Montpelier Butter on Rib Steak
Serves 4
Adapted from 'The New Steak' by Cree LaFavour
4 rib steaks, bone-in or boneless
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Oil for rubbing
MONTPELIER BUTTER
3 tarragon leaves
½ bunch watercress (1 cup leaves)
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
3 spinach leaves (6 if baby spinach)
3 whole chives
1 shallot, chopped
2 hard-boiled egg yolks
1 teaspoon of your best white wine vinegar
¼ cup chervil tops, chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small clove garlic (use ½ a clove if in doubt)
2 anchovy filets, drained
Dash of cayenne pepper
Freshly ground pepper
1 raw egg yolk
3 tablespoons olive oil
Prepare the steaks by salting them, and then let them come to room temperature. Rub all over with olive oil just before cooking.
Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil. Dump the tarragon, watercress, parsley, spinach, chives and shallot in the boiling water. Leave them there for 1 minute, and then drain the pot's contents through a fine sieve. Shock the herbs by running cold water over them--this stops the cooking and preserves their vivid color. Now, dry the herbs thoroughly by wrapping them in a clean dish towel and squeezing. When they emerge from the towel, you should have a bright green, densely packed disc in your hands. Put it in the food processor along with the remaining ingredients except the olive oil (a mortar and pestle works, too). Pulse until well blended and then add the olive oil slowly. Blend thoroughly. "Let it be observed," as George Augustus Sala writes in 1896 about this butter in "The Thorough Good Cook," "that no flavor should predominate." Taste and judge for yourself.
TO GRILL, your coals should be so hot that you can comfortably keep your hand 2 inches above the grate for 3 seconds--just! (For gas grills, this means 450 degrees). Put the oiled steaks on the hottest part of the grill and sear for 3 to 5 minutes on each side before you begin to fuss over them. That means moving the steaks to a cooler part of the grill, flipping, poking, and watching as you work toward crispy-brown perfection for another 8 to 12 minutes. Check for doneness often, using the finger-poke method, an instant-read thermometer (120 or 130 degrees for rare to medium-rare), or the nick-and-peek method. After cooking, rest the steaks in a warming oven (170 degrees) or on a warm plate under a loose tent of foil for 5 minutes.
Put the steaks on warm plates. Spread the butter lavishly on your steak.
