Live fire cook, author and teacher Genevieve Taylor gives us a preview of her latest book, ‘Seared‘, with this incredible steak and chips butty recipe.

It perhaps feels a little brave-slash-foolish to start my ode to meat over fire with something so simple as a steak butty, but I surely can’t be alone in thinking this might just be my perfect last supper? A double carb hit from bread and chips, double heat hit from mustard and watercress, with my favourite steak in the world slapped squarely in between. Oh, yes please. Oh, and yes, you can cook frozen oven chips on the barbecue! Read on…

Temperatures

If you are not resting your steak, take it to 52 °C  for rare or 56 °C for medium-rare. If you want to rest, go a few degrees less to allow for carryover cooking.

Ingredients

Serves 2 as a feast, or 4 as a snack.

• 400–500 g hanger steak
• 1 tbsp flaked sea salt
• 300 g frozen oven chips – I like skinny French fries
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 1-2 tsp English mustard
• 1 ciabatta loaf
• Olive oil, for drizzling
• A good handful of watercress
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

• In an ideal world, dry-brine your steak the day before you cook it. Simply sprinkle the salt over and place on a rack set over a tray and slide into the fridge. Even if you do this for a couple of hours or so it will benefit taste and tenderness.
• When you are ready to cook, fire up your barbecue ready for high temperature direct and indirect grilling, piling a whole chimney of lit coals to one side of the grill.
• Once the barbecue is hot, scatter the frozen chips onto a grilling tray or sheet of foil. Set onto the grill bars away from the fire so that they cook over a high but indirect heat. Shut the lid of the barbecue and cook for around 20 minutes, turning and tossing about a few times until crisp in parts and just a touch soggy in others. Yes, here I think a little soggy can be a good thing so you get that good ‘squish’ when you bite.

• Stir together the mayonnaise, both mustards and a generous grind of pepper. Set aside.
• Open up the ciabatta lengthways to give you two long pieces and drizzle a little oil over the cut sides. Grill for a couple of minutes to warm and lightly toast. Then rest on top of the cooked fries to keep warm off the heat while you cook the steak.
• Drizzle a little oil all over the steak and set on the grill bars directly over the fire. Cook, turning frequently with the lid up, until grilled to perfection – use your Thermapen thermometer here. If you are not resting your steak, take it to 52 °C (125 °F) for rare or 56 °C (132 °F) for medium-rare. If you want to rest, go a few degrees less to allow for carryover cooking.

Give it a firm squish

• Scatter the watercress in the base of the ciabatta and top with the fries, sprinkling a little extra salt over them. Slice the steak across the grain into 1cm (½in) strips and add on top of the fries, adding any juices that have seeped from the meat. Finish by dolloping on the mustard mayo and topping with the other piece of ciabatta. Give it a firm squish down to meld everything together and slice in half to give you two very generous portions, or into quarters for four if there is more to follow. Tuck in without delay!

Genevieve Taylor

Author & Live Fire Expert

@genevieveeats

"Barbecuing doesn't need to be difficult when you have the right tools, so we're encouraging Brits to be #BBQBrave and challenge their cooking skills this summer."