SCENE: Evening.
You are seated at a long wooden table at a small, intimate restaurant in Paris, illuminated only by candlelight, waiting patiently for the waitress to arrive.
“How would you like it cooked?”
This is the ordering experience at L’Entrecôte in Paris, France. No, the waitresses are not telepathic; there’s just only one thing on the menu: salad, fries, and steak, cooked any way you like. And you want it rare.
This is an amazing steak. L’Entrecôte doesn’t take reservations because they know they don’t have to: by 7:30, the restaurant is full; obscenely early for a Paris diner. After the table has “ordered,” the waitresses bring by huge serving bowls of salad, simple greens, simply dressed. Quite delicious, but it doesn’t hold a candle to what you are about to experience.
The steak is always cooked to perfection, the fries are crisp and flavourful, but the real goodness? The sauce.
Lucky me, my mother fell in love with it too, and after a lot of experimentation on us, her guinea pigs, she figured it out, as she always does.
And now I’m here to share it with you! Don’t be taken aback by the pinkish hue… it’s amazing. We have yet to figure out how the Parisians acheive a more muted color… I’m convinced that it has to do with fresh tarragon. At any rate, it tastes the same, and if I close my eyes, I feel like I’m back in Paris.
L’Entrecôte Steak
Season a room-temperature steak liberally with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a frying pan until almost smoking, and then add the steak. Cook until desired doneness is acheived (ahem. rare). Remove steak and keep warm. Add a tablespoon of Tarragon Dijon Mustard. Whisk in a quarter cup (approximately) of good, dry red wine. Return the steak to the pan and coat both sides with sauce. Serve with extra sauce on the side.
Naturally, this can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled… it’s worth it. It’s best served with fries, but if you’re feeling lazy, as I was, some toast rubbed with garlic and olive oil will do nicely.
