Method

The Steak Part 1
If you have the time, salt the steaks generously and leave them uncovered in the fridge on a rack overnight. This allows the salt to draw out moisture, which then sinks back into the meat over time. In the morning, take them out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature before cooking.
If you are not salting overnight, then salt your steaks at least 2 hours before cooking and leave them at room temperature. In the meantime you can make the butter.

Compressed Herb Butter
Preheat the oven to 180 °C.

The idea here is to roast the garlic head as a whole piece, so you only need to chop a little off the top to reveal the garlic inside. Place the garlic bulb on its side and using a sharp knife trim off the top of the bulb. Drizzle the exposed garlic with olive oil and sea salt. Pop the bulb into a small roasting tray and roast in the oven for around 30-40 minutes or until the garlic is soft.

Place the butter into a mixing bowl and add the thyme and parsley. Squeeze the soft roasted garlic into the butter and mix well to combine. Lay a piece of plastic wrap onto your work surface and spoon the butter into a rough log shape. Roll the plastic wrap up and pinch the ends to create a cylindrical shape. Twist the ends tightly to create a solid and even tube of butter. Wrap in foil and pop into the freezer to set.

NB! Remember to remove your butter log from the freezer and refrigerate about an hour before you want to serve, it should be cold when you slice it into rounds but ideally not frozen.

The Steak Part 2
Preheat the oven to 120 °C.

Pop the steaks onto a roasting rack. Set the timer for 20 minutes and when it goes off, check the internal temperature of the steaks. You are aiming for 40 °C. If the steaks need more time then put them back into the oven for another 10 minutes. You will need to use judgement here to get it right but don’t worry as the temperature will rise slowly.

Once the steaks hit 40 °C you can take them out and let them rest until you are ready to cook. This will give you a rare steak. If you want medium rare, then aim for 45-50 °C.

The Fries
Use a potato peeler to slice each potato lengthwise into ribbons. Try to peel the potato evenly into whole strips rather than bits and pieces. Once you’ve peeled all of the potatoes into slices, place in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes to remove the excess starch. Drain the chips and pat dry with kitchen towel.

In a large saucepan over a high heat, add enough oil for frying. Just under half the pot of oil is good enough. Get your oil up to 180 °C and par-fry the chips in batches for 1 minute per batch. Remove the chips from the oil and drain on kitchen towel to cool.

The chips are now ready to be fried when you cook your steak. When you’re ready to fry, simply drop the chips into oil preheated to 180 °C and fry until they just start to turn golden. Season with a pinch of smoked paprika, sea salt and pepper once they’re out of the oil.

The Steak Part 3
Heat a large cast iron pan over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and give it 30 seconds to heat up. Place the steak in the pan and set a timer for 1 minute. Flip the steak at 1 minute and set the timer for another minute. Give the steak another 30 seconds per side, which means 3 minutes total and you’re done.

Top your hot steaks with a sliced round of compressed herb butter, add your chips, season and serve.