Julia Child’s Secret to the Perfect Steak Frites

I set out to make the perfect Steak Frites with the ultimate french sauce to go along with it. Anytime I’m at a French restaurant, 99% of the time I’m ordering this dish. You’ll find it in Mastering the Art of French Cooking v1.

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Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol 1 & 2:

The Way to Cook cookbook:

Recipe:
(4 to 6 people)
2 to 2 1/2 lbs steak (I used ribeye)
1/2 cup beef stock, white wine, or white vermouth to deglaze after frying and add by droplets into Béarnaise sauce (I FORGOT THIS STEP!)

Béarnaise sauce
(for 1.5 cups)
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1/4 dry white wine or vermouth
1 tb minced shallots
1 tb minced tarragon
1/8 tsp (a hoot) of pepper
pinch of salt
THEN
3 egg yolks
2 tb cold butter
1/2 to 2/3 cup melted butter
2 tb minced fresh tarragon

Fries:
Russet Potatoes
frying oil
salt

Water Cress.............

#jamieandjulia #juliachild #antichef

[frogman]

Hey man just wanted to say thank you for what you do. My 76 year old mother loved watching julia back in the day and also loved watching your attempts at replicating her recipies. She died this month and I'm glad I got to introduce her to your videos because she really loved them

[jordanschmitt]

If you heat the plate (just like 20-30 seconds in the microwave) before plating, it help food hold it's temp better. A ceramic plate has a lot of thermal mass and energy wants to move from hot to cold. Anytime you put hot food on a cold plate, the plate sucks lots of heat out of the food rapidly.

[alexorigoni]

Store your Béarnaise or hollandaise in a thermos.
Fill it with hot water first to warm the thermos before your sauce goes in. It will hold for a couple of hours.

[lagunagirl]

As the cook in my family, I try to explain to them that “food often tastes better when someone else prepares it.” 😊. Love Jamie’s honest portrayal.

[StephenGhigliotty]

I met her quite a few times and served her dinner with Paul Child at my Culinary School Graduation dinner....you do her proud. And bearnaise is so sublime and wonderful. You could have added a tablespoon or two of hot water and that sauce would have been more unctous and flattering to the steak. But overall, what a wonderful job and tribute. It is one of the best French chef meals!

[Raiden_N]

I made steak au poivre for dinner yesterday, but after watching this I could totally eat steak frites tonight as well.

[jelsner]

I waited tables years ago and we served french fries with a side of bearnaise. The bearnaise was kept in a thermos/pitcher and the waitstaff had to pour it into a small ramekin to serve. It was never too thick, never split, always perfect.

[KenS]

I used to work the grill at a prime steakhouse. When you order this dish in a restaurant, except very tiny French bistros, different people handle different elements of it. Doing it all solo is extremely challenging.

To avoid cold plates splash some hot water out of a kettle or put the plate in the oven for a couple of minutes, wipe it clean and dry before putting food on it obviously.

Bearnaise is not something you can really make a la minute, at the last minute in non restaurant speak. Make it ahead and hold it in a pre warmed thermos.

Personally, no matter how you like your steaks I prefer to cook it fast and hot on the stove top on just one side and then flip it and put it in the oven to finish for a few minutes (you can look up rough guides on how long but you should have an instant read and be checking every couple of minutes). That will give you the time to deal with things like fries or whatever else needs to be done.


Paper towels hold grease. Fries sitting on paper towels are sitting in grease which defeats the purpose. Put the paper towel under the cooling rack not over it. You'll still get rid of a lot of the grease from the fries and you'll have crispier fries.

This may just be my taste but bearnaise is very heavy for a good steak. If you're spending serious money on beef why cover up the flavor of the meat? I'd rather have a pan sauce that compliments the flavor of the steak rather than obscures it.

[rocki_bb]

Jamie I'm incredibly happy I found your channel. I'm disabled and watching you has brought back my desire to experiment in the kitchen again. I haven't felt that since I began to get sick 10+ years ago.
Thank you!

[ryanfoy]

I have been making bearnaise for years and there's a simpler way to make it that i've never had the sauce separate with and it also allows you to serve it warm. Cook the base and reduce it per the recipe, then set it aside and cool it to room temperature. You can throw it in the fridge if you're pressed for time. When you are about ready to serve, combine the reduction (Don't strain it) along with the egg yolks in a blender and blend it for 30 seconds. Then slowly drizzle in the melted butter to the base/eggs while the blender is on. This keeps the eggs from scrambling while also making sure the sauce is fully emulsified. Works every time. Love your videos and keep them coming!

[moonshine]

Yaaay another Jamie and Julia episode!

[autodidactin]

I think you’ve upped your game to the point where you have to call yourself “FORMER Anti-Chef!” Well done Jamie!

[RataStuey]

Watercress is great with meat. Even when it cooks a little from the residual heat of the plates food it brings a peppery freshness to everything

[charlesreichert]

Jamie, you are so entertaining. Your dry wit is unmatched.

[ian]

That looked amazing! Jamie, your not trying out recipes and second guessing yourself anymore to me. You are simply showing us how to make great food. Thanks for the content.

[josephmonte]

Good effort! I’ve been a Chef/ Restaurant owner for 26 years, formally trained at “Johnson & Wales”. Those French custard style sauces are the most difficult of the 5 “Mother Sauces” of French cuisine. Why? Because they “Break” not “Split”. Your best bet is to prepare the sauce during the 7-10 required resting time for certain proteins. That will not only make it easier, but the steak will not be piping hot keeping your sauce from breaking! Just a friendly tip!
Hope it help?

[chriscann]

Watercress is a superb match for steak - its peppery taste beautifully complements the meat. I note you mention JC's lack of pre-cooking seasoning - I've always been taught NOT to season steak, especially with salt, before cooking, as this draws out the moisture and can make the meat tougher than otherwise - best to season whilst the steak is resting. I've also always been taught to make Bearnaise and Hollandaise in a bain marie, which provides gentler heat and makes the sauce less likely to scramble. It takes longer, but is worth it - I've never had a problem! Oh, and Bearnaise is also really nice with chicken, as you'd imagine with a buttery tarragon sauce! One final thing, if you're going to do another JC steak recipe, PLEASE do Tournedos was the first dish I ever cooked from MtAoFC.

[snowhawk]

When I want some special frites, I go the mashed sticks route. Dice russets into equal sized cubes (~inch). Boil until fork/knife tender. Rice/mash the potatoes. Finely meshing the potatoes leads to a more gummy interior. Mix in some potato/cornstarch, turning it into a biscuit like consistency. Place mash into ziplock bags and sheet them to your desired thickness. Freeze until firm. Remove from bags and slice mash sheets into sticks. Dust sticks with more starch to help with the outer crispiness. Deep fry at 375 for 4-5 minutes, pull to let the temp come back up to 375, deep fry for two minutes or until they have the color/doneness you want. The frites will take on the flavor of whatever oil/fat you use. You can throw in herbs during the 2nd fry.

[jeanvignes]

What a beautiful meal. Bravo. I hear you on the cold meal issues. As I live alone, I have learned to only cook one half of a "normal" steak at a time. I can't eat more than one half and there really is no way to reheat a perfect medium-rare steak without overcooking the steak. Something else I have tried is to cut the leftover cold steak into a large dice and making a cold steak salad with the leftovers. Romain, slivers of red onion, quartered grape tomatoes, diced cold steak. It works.

[rayrontour]

I like your clear and relaxed presentation. And the steak looked great. I think Julia approves.