Bavette Steak Frites

By: Sarah Kelly

Steak frites is a super popular item at Petite 4. I try to change things up every season, but as soon as I take steak frites off the menu we get a ton of requests! People want it 365 days a year, so now it’s a permanent item.

The key to great steak frites is to keep it simple. We use Snake River Farms coulotte steak (picanha) at the restaurant, but the bavette is what you might find at a bistro in France. I like to season with just salt and pepper, then get a hard sear on the steak, baste in butter and get it on the plate while its hot. The recipe calls for a finishing touch of anchovy butter to add some flavor and umami, but you can also use plain butter to streamline things in your kitchen.

I like to serve a classic skinny shoestring fry, but at home it’s easier to use a thicker cut. You can also mix it up by doing wedges. No matter how you slice the potatoes, you’ll want to have plenty of fries for each plate. Sometimes we serve our frites with just salt and sometimes fancy it up and make champagne or truffle parmesan versions.

Ingredients

Steak

  • 1 Snake River Farms Bavette Buy Now
  • Kosher salt
  • Fresh cracked pepper
  • Vegetable oil

Anchovy Butter

  • 1 cube butter, room temperature
  • 1 small shallot, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped anchovies, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon neutral oil

Frites

  • 4 Kennebec potatoes
  • 4 cups beef tallow, peanut or other vegetable oil
  • Kosher salt

Steak

Remove bavette from the package and trim any excess fat or silver skin.
Cut the bavette, with the grain, into two steaks. Each one will be about 12 oz. which is a generous steak.
Season with kosher salt and pepper.
Place a cast iron or carbon steel pan on the burner and heat to medium high and add a thin layer of neutral vegetable oil.
Place steaks in hot skillet and get a nice hard sear, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip steaks and sear the opposite side. Check the internal temperature with a thermometer. 110 for rare, 120 for mid-rare and 130 for medium. If the desired temp is not reached, put the pan and steaks in a 350 degree oven to bring up the internal temp.
Reduce the burner to medium and add 3 or 4 knobs of butter. Baste the steaks for a minute or two.
Remove from the pan and allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Place steaks on individual plates and top with a dollop of anchovy butter. Pile fries high on the side and serve.

Anchovy Butter

Heat vegetable oil in a small sauté pan over medium heat. Add shallots and sauté until transparent.
Add anchovies and vinegar and reduce heat to low. Heat to evaporate the vinegar, about 7 minutes, then turn off heat and allow to cool.
Add butter to food processor and pulse several times until fluffy. Add anchovy-shallot mixture and herbs pulse lightly to combine. Alternately, you can combine all ingredients by hand.

Frites

We use Snake River Farms American Wagyu beef tallow to cook our fries. I hear this is a product something that might be added to the website in the future, so keep your eyes open! I think Kennebec potatoes make great fries. They are similar in shape to Yukon Golds, but a bit larger. Scrub potatoes, leaving skin intact
Square off potatoes by cutting off the ends. Cut each potato into slices about ¼” thick.
Line up potato slices and cut into ¼” fries. Use ¼” as a guide. There’s nothing wrong with having thicker fries but increase the cooking times of using a thicker fry.
Put cut potatoes in a container with cold water. Rinse 3 times or until water is not milky or starchy then strain to remove excess water.
I double blanch our fries, that is cook them twice, to get the best texture. Place a large pot or Dutch oven on the stovetop and heat oil to 250 degrees. Depending on your container size, you may have to adjust the amount of oil, but you want the fries to be completely submerged. If using a smaller container, you might need to cook in batches.
Add cut fries to oil. Don’t overcrowd the pot. Cook for 1 ½ to 2 minutes. You don’t want to brown the fries at this point. This step starts the cooking process.
Remove fries from oil. Place in a wire or mesh strainer to allow excess oil to drain for 30 seconds.
Place blanched fries in a single layer on a cookie shoot lined with a towel or napkin. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. You can do all of the above steps in advance and hold the blanched fries in the refrigerator up to 24 hours.
To finish fry, heat oil to 350 degrees. Place blanched fries in a cook 3 to 4 minutes or until cooked through and crispy.
Strain again. Throw hot fries into a metal mixing bowl and toss with kosher salt or seasonings while still warm.
For Champagne fries, season with equal parts salt and sugar. Add a small drizzle of champagne vinegar and fine chopped fresh rosemary. For Truffle Parmesan fries, season fries with truffle salt. Finish with a touch of white truffle oil. Add super fine grated parmesan. Toss. Top with fresh parsley.