Pastrami-spiced bavette with charred cabbage
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 4
- Dietary
- Egg-freeGluten-freeNut-free
This quick steak and cabbage dish with a pastrami-style spice mix is an achievable weeknight dinner that feels fancy.
Ingredients
For the pastrami spice
- 15g/½oz peppercorns
- 10g/⅓oz coriander seeds
- 2 juniper berries
- pinch chilli flakes
- pinch garlic powder or granules
- 15g/½oz brown sugar
- 15g/½oz fine salt
For the steak and cabbage
- 1 hispi, pointed or sweetheart cabbage, roughly chopped
- 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 4 x 250g/9oz bavette steaks
- 4 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the potato rosti
Method
To make the pastrami spice, heat a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the peppercorns, coriander seeds and juniper berries and toast for 1–2 minutes, or until fragrant.
Tip into a pestle and mortar or spice grinder and grind to a coarse texture. Leave some texture in the spice mix so it is not completely powdered.
Add the chilli flakes, garlic powder, sugar and salt and mix well.
To cook the steaks, heat a heavy frying pan or cast-iron pan over a high heat. Pat the steaks dry and lightly season with salt. Do not over-season at this stage, as the spice rub also contains salt.
When the pan is smoking hot, add a little olive oil and add the steaks. Cook for about 3–4 minutes in total, turning and rolling them to caramelise and char all sides. (Bavette steaks vary in thickness, so cooking times may vary. If using a digital thermometer, cook until the internal temperature reaches 49C when removed from the pan.) The steaks will continue to cook as they rest and should reach medium doneness.
Remove the steaks from the pan and brush with the Dijon mustard. Season liberally with the pastrami spice mix, covering the whole steak. Leave to rest on a warm tray or plate while you cook the cabbage and rosti.
To cook the cabbage, heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat.
Scatter the cabbage into the hot pan and scatter over the butter.
Cook over a high heat for 4–5 minutes without stirring. The underside will char and caramelise while the top begins to steam. Then stir the cabbage.
For the final minute, cover the pan with a lid and cook the cabbage through. Season with salt and pepper, then move the cabbage around the pan. Add the apple cider vinegar. Keep warm.
To make the rosti, place the grated potato into a clean tea towel and squeeze all the water out, place in a clean bowl. Mix in the onion and cornflour.
Heat the oil between 2 small frying pans and once hot add the mix to the 2 pans and cook on each side for 2–3 minutes or until cooked through.
To serve, cut the steaks into thick slices and divide between the plates. Spoon over any resting juices and serve with the cabbage and rosti. Garnish with the chives.
