The 'steak' macreuse — French chuck cut against the grain, grilled rare, finished with a wine-merchant butter sauce. Cheap, flavourful, the bistro version of a steak frites.
Serves 2Prep 10 minCook 12 min
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Ingredients
- 2 macreuse à bifteck steaks (200 g each), 2 cm thick
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- —
- For the marchand de vin:
- 2 large shallots, finely diced
- 200 ml red wine (Bourgogne)
- 100 ml beef stock
- 60 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Method
- 1Bring the steaks to room temperature, pat dry, season heavily.
- 2Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. Sear the steaks 2 minutes per side for rare. Lift onto a warm plate to rest.
- 3Reduce heat to medium. Add the shallots to the pan; cook 90 seconds.
- 4Pour in the wine and reduce by two-thirds, scraping the fond.
- 5Add the stock and reduce another 2 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the butter cubes one at a time until the sauce is glossy. Stir in the mustard and parsley.
- 6Slice the steaks across the grain into 1 cm strips. Spoon the sauce over.
Chef's tip
Macreuse à bifteck has long muscle fibres — slicing against the grain is the difference between tender and chewy. Look for the direction of the grain before you cut.