Steak Frites with Rosemary Duck Fat Fries

Upgrade steak night with this high-class version of a classic staple. Can steak and fries be anything but over salted bar food? By frying the potatoes to a perfect crisp in duck fat and pan searing top quality beef in a compound butter and a quality iron skillet, this recipe is worthy of your finest table linens.

This post was sponsored by the Idaho Potato Commision – because, Rosemary Duck Fat Fries…. right?

Steak Frites originated in Europe and literally translates to steak and fries. But with a touch of class. These shoestring fries piled high atop a pan-seared strip steak is the perfect example of elevating pub fiar. The first time I ordered this dish was at a dive bar somewhere deep in the Appalachian mountains. The result was a dry steak hidden beneath a mountain of over salted fries. Where the salt and junk food filled me up, there was nothing stand out about the dish, other than the lack of portion control.

I wanted to re-create this experience in my home, but with an elegance and flavor profile, I knew the dish could have. I started with some duck fat and a craving for herb spiced fries. Using fresh Russet Idaho Potatoes, sliced thin and rolled in the duck fat and baked to crispy perfection for a solid crunch on a hot aluminum cookie sheet and seasoning liberally with garlic, fresh herbs and Jacobson Smoked Rosemary Salt things were looking up. Then I whipped up a quick Dijon aioli, thinking that serving ketchup with this masterpiece would be downright criminal. The crunch, herbs, and peppery kick from the aioli almost made these fries a meal in themselves.

Paired with the New York Strip things just got sexy. 

A simple roasted garlic compound butter, rolled in thick black peppercorns was the start to the perfect pan-seared strip. Set aside to rest, while the fries came together, I started the heating the pan to get things smoking. Literally.

When the fries were just ready to be pulled, the steaks when on medium-high smoking hot cast iron. The sear was perfect. Flipped, basted in butter and finished in minutes for that perfect medium rare center. Finally, assembled under the Rosemary Duck Fat Fries, with a dollop of that roasted garlic black pepper compound butter atop, this recipe made my previous Steak Frites experience a pale and distant memory.

Tools used for this recipe 

• My go-to heavy pan for steaks
• Cast Iron Serving Platters
• Good Steak Knives
• Jacobsen Rosemary Salt 
• Duck Fat

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Steak Frites with Rosemary Duck Fat Fries

Ingredients

For the Roasted Garlic Peppercorn Compound Butter

• 1 head garlic tip 1/3 removed
• 4 tbs olive oil
• 4 tbs unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 tbsp smoked sea salt
• 1/4 cup coarse ground black pepper

Rosemary Duck Fat Fries (recipe follows)

For the New York Strips

• 4 tbs unsalted butter
• 2 New York Strip Steaks

Instructions

Roasted Garlic Peppercorn Compound Butter

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wrap the head of garlic in a aluminum foil makeshift basket, drizzling with olive oil. Cook, for 25-30  minutes, until golden and soft. Allow to cool and then mince.
2. When cooled, press the garlic cloves out from the husk. Chop and set aside.
3. Mash the butter with a fork, adding  4 to 6 cloves of garlic and smoked sea salt.
4. Arrange plastic wrap on a smooth surface and dollop the butter in the center, wrap the edges and roll into a tube.
5. Unroll the butter and sprinkle the pepper over top, rolling back and forth to coat the butter. Re-wrap in the plastic wrap and place in fridge until ready to use.
6. Butter can be made 2 to 3 days ahead.

For the Pan Seared New York Strip Steaks

1. Allow a heavy bottomed iron skillet over medium-high heat until smoking hot. I mean smoking hot.
2. Pat steaks dry and season with salt.
3. Pull the pan from the heat and add butter. This will produce smoke, so have the oven vent on. As soon as the foam subsides, toss the steaks into the pan, back over the heat.
4. Allow the steaks to sear, forming a nice crust, without touching them for 1 to 2 minutes. Flip, toss the remaining butter into the pan, baste the steaks, and allow the steaks to sear on the other side, another 2 - 3 minutes.
5. Check temp for the desired doneness off heat. Allow to rest on warmed serving platters. Serve with a mountain of frites atop. 

Recipe Notes

Warm serving dishes in an oven ahead of time, on the keep warm or at 190 degrees. Only use oven safe dishes and placemats on your table when using this trick. Never serve hot dishes to children. Duh.

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Rosemary Duck Fat Fries

Ingredients

• 4 large russet potatoes scrubbed and sliced into 1/4" strips
• 1/2 cup Duck Fat room temperature
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp Truffle Oil
• 2 cloves chopped roasted garlic
• chopped rosemary thyme, sage
• Jacobsen Rosemary Salt

For the Aioli

• 1/4 cup Mayo
• 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 teas Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 Truffle Oil
• Chopped Rosemary
• Smoked Salt
• Coarse Ground Black Pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Toss the sliced potatoes in a dish with the duck fat, reserving 2 tbsp. Season liberally with salt.
3. Rub 2 baking sheets with a thin layer of the reserved duck fat.
4. Arrange the potatoes onto the baking sheets in a single layer.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping fries and rotating pans halfway through cook time, until golden and crunchy.
6. Meanwhile, whisk the mayo, mustard and Worcestershire together in a small bowl. Drizzle truffle oil, chopped rosemary salt, and pepper over top. Set aside.
7. When the fries are removed from the oven, toss with truffle oil and season with the chopped roasted garlic, herbs and Rosemary Salt.
8. Allow fries to cool for a few minutes before serving with aioli.