• 2 x 200g ribeye or sirloin steak about 1 inch thick
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 4 - 5 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped
• 1/3 Tbls of cracked black pepper
• Sea salt 

For the bearnaise sauce

• 2 fresh organic egg yolks
• 1 shallot very finely diced
• 2 Tbls of tarragon vinegar (or white wine vinegar, if you don’t have it)
• 125g cold butter cut into small cubes
• 2 Tbls of very finely sliced chives
• 2 Tbls of finely chopped parley
• A small bunch of fresh tarragon leaves picked and finely chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a large, heavy grill over the fire. Turn the steaks through the olive oil then season them with the cracked black pepper and plenty of salt. Tear the thyme leaves from the stem and scatter these over the steaks. Massage the seasoning and herbs into the meat. Lay the steaks down on the hot grill. If the embers are as hot as they should be, the steaks will spit and sizzle.

Cook the steak, pressing it down every so often with the back of a spatula, for 2 ½ – 3 minutes. Carefully turn the steak and cook for a further 2 minutes.

(N.B These cooking times will give you a medium rare ribeye steak but if you’re cooking a bavette or fillet steak these timing may differ slightly. It’s sometimes worth checking the internal temperature with a digital meat thermometer.  Take your steaks off the heat when they hit your preferred temp. See below)

 Rare                             48ºC

Medium Rare               52ºC 

Medium                       58ºC 

Medium Well                62ºC 

Well Done                    68ºC 

Lift the steaks off the grill to a warm dish, cover loosely with parchment paper and let them rest while you make the sauce.

Set a smallish pan down over the fire and add the shallot, the vinegar and 4 Tbls of water. Bring the contents of the pan up to a simmer and reduce by half. Remove the pan and tip the contents into a heat proof mixing bowl. 

When the vinegar and shallot reduction has cooled, stir in the egg yolks, then, holding the bowl over the hot fire (or over a pan of simmering water) start whisking the yolks and vinegar together until you have a nice light emulsified texture. Now start dropping in the butter a cube or two at a time and whisking until the butter has melted. Repeat this process with a couple more cubes of butter, whisking all the while until the butter has melted and the sauce is beginning to thicken. At this point you can whisk in the remaining butter. If at any stage, it looks like the sauce may be splitting add a few drops of ice water which should help bring it back together. 

You can, if you like, pass the sauce through a sieve at this point to remove the diced shallot, personally I never bother, I like the texture of the shallot in the sauce, what’s more, it seems wasteful.

Either way, stir in the chopped tarragon, parsley and chives and season the bearnaise sauce with salt and plenty of black pepper 

Carve the steaks into nice thick slices and serve at once with the bearnaise sauce and a nice big bowl of sauté potatoes or chips