Blackened Sirloin Steak with Salted Caramel Onions and Parsley Salad

This stunning blackened steak recipe from Paul Welburn sees beautiful Irish beef sirloin brined and cooked sous vide before finishing in a pan for that wonderful charred finish. Served with salted caramel onions, beer and beef sauce and a stunning array of parsley and parsley root elements this is a truly impressive dish fit for a special occasion. This recipe makes more sauce than you need for this dish, but it can easily be frozen for other dishes in the future.

Ingredients

For the blackened beef sirloin

1 sirloin of beef, weighing 3.5-4kg
50g of beef dripping, rendered
icing sugar, for dusting

For the brine

1l water
200g of soft brown sugar
200g of sea salt
20g of black peppercorns
20g of coriander seeds
15g of fresh thyme

For the parsley oil

1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley
500ml of grapeseed oil

For the beer and beef sauce

20g of beef dripping
500g of beef trimmings
8 shallots, sliced
1 bulb of garlic
10 black peppercorns
25ml of sherry vinegar
750ml of beer, Paul uses Arundel Sussex Dark but a similar dark, malty ale will do
3l beef stock
500ml of red wine
10g of thyme

For the parsley root purée

250g of parsley root, peeled and finely diced
50g of butter
50g of whipping cream
salt
pepper

For the salted caramel onions

5 onions
100g of butter
100g of caster sugar
1 sprig of thyme, leaves picked
salt
pepper

For the parsley root crisps

1 parsley root, cut into thin strips
cornflour, for dusting
oil, for deep-frying

To serve

parsley cress

by Irish Beef / July 4, 2018

Step 1

The day before serving, make the parsley oil. Blanch the parsley in salted boiling water for 1 minute. Drain, transfer to a liquidiser and blend with the oil until smooth and bright green

Step 2

Transfer to a cheesecloth and hang overnight in the fridge with a jug positioned underneath to collect the oil. Store in a bottle until needed

Step 3

To prepare the beef, mix together all of the brine ingredients in a large pan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and chill immediately

Step 4

Once chilled, add the sirloin to the brine and set aside for 2 hours

Step 5

Preheat a water bath to 52˚C

Step 6

After this time, remove the beef from the brine and rinse under cold water. Add to a vacuum bag with the beef dripping and seal in a chamber sealer. Cook in the water bath for 2 hours

Step 7

While the beef is in the water bath, prepare the other dish elements. To make the beer and beef sauce, place a large pan over a high heat and add the beef dripping. Once melted, add the beef trimmings and cook until nicely browned off

Step 8

Remove the trimmings from the pan but retain the fat. Add the shallots, garlic and peppercorns to the fat and slowly caramelise. Once golden, add the vinegar and deglaze the pan

Step 9

Add 700ml of the beer to the pan, reduce by half, then add the red wine and reduce again by half

Step 10

Return the trimmings to the pan, add the thyme and cover with the beef stock. Cook the sauce for 25 minutes, skimming the fat away from the surface as it reduces

Step 11

Pass the sauce through a fine sieve and reduce to the desired consistency. Set aside until ready to serve

Step 12

To make the parsley root purée, melt the butter in a pan and add the parsley root. Sweat with no colour for 20 minutes, or until soft

Step 13

Add the cream to the pan, transfer everything to a liquidiser and blend until smooth. Season to taste then adjust the consistency with a little vegetable stock

Step 14

To make the salted caramel onions, cut each onion in half lengthways but leave the skins on. Heat a heavy-based pan over a medium heat, add the butter and sugar and allow to melt

Step 15

Once melted, scatter over some salt and the thyme leaves. Place the onions in the pan, cut-side down, and allow the butter and sugar to caramelise – the onions will start to colour nicely

Step 16

Once the onions are a dark golden colour, season with pepper, cover the pan with foil and finish cooking in the oven for 20 minutes

Step 17

Remove from the oven and carefully remove the skins and first layer from each onion half (reserve the pan with the caramel in for reheating and glazing the onions later). Discard the skins and keep the outer layer to drizzle some sauce in when serving

Step 18

When the beef is ready, remove from the bags and dust the flesh with icing sugar, without sugaring the fat

Step 19

Place a large pan over a high heat and once hot, add the beef. Caramelise the flesh until very dark in colour and the sugar almost burns. Once the flesh is blackened, place the beef fat-side down and gently caramelise the fat until it’s a lovely golden colour

Step 20

Remove the beef from the pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving

Step 21

Preheat a deep-fryer or large, deep pan of oil to 170˚C

Step 22

Dust the parsley root ribbons in cornflour and fry until crispy. Drain on kitchen paper and season with a little salt

Step 23

When ready to serve, gently reheat the beef and beer sauce then stir in the remaining 50ml of beer. Reheat the parsley root purée

Step 24

When ready to serve, warm the caramel in the pan and return the onions, glazing gently until they are nice and caramelized

Step 25

To plate, carve the beef into portions and place a slice on each plate. Add a spoonful of parsley root purée and top with parsley root crisps and micro parsley cress

Step 26

Add a caramelised onion to the plate beside the outer shell of one of the onion halves. Fill with the beer and beef sauce, then finish with some drops of parsley oil around the plate.