The secret of the perfect Côte de Boeuf

A perfect Côte de Boeuf is juicy, flavorful and melts on the tongue. How does it work? It depends on the preparation. And on the quality of the meat.

Table of contents Table of contents The secret of the perfect Côte de Boeuf

• Quality matters
• In the cattle paradise
• A pleasure for gourmets
• Recipe: The perfect Côte de Boeuf
• The preparation of the Côte de Boeuf

Table of contents Table of contents The secret of the perfect Côte de Boeuf

• Quality matters
• In the cattle paradise
• A pleasure for gourmets
• Recipe: The perfect Côte de Boeuf
• The preparation of the Côte de Boeuf

Less meat, but better. More and more people live according to the motto. For example, the Côte de Boeuf, part of the back of beef, is particularly delicious. The meat of young, female animals is very tender. It is characterized by its strong red and an intensive marbling of fat, which makes it juicy, full-bodied and flavor-intensive. You can prepare Côte de Boeuf in a variety of ways: on the grill, in the oven or in the pan, as in our recipe below.

The lush pastures of Ireland offer perfect conditions for the best beef.

Photo: Christof Herdt, Tre Torri Verlag GmbH

Quality matters

Whether the Côte de Boeuf is perfect does not depend solely on the preparation. The most important requirement is the quality of the meat. Therefore, you should definitely pay attention to what and where you buy. Real is well advised, for example. Because the retail chain is committed to the philosophy of "living the good life" and attaches great importance to high-quality and sustainable food, also in its meat range. For this reason, real also preferably works with producers who operate consciously, responsibly and with passion. One of them is John Purcell. The 170 hectare pasture land of the Irish cattle host is in the county of Tipperary in the south of Ireland. The world's best beef comes from this area. This is due in particular to the natural conditions: the cattle spend most of the year on the large pastures, feed on lush grass and herbs, and thus stay so healthy that they do not need antibiotics or other medication.

John Purcell's cattle live in small herds on huge pastures.

Photo: Christof Herdt, Tre Torri Verlag GmbH

In the cattle paradise

Nearly 500 cattle graze in small herds on Purcell's farmland. There they live in a real cattle paradise: an endless sea of ​​lush grass, bushes, herbs and lots of space. Every three weeks, the cattle of the organic farmer move to a different pasture so that grass and herbs can grow back. In winter they come to large, open stables without side walls.

John Purcell checks every day whether everything fits on his pasture.

Photo: Christof Herdt, Tre Torri Verlag GmbH

A pleasure for gourmets

Purcell visits his farmland every day for long rounds of checks, but his main job is to do something different: he is the CEO of an organic meat producer who also processes and exports his meat. Depending on the breed, Purcell cattle are ready for slaughter after 18 to almost 30 months. A truck then takes the animals to a nearby farm, where they live in the pasture until they are slaughtered. The highest quality meat is then processed into the best dry-aged beef. It goes through a specially developed drying process that maintains and underlines the juiciness and natural aroma. The finished dry-aged tipperary beef can also be bought in Germany from real - and is a special treat for meat fans and gourmets.

Delicious: Côte de Boeuf with Béarnaise sauce

Photo: Christof Herdt, Tre Torri Verlag GmbH

Recipe: The perfect Côte de Boeuf

Ingredients (4 people)

For the fennel:

• 3 fennel bulbs
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt pepper
• sweet paprika powder

For the béarnaise sauce:

• 2 shallots
• 5 stems of tarragon
• 20 g butter
• 50 ml white wine vinegar
• 50 ml white wine
• 3 white peppercorns
• 3 egg yolks
• 200 g clarified liquid butter
• Cayenne pepper

For the Côte de Boeuf:

• 2 côtes de boeuf (approx. 800 g each)
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 80 g butter
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 2 sprigs of thyme

The preparation of the Côte de Boeuf

1. Clean and wash the fennel and cut or slice into thin slices. Wash the thyme, shake dry, pluck the leaves and chop finely. In a pan, fry the fennel until translucent in sunflower oil, add the thyme, continue to fry briefly, deglaze with half of the lemon juice and braise until firm. Season with salt, pepper and paprika powder and keep warm until served.

2. For the béarnaise sauce, peel the shallots and cut them into fine cubes. Wash the tarragon, shake dry, pluck the leaves from the stems and cut finely. Melt the butter in a saucepan and braise the shallot cubes until translucent. Deglaze with vinegar and white wine and bring to the boil once. Crush peppercorns in a mortar, add to the shallot and white wine mixture and reduce the sauce by half. Transfer to a metal bowl and let cool slightly.
3. Place the bowl over a hot water bath. Add the egg yolks and whisk until creamy with the whisk. Let the clarified butter flow in slowly while stirring constantly and finally add the tarragon. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and the remaining lemon juice and keep warm over the water bath.
4. Wash the meat and pat dry. Sear on both sides in a pan in hot oil. Roast pink depending on the desired degree of cooking (core temperature of approx. 50 degrees). Add the butter and the washed herbs, swirl briefly in it and season with salt and pepper. Leave outside the pan for about 5 minutes until the desired core temperature is reached. Arrange the Côte de Boeuf with the béarnaise sauce and fennel.

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