Butter-Basted Rib of Beef with Proper Béarnaise and Triple-Cooked Chips

⏱ 150 min · Serves 2

The full steakhouse experience, done properly at home: a thick bone-in rib basted in foaming thyme butter, glassy-crisp triple-cooked chips with fluffy middles, and a tarragon béarnaise that's sharp, buttery and unapologetically rich. Start the chips a day ahead and the rest is pure theatre.

Per serving: 1480 kcal · 78.0g protein · 62.0g carbs · 108.0g fat

Ingredients

• 1 bone-in rib of beef, about 900g, 5cm thick, at room temperature for 2 hours
• 800g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled
• 2 litres beef dripping or sunflower oil, for frying
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 50g unsalted butter
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• Flaky sea salt and coarse black pepper
• For the béarnaise:
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 3 tbsp dry white wine
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 1 tsp black peppercorns, cracked
• 4 tarragon sprigs (stalks in the reduction, leaves chopped)
• 3 egg yolks
• 200g unsalted butter, melted and warm
• 1 tsp chopped chervil or parsley
• Squeeze of lemon juice

Method

1. Cut the potatoes into chips about 2cm thick. Rinse under cold water until it runs clear, then simmer in well-salted water for 12–15 minutes until almost falling apart. Lift out carefully, drain on a rack and chill uncovered for at least 1 hour (overnight is better).
2. Heat the dripping or oil to 130C. Fry the chips in two batches for 8 minutes until pale and dry-looking. Drain on a rack and chill again for 30 minutes.
3. Make the béarnaise base: simmer the vinegar, wine, shallot, peppercorns and tarragon stalks until reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Strain and cool slightly.
4. Season the beef aggressively. Heat a heavy pan with the oil and sear the rib hard on all sides, including the fat cap, for 8–10 minutes total. Add the butter, thyme and garlic and baste continuously for 4–5 minutes, until a probe reads 52C for medium-rare. Rest on a rack, loosely covered, for 15 minutes.
5. Finish the béarnaise: whisk the yolks with the reduction in a bowl over barely simmering water until thick and ribboned. Off the heat, trickle in the warm butter, whisking, leaving the milky solids behind. Stir in chopped tarragon, chervil, lemon and salt. Keep somewhere warm, not hot.
6. Heat the fat to 180C and fry the chips for 4–5 minutes until deep gold and blistered. Drain and shower with flaky salt.
7. Carve the beef off the bone into thick slices, spoon over any resting juices, and serve with the chips and a generous bowl of béarnaise.