lightly coat the grates with oil.
   

These three steps will keep your meat from sticking, guaranteed.

To finish our steaks we made two compound butters which are just "herbed butter," or "butter with stuff mixed into it." The butter melts over the steak and coats it in whatever fab flavors you mixture into it. Try easy shallot butter and a horseradish butter, that's what we did:

SHALLOT BUTTER

Mix about 4 tablespoons room temperature butter, thinly sliced shallot, a drop of lemon juice, chopped parsley, salt and pepper with a wooden spoon until evenly combined. Form the butter into a log on a piece of plastic wrap and roll to seal. Refrigerate until ready to use.

HORSERADISH BUTTER

Mix about 4 tablespoons room temperature butter, 1 to 1.5 tablespoons prepared horseradish, a drop of lemon juice, chopped parsley, salt and pepper with a wooden spoon until evenly combined. Form the butter into a log on a piece of plastic wrap and roll to seal. Refrigerate until ready to use.

*NOTE: You can also do this with an electric mixer or food processor to save time. Try making a double or triple batch this way.

You can use leftover butter to spread on the bread of a sandwich, stir into a sauce, rub on the skin of a chicken before roasting, or even use it to make savory shortbread cookies in place of regular butter.

FOR THE POTATOES: The potatoes you see above come from a sliced potato pancake we made by cooking julienned potato (cut on a mandolin) in clarified butter. Think of it as the French version of latkes. To make it at home you'll need:

3 julienned potatoes, dried very well
2 tablespoons clarified butter
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Ring out the potatoes in a kitchen towel so that they are extra dry.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon clarified butter in a small saute pan until very hot. Add the potatoes in handfuls, twisting them as you place them in the pan to make a whirlpool design. Cook until the potato cake is golden on the bottom, gently shaking the pan to make sure the potatoes aren't sticking, about 5 minutes; add more butter along the edge of the pan if there's stickage.
3. Flip the potato cake and continue to cook until the bottom is golden, about 3 more minutes.
4. Drain on paper towels. Cut into 8 wedges.

Use starchy potatoes, like Idahos, to make this dish. They crisp up perfectly!