Nordic Nature Choco sirloin

Slow-roasted Nordic Nature Choco sirloin, red wine reduction and bitter chocolate butter, Crique Ardéchoise, sprouting broccoli, red wine sauce

Yip, that’s right—beef and chocolate. Seriously, don’t knock it until you try it. But not just any beef. These hand-selected heifers were reared naturally on the lush green pastures of Finland and finished on a diet of chocolate so why not enjoy their meat with more chocolate. The sirloin is slow-roasted with herbs, garlic and cacao nibs. Served with a comforting herby potato cake, crunchy sprouting broccoli, and a red wine sauce, deep with umami and lifted with fresh tarragon that finishes the dish off beautifully. The twist? It’s the pink, melt-in-the-mouth meat that’s uniquely sweet while the red wine reduction and bitter chocolate butter delivers the lip-smacking savoury flavours. 

Ingredients

Feeds 4

  • Nordic Nature Choco Sirloin, weighing approx. 1kg

  • 50g unsalted butter, cut into cubes

  • 20g beef fat or olive oil

  • Fresh rosemary and thyme

  • 1 garlic clove, split in half

  • 20g cacao nibs

  • 500g purple sprouting broccoli

  • 50g unsalted butter

  • 50g cold water

COMPOUND BUTTER

  • 150ml red wine

  • 5g sugar

  • 50g 85% dark chocolate

  • 1g cocoa powder

  • 150g unsalted butter

  • Maldon sea salt

  • Black pepper

RED WINE SAUCE

  • Beef trimmings

  • 300g white mushrooms, sliced

  • 1L chicken stock; I use TRUEfoods

  • 300ml veal stock; I use Veal jus from TRUEfoods

  • 600ml red wine

  • 100ml madeira

  • 5g xanthan gum

  • 20ml cabernet sauvignon vinegar

  • 5 sprigs tarragon

CRIQUE ARDÉCHOISE

  • 1kg Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated

  • 2 onions, finely sliced

  • 1 clove garlic, crushed

  • Fresh parsley, roughly chopped

  • 25g unsalted butter

  • 20ml olive oil

Method

Nordic Nature Choco sirloin from Ayrshire heifers in Finland

Prepare the sirloin the night before along with the butter and sauce. 

Trim the sirloin, removing any fat and silverskin. Put the sirloin in the fridge overnight, uncovered. Separate the fat to use later to brown the trimmings and sear the sirloin. Cut the silverskin and any trimmed meat into smaller pieces for the sauce.

COMPOUND BUTTER

1. Gently reduce the wine to 15g or 1tbs. Don't burn the sides of the pan. Off the heat, stir in the sugar until dissolved.

2. While the wine is reducing, divide the butter in half. Place one half in a large mixing bowl and beat in the cocoa powder. Set the other half aside.

3. When the wine is reduced, break up the chocolate and add to the pan. Add the other half of the butter and stir until everything is melted and combined. 

4. Pour the warm chocolate wine over the butter in the mixing bowl and stir until well combined and glossy.

5. Set the mixing bowl over another bowl filled with ice and a little cold water. Whip vigorously until it starts to firm up and change colour. Alternate the whipping on and off the ice to avoid the butter firming up too much and becoming hard. 

6. Season to taste with sea salt flakes and black pepper.

7. Cover and reserve at room temperature. 

RED WINE SAUCE

1. Slice the mushrooms. 

2. Brown the beef trimmings in beef fat or olive oil. Add half the mushrooms and sweat for 10 more minutes.

3. Drain the pan into a sieve and reserve the beef and mushrooms. Degrease the pan by patting any oil with kitchen paper. 

4. With the pan back on the heat, add the madeira to deglaze. Bring to the boil and reduce by half. Add the red wine and reduce by half again.

5. Add the beef trimmings and mushrooms back to the pan. Add the stocks and the rest of the mushrooms. Bring to a gentle simmer for 45-50 minutes, skimming all the time. 

6. Pass the sauce through damp muslin cloth a couple of times. Don’t press it through and rinse the cloth each time. (If the sauce is a bit oily, put it in the fridge overnight and remove the hardened fat in the morning. Heat up and pass again.)

7. In a clean pan, add the sauce and warm. Add the xanthan gum and vinegar. You want the sauce to coat the back of a spoon. Reduce further, if necessary. Season with salt and white pepper.

VEGETABLES

1. Trim the sprouting broccoli to be the same length. Peel the stalks if you want to be all fancy-pancy. 

2. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Blanch the broccoli until vivid green and tender, about 2 minutes depending on size. Shock in iced water to stop the cooking process. Once chilled, drain and wrap in kitchen paper. Reserve in the fridge. 

SIRLOIN

1. Temper the meat. Remove the sirloin from the fridge at least an hour before cooking.

2. Preheat the oven to 75C.

3. Pat the sirloin dry with kitchen paper. 

4. Heat a thick-bottomed stainless steel pan over a high heat. Add the beef fat or olive oil. When it is smoking hot, sear the sirloin all over; 20 seconds per side. Remove the sirloin temporarily and season generously with salt. Add the butter to the pan. When it’s foaming add the sirloin, rosemary, thyme, garlic and cacao nibs. Continue browning the sirloin for 20 seconds per side until you have a nice brown colour. 

5. Transfer the sirloin and contents of the pan to a roasting tray. Rotate every 20 minutes and baste with the  buttery juices. 

6. Once the core temperature of the sirloin hits 54C remove from the oven. Place onto a rack over a tray. Pour the butter, herbs, garlic and cacao nibs over the top of the sirloin and let it  rest for 30 minutes in a warm place. 

Nordic Nature Choco sirloin slow-roasted with herbs, garlic and cacao nibs

Nordic Nature Choco sirloin resting in butter and roasted cacao nibs

CRIQUE ARDÉCHOISE

Crique Ardéchoise

1. Finely slice the onions. Crush the garlic. Chop the parsley leaves.

2. Peel and coarsely grate the potatoes. Twist and squeeze the grated potato in a tea towel to expel all the liquid. 

3. Mix the potato, onion, garlic and parsley. Season to taste. 

4. Heat the oil in a nonstick frying pan over a medium heat. 

5. When it’s hot, add the potato mixture to the pan and gently form into a cake. Don’t press it down otherwise it will be dense. 

6. Distribute small pieces of butter across the top and cook on the hob for 10 minutes. The butter will melt into the potato and spread around the pan. Keep an eye out for the bottom edges beginning to crisp and brown; get ready to flip it. 

7. When the first side is golden, turn the cake onto a plate and carefully slide it back into the pan to cook the second side for a further 10 minutes. Gently reform the shape if required. To test if it’s cooked all the way through, push a skewer into the middle of the cake. Did it go in easily? Is it hot against your lip? Best served immediately but can be held in the oven until everything is ready. 

TO SERVE

1. Warm the plates.

2. Bring the sauce to a simmer. Add the tarragon and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Pass through a fine sieve and keep warm.

3. Flash the Crique Ardéchoise in a hot oven if necessary. The outside should be crispy and the middle soft. Divide into portions. 

4. To finish cooking the broccoli, warm the butter and water in a saucepan, whisking lightly to emulsify. Add the broccoli and allow to warm through in the emulsion. Drain and season. 

5. Remove everything from the top of the sirloin. Reserve the nibs and discard the herbs and garlic. Brush the sirloin with some of the chocolate butter and flash in a hot oven for a minute or so. Brush again with chocolate butter. Slice the sirloin.

6. Arrange a bed of sprouting broccoli on each plate with a slice of Crique Ardéchoise to the right. Top the broccoli with 3 slices of sirloin. Rocher the chocolate butter and place alongside. Sprinkle some of those roasted cacao nibs. Pour sauce around the broccoli. Enjoy. 

Nordic Nature Choco sirloin is pink, tender and uniquely sweet

Red wine reduction and bitter chocolate butter delivers lip-smacking savoury flavours

MEAT, RECIPESimon Bakerbeef, sirloin, chocolate1 Comment