Entrecôte Grillée — Grilled Rib Steak with Compound Butter

Ingredients

• 4 × 300–350 g entrecôte (boneless rib-eye, 6th–12th rib), 2.5–3 cm thick
• as needed coarse salt, applied generously 40 minutes before grilling
• as needed neutral oil, used to coat the steak, not the grill
• For the maître d'hôtel butter
• 60 g unsalted butter, softened, then re-chilled as discs
• 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 pinch fine salt
• To serve
• as needed pommes frites, always
• as needed frisée lettuce, dressed with Dijon mustard vinaigrette

Method

1. 1
   Prepare the maître d'hôtel butter first. Beat the softened butter with the chopped parsley, lemon juice, and fine salt until fully combined. Roll into a cylinder in cling film, refrigerate until firm, then slice into 15 g discs. Return discs to the refrigerator. They are ready when firm to the touch but not brittle.
2. 2
   Remove the steaks from refrigeration. Season both sides generously with coarse salt exactly 40 minutes before grilling. Leave uncovered at room temperature for the full hour of tempering. After 40 minutes the drawn surface moisture will have been reabsorbed. Pat each steak completely dry with kitchen paper — the surface must feel dry and slightly tacky, not damp.
3. 3
   Heat the grill to a minimum of 300 °C. Coat each steak lightly with oil on both sides. Lay the steaks on the grill at 45° to the bars. The steak must sizzle aggressively on contact — a loud, sustained hiss confirms the grill is sufficiently hot. Do not move the steaks for 3 minutes.
4. 4
   This is where the dish lives or dies: the crust. After 3 minutes the steak will release cleanly from the bars without resistance — it must not be forced. Rotate each steak 90° in the same plane to produce the quadrillage crosshatch. Grill 2 minutes more. The exposed surface should show a deep mahogany sear with clearly defined bar marks; the edges will have changed colour one-third of the way up.
5. 5
   Flip each steak once. Repeat the sequence: 3 minutes without moving, then a 90° rotation for 2 minutes. Total grilling time is 8–10 minutes for medium-rare (54–56 °C internal temperature) on a 3 cm steak. The second side should match the first in colour and marking.
6. 6
   Transfer the steaks to a warm plate and rest for 5 minutes. The meat will feel slightly springy under finger pressure — resistance without rigidity. The juices should not flood the plate.
7. 7
   Remove the butter discs from the refrigerator 5 minutes before service. Place one 15 g disc on each steak at the moment of plating. Send to the table immediately — the butter must arrive visibly melting, pooling around the steak in a glossy emulsified ring, not fully liquid. Serve with pommes frites and frisée dressed with a mustardy vinaigrette.