Tour de France '20 - Stage 13: Châtel-Guyon to Puy Mary.
Did you know this region of Auvergne is home to 80 volcanoes ("puy")?! Much like I didn't know that fact until today's broadcast, I also had no idea how delicious, luxurious, and exquisite a white sauce could be when draped upon a perfectly-cooked steak. As I've found myself on a few stages of this year's Tour de France, I was inspired to add an additional component (or two!) to my planned stage-specific dish. Today, I had endeavored to only make Auvergne's specialty, Truffade, a tasty layered cake of thinly-sliced potatoes, which soaks up the drippings of rendered fat and is topped with thinly sliced cheese which envelopes and comforts like a cool blanket on a hot summer night. But, hearing of the once-cloistered cattle industry and reading about the local bleu cheese and garlic, I decided to make a ribeye along with a cream sauce infused with garlic, incorporating a heavy toss and stir of bleu cheese at the end. My girls (7 & 10), somewhat leery of bleu cheese, ended up licking their plates clean; grand succés!
Auvergne Steak and Potato Dinner
This entire steakhouse quality meal can be pulled off in less than an hour! You will need 3 burners and the oven; but follow these steps below for perfect timing.
Steak with Garlic Cream Sauce de Bleu
2 cups heavy cream
2 garlic cloves + 1 head of garlic
2 oz. + 1 tbsp. crumbled bleu cheese
Ribeye steak (preferably bone-in) cut 1.5-2” thick
To begin preparing the entire meal, start by slicing the bottom-third off of a head of garlic. Drizzle oil on the exposed end. Wrap in aluminum foil and roast in a 400 degrees oven for about 30 minutes. You will need a few roasted garlic cloves for the Truffade recipe below. Reserve the remaining roasted garlic for another use.
Smash the raw garlic cloves and throw into a saucepan with the cream. Bring to a boil then cook over medium to medium-low heat maintaining a boil until reduced to a thick consistency (about a ½ cup and approx. 40 mins), stirring occasionally to avoid scorching, and monitoring heavily towards the end of the cooking time to avoid burning.
Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature for at least 15 mins. Meanwhile, preheat a cast iron skillet in the oven at 500 degrees. Move on to the potatoes (Truffade).
While the potatoes cook, dry and heavily season your steaks with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Turn your most-powerful stove-top burner to high. Carefully remove the cast iron skillet from the oven and place over the high-heat burner. Add your steaks to the pre-heated and dry skillet. Press them down with your hand, ensuring maximum contact. After 2 mins, flip your steaks and cook an additional 2 mins on the stove-top, then place the skillet in the oven and cook for 2 more mins. (If using boneless steaks, set them aside to rest at this point. Otherwise, after these 2 mins in the oven, flip the steaks once more for a total cooking time of 8 mins.) Let the steaks rest for at least 5 mins. Return to the Truffade.
Finishing the sauce - When the sauce has fully thickened, remove the garlic and whisk in the 2 oz. of crumbled bleu cheese. Taste the sauce - adding salt or pepper, or even some butter if the sauce is too thick, as desired. Plate the steaks with a heaping drizzle of sauce and remaining crumbled bleu cheese. Serve with the prepared Truffade (garnished with minced herbs) and any reserved cheese sauce.
Truffade
1.25 lbs. yukon gold potatoes
2 tbsp lard or duck fat
4 oz. slab bacon
3 cloves roasted garlic, minced
10 oz. Gruyere, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. parsley or chives, minced
Peel and slice the potatoes (¼ inch) and place in water to prevent browning. Melt the lard/fat in a 10-12” round casserole pan over medium-low heat. Meanwhile, dice the bacon and add to the pan, stirring and browning on all sides, 3-5 mins. While the bacon renders, drain and dry the potatoes then place them neatly into the pan, making a consistent layer. Season with salt and pepper and cover the pan. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring 2 times during the cooking, pressing the potatoes down into an even layer. Meanwhile, using a vegetable or cheese peeler, thinly slice your gruyere. Then, return to the steak recipe.
After 15 mins of cooking, kill the heat and sprinkle the minced garlic atop the potatoes and carefully and fully cover the potatoes with the sliced cheese. Cover the casserole pan and leave on the warm, but turned-off, burner to allow the cheese to melt. Finish the cheese sauce.
Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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