We’re really excited to be working with MasterChef finalist 2021 Mike Tomkins on bringing you some incredible recipes over the coming months. Mike showed us how to reverse sear this rib of beef to perfection with this simple but impressive steakhouse dish.

Temperatures

For a beautifully pink medium finish, Mike removed the beef from the oven once it reached 48°C, before searing in a pan until it reached a final internal temperature of 55°C.

Take note to prepare your potato terrine 2 days before you plan on serving your dish as the potatoes need time to compress properly.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1.25kg bone-in rib of beef
• 1kg maris piper potatoes, peeled
• 500g salted butter
• Olive oil
• 1 bunch thyme
• 1 litre vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 whole hispi cabbages, halved
• Salt & pepper

Equipment

• Thermapen thermometer
• 2 oven dishes the same size
  (roughly 30cm x 15cm)
• Japanese mandoline
• Greaseproof paper

Directions

This dish takes a little planning and a bit of patience but its totally worth it!

• Using a mandolin, carefully chop your potatoes into thin slices. Once all the potatoes are sliced, melt roughly 400g of butter in a large saucepan being careful not to let the butter rise above 100°C.
• Preheat your oven to 180°C. Line one of your oven dishes with greaseproof paper and begin carefully layering your potatoes into the dish paying careful attention to the corners and sides. Slightly overlap each potato when placing the next slice into the dish. With each layer, add enough butter enough to cover the surface of the potatoes. Every 3rd layer, season with a pinch of salt and a crack of black pepper. Once your layers of potatoes are roughly 1 inch deep, transfer to the oven for 1 hour.
• Allow the potatoes to cool at room temperature before adding a layer of greaseproof paper to the top of the potatoes. Now place the other tin on top of the greaseproof paper before transferring to the fridge and adding items into the top tin to weigh it down (tins etc are good for this). This weight will compress the potato terrine making it easy to cut as well as ensuring they don’t come apart when frying. Leave in the fridge for 48 hours.

On the day of serving

• Remove your beef from the fridge a couple of hours before you plan to cook it. It’s important to let your meat come up to room temperature! Season well with salt and pepper an hour before you plan to cook. Remember the rib will take roughly 90 minutes in the oven.
• Preheat your oven to 110°C. Place your seasoned beef rib onto a wire tray and place an oven dish underneath to catch any cooking juices. After an hour, check the internal temperature of the meat using your Thermapen. Rib of beef should be cooked medium due to the fat within the cut, this gives it time to breakdown and gives you an excellent texture as well as flavour!
• Whilst the beef is cooking, prepare your chips. Remove the terrine from the fridge and carefully remove the potatoes from the tin. Use your greaseproof paper layer to help if you’re having trouble. Once removed from the dish, slice the terrine into chips. Add vegetable oil to a deep-sided pan and bring the temperature to 180°C – this can also be done in a fryer.

Back to the oven!

• When the internal temperature of the beef reaches 46°C, place a heavy-bottomed frying pan onto the hob and get this smoking hot. When the internal temperature of the beef reaches 48°C remove it from the oven. Turn down the heat on the pan slightly, add a large glug of olive oil and begin to sear your meat on each side. Add the remaining butter, thyme and garlic to the pan and baste the beef constantly whilst searing on all sides. This process should last no more than 5-8 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 55°C. Once this is done, remove your beef and set it aside to rest uncovered for roughly 30 minutes. Keep your pan with the juice and butter to one side.
• Begin frying your chips in batches ensuring the oil remains at 180°C – cook until golden and set aside on kitchen towel until ready to serve.
• Finally, heat the pan containing the beef juices and butter again, place the hispi cabbage flat side down and cook until it begins to char. Baste the cabbage as you go. Remove from the pan and set aside on kitchen towel. Carve your rested beef by first removing the meat from the bone and serve with a sauce of your choice!

Mike Tomkins

Masterchef 2021 Runner Up

@thenotecook

"Thermapen is one of those kitchen tools I can't live without - it's something I use every single day from making sauces, to bbq cooking, to private dining and events, it comes with me everywhere! A Thermapen will improve you as a chef and a cook by taking the guess work out of complex cooking."