Steak & Chips with Chive Butter

Ingredients

• 600 g floury potatoes, cut into chips
• salt and black pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 60 g butter, softened
• 2 ribeye or sirloin steaks, about 250g each
• 3 tbsp chives, finely snipped
• 0.5 lemon, juiced
• Dressed watercress and rocket salad, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C/fan 200°C. Salt the chip water generously — it should taste like the sea, and this is your only chance to season the potato itself. Parboil the chips for 5 minutes, drain, then shake them firmly in the colander until the edges go fluffy and rough. That roughness is what turns into crunch.
2. Tip the chips onto a baking tray in a single layer — crowd them and they steam instead of crisping. Drizzle with the olive oil, season generously with salt and pepper, and roast for 25–30 minutes, turning once halfway, until deep golden and crackling at the edges.
3. Meanwhile, beat the softened butter with the chives and the lemon juice, season with salt and pepper, then taste it — adjust now, because once it's chilled you can't fix it. Spoon onto a square of cling film and roll into a tight log. Chill in the fridge until firm.
4. Take the steaks out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking and pat them bone-dry with kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no crust. Season generously with salt and pepper on both sides.
5. Heat a heavy stainless or cast iron pan until it's properly smoking — if it's not smoking, it's not hot enough, and you'll grey the meat instead of searing it. Lay the steaks away from you in a single layer with space between them; two steaks, one pan, no crowding. Sear 2–3 minutes per side for medium-rare, pressing down lightly so the whole surface meets the metal and builds that dark, savoury crust.
6. Lift the steaks onto a warm plate and rest for a full 5 minutes — they need it. The juices redistribute, and the carry-over heat takes them from rare to medium-rare on the plate.
7. Cut two thick discs from the chilled chive butter and lay one on each rested steak so it slumps and pools into the resting juices. Pile the hot chips alongside, add a handful of dressed watercress and rocket salad to each plate, and serve straight away.