For quick potato chips that are crisp rather than soggy, the key is to season the potatoes only after they’re cooked. Salt draws out water, so pre-salting means the potatoes sweat rather than brown. It’s the same idea as deep-frying fries – you don’t salt until after they’re cooked.
Ingredients
125 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil, plus extra for drizzling
12 kipfler potatoes, scrubbed and cut into thin wedges
8 golden shallots, skin on
4 200gm sirloin steaks, at room temperature
100 ml port
100 ml red wine
3 thyme sprigs, plus extra thyme leaves to serve
1 garlic clove, bruised
250 ml (1 cup) veal or beef stock
2 tsp red wine vinegar, or to taste
Dressed frisée, to serve
Method
1. Preheat oven to 240°C. Divide oil between two metal oven trays and place in the oven to heat for 5 minutes. Divide potatoes between trays and spread shallots around both trays. Roast shallots until softened (10-12 minutes) and potatoes until crisp and golden (18-20 minutes). Let shallots cool slightly, then halve, remove skins and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan over high heat, drizzle steaks with a little oil, season to taste, then fry, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked to your liking (4-6 minutes for medium-rare). Set aside loosely covered with foil to rest. Deglaze pan with port, add wine, thyme sprigs and garlic and reduce by half (3-4 minutes), add stock and shallots and boil until a thin sauce (6-8 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in vinegar and thyme leaves and season to taste. Slice steaks and serve with sauce, chips and frisée.
Maxwell Adey
Senior Food Editor & Stylist
Maxwell has always been passionate about food. Born into a restaurateur and award-winning produce farming family, he was strongly steered into pursuing a career in advertising after completing his Bachelor of Public Communication at University of Technology, Sydney. After a very short stint, he decided to enrol in Commercial Cookery at TAFE to follow his true passion. Maxwell started out working in some of Sydney’s finest restaurants (Est., Claude’s and Moon Park) which helped further his love of all things culinary and developed his technical ability to cook. Later, he was lured into the magical world of food publishing where he freelanced for ten years for notable Australian commercial and editorial brands. He has also run his own business where he sells his marinated olives, dressings and sauces at food markets and select retailers. He excitingly joins the Gourmet Traveller team to bring his technical and creative expertise in food to the brand.
Cuisine:
Modern Australian
Magazine Issue:
April 2018