One of our favourite guilty pleasures is a delicious cote de boeuf served with seasonal vegetables. And chips. It must have chips. The trick can be cooking the meat evenly as the cut tends to be quite thick. This is where a sous vide comes in very handy, ensuring a consistent cook throughout the joint of meat. It also allows for the juices to be reserved for a fantastic jus.

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What is Sous Vide and Why Cook Like This?

The Sous vide (French for “under vacuum”) method cooks food encased in a water-proof bag, immersed into a water/steam bath heated to a precise temperature. The food is cooked evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked to a desired temperature without overcooking the outside, as well as retaining moisture in the food. Having cooked cote de boeuf (and ribeye) more times than I care to remember, I get better results using a sous vide vs cooking over charcoal in terms of retained moisture in the meat. The only factor missing with a sous vide is the smoke aromatics, but with a decent sear over charcoal at the end, this almost makes up for it.

The method takes longer that traditional oven techniques as there is less heat energy to be absorbed into the food being cooked. The trade-off is that it is impossible to overcook the food … although if food is left in the sous vide for too long it can collapse. If you’re interested in finding out more about this cooking technique check out the Serious Eats What is Sous Vide? post.

Sous Vide Equipment

For this method you’ll need a sous vide device. I have a Sous Vide Supreme (pictured right), a standalone sous vide tool. I like this model because it’s an all-in-one solution, I don’t need to get extra containers and/or lids for pans.

There are other devices available such as the Anova Culinary Precision Cooker. This comes with WiFi to remotely monitor a cook. A more basic and cost effective model is the Wancle sous vide.

You’ll also need a vacuum sealer. I use the Goscien vacuum sealer, it’s a great bit of kit. The feature I like the most is the moist seal, whereby it detects when moisture is about to be extracted and slows down the sealing process.

Ingredients

• 1 cote de boeuf joint
• 100ml ruby port
• 375ml red wine
• Butter
• Salt and pepper

Method

The steak is seared at the end of this process. If you have the ability to sear over charcoal I recommend this, it seems to add a better crust and flavour to the finished steak. When doing this, I soften the butter and spread it onto the surface of the steak, then perform the sear.

1. Warm the sous vide to the desired temperature. I cook the meat at 140°F/60°C. This gives a medium finish and also helps to render some of the fat out to create that tasty sauce. Simply adjust the cooking temperature to your preference:
   • Rare: 120°F (49°C) to 128°F (53°C)
   • Medium rare: 129°F (54°C) to 134°F (57°C)
   • Medium: 135°F (57°C) to 144°F (62°C)
   • Medium-well: 145°F (63°C) to 155°F (68°C)
   • Well done: 156°F (69°C)
2. When the sous vide is at temperature, sprinkle salt and pepper onto the cote de beouf joint and add two slices of butter. Seal it inside a vacuum bag. Place the bag inside the sous vide and cook for 4 hours.
3. When the time is up, carefully remove the sous vide bag with the beef from the device. Cut open the bag and pour any juices into a small saucepan. Add the ruby port and red wine to the saucepan, then heat the saucepan over a stove to create the jus.
4. Whilst the jus is reducing, heat a searing surface. Add butter to the surface and sear the steak on all sides for 30-60 secs to caramelise it. Then wrap it in silver foil and continue to reduce the jus.
5. When the jus has reached desired thickness, take it off the heat and decant into a fat separator. Carve the meat and serve with the jus and vegetables.

Hints, Tips and Pictures

1. If the jus is not thick enough add a little cornflour mixed with water.
2. If you can get it, black truffle butter kicks this up a notch for both the sous vide and sear stage. I used the Truffle Hunter brand. 
3. I trimmed the tail of the bone off using a meat saw in order to get it to fit into the sous vide bag. In doing so, I used a sharp knife to trim off sharp bits of bone that would have caused the sous vide bag to split/tear when it was vacuum sealed.