Seared Sirloin with Café de Paris Butter & Watercress

Ingredients

• 2 sirloin steaks, about 250g each
• 80 g butter, softened
• 1 tbsp chives, finely snipped
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
• 0.5 tsp dried thyme
• 0.5 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 bunch watercress
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and black pepper
• triple-cooked chips, to serve
• crusty baguette, to serve
• Dijon-dressed green salad, to serve

Method

1. Make the Café de Paris butter first so it has time to firm up. Tip the smoked paprika and dried thyme into a dry pan over a low heat for 30 seconds until fragrant — blooming the spices wakes them up so the butter tastes of itself, not of dusty cupboard.
2. Beat the softened butter with the chives, Dijon, bloomed paprika and thyme, lemon zest and a generous pinch of salt until smooth and evenly flecked with green. Taste it — compound butter under-seasoned is compound butter wasted; adjust the salt now. Spoon onto a sheet of cling film, roll into a log about 3cm thick, twist the ends and chill for at least 30 minutes until solid.
3. Take the steaks out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking — cold steak in a hot pan steams instead of sears. Pat them bone-dry with kitchen paper (water means steam, steam means no crust) and season very generously on both sides with salt and pepper, pressing it in so it sticks.
4. Heat a heavy cast-iron pan over a very high heat until it's properly smoking — this is non-negotiable for a deep mahogany crust. Add the olive oil, swirl, then lay the steaks away from you in a single layer with room between them. Two steaks, one pan — don't crowd it; if your pan is small, sear them one at a time. Crowded steaks boil in their own juice and you'll never get the crust back.
5. Cook undisturbed for 2–3 minutes until a dark mahogany crust forms and the steak releases without tugging, then flip and give the second side another 2–3 minutes for medium-rare. Press the centre — it should feel like the pad below your thumb when you touch thumb to middle finger, around 50°C internal. Pull now; the temperature carries up to 55°C off the heat. Lift onto a warm plate and rest for a full 5 minutes — cutting early loses every bit of juice you've just earned.
6. While the steak rests, tumble the watercress with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt — just enough to wake it up against the rich butter. Taste a leaf; adjust now, not at the table.
7. Plate each steak and immediately crown with two thick coins of the Café de Paris butter so it starts melting on contact into the resting juices. Pile the dressed watercress alongside and serve with the triple-cooked chips, crusty baguette and Dijon-dressed green salad to mop up the buttery slick.