Simple, hearty, earthy, juicy! What more is there needed to say about this awesome dish. Easy to put together with lovely strong flavours and great textures this is proper comfort food. There aren’t much better things in food than a big, juicy, well cooked steak covered in a rich, deep red wine sauce. Enough said.

INGREDIENTS

For the Red Wine Jus & Steak

• Two large filet steaks
• 2 chopped shallots
• 175 ml port
• 175 ml red wine
• 1 sprig rosemay
• 1 bay leaf
• 759 ml good beef stock
• salt to tase
• 2 tbs butter

For the Celeriac and Sweet Potato Fries

• 1 large celeriac (1.3kg/3lb total weight)
• 2 large Sweet Potato
• 3-4 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp paprika

For the Honey Glazed Carrots:

• 4 small, thin and conical carrots
• 125 g unsalted butter
• 1 Tbsp runny clear honey
• 1 tbp D’Jon mustard
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• Salt
• 750ml chicken stock
• White Wine (OPTIONAL)

MUSIC I COOKED TO:

Preparation Method:

1. Pre heat an oven to 230C/Gas 8/fan 210C
2. Peel the celeriac, slicing off the top and bottom and sweeping down the sides with a heavy, sharp knife to remove the tough skin. Cut the celeriac into thumb-thick slices and then into chips. Peel and chip the sweet potato
3. Bring a very large saucepan of salted water to the boil, throw in the chips and blanch (boil rapidly, uncovered, for 1-2 minutes). Drain the chips, pat dry with kitchen towel and throw back into the saucepan. Add the oil, paprika and sea salt. Toss until well coated.
4. Spread the chips over a large heavy baking sheet, leaving plenty of space (you may need 2 sheets). They take around 30-35 minutes to cook – wait until they are caramalised and crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.
5. For the red wine jus pan fry the finely diced shallots over a medium high heat until caramelised
6. Add  the port, red wine and herbs. Simmer until reduced by half.
7. Add the stock and reduce by half.
8. Strain through a sieve into a bowl. Add back to the pan and set aside.
9. Remove the green leaves from the carrots, leaving some greens still attached. Wash them well under cold running water and peel them.
10. In a small bowl, add the honey, the mustard and the lemon juice and stir well until combined.
11. Add the butter and heat over medium-high heat. When the butter has almost melted and is foaming place the carrots into the pan. Pour the honey-mustard-lemon juice mixture over the carrots and add salt to taste. Allow the carrots to cook for about 30 minutes over medium heat, until they are softened and caramelised, making sure to turn them every now and then in order to cook evenly. Continue to baste and cover them every so often with the cooking juices, when the pan starts to get a little dry you can deglaze it with some white wine if you have some to hand (or you can use a just a little water or vegetable stock). Never add too much liquid to the pan.
12. When they are ready, remove them from the pan and arrange them on a platter. Pour some of the melted butter-mustard sauce on top.
13. Heat a grill or pan to hot, smear the steaks with oil and salt and cook them, turning once, 3 mins each side.
14. Bring the jus back to boil and remove from heat then whisk ( ‘monte’) in the butter.
15. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
16. To plate up place the steaks next to the carrots in the centre of a plate, scatter some fries next to them and drizzle over some of the red wine jus.