Cook Like A Chef30 Minutes

Barbecued striploin steak with a bearnaise sauce and the classic Caesar salad

Name: Barbecued striploin steak with a bearnaise sauce and the classic Caesar salad
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 2 x 350g dry aged striploin steaks; Vegetable oil; Sea salt and black pepper; For the bearnaise:; 2 egg yolks; 1 tbsp Dijon mustard; 2 tbsp white wine vinegar; 250ml melted butter; 1 shallot, finely diced; 1 tbsp dried tarragon; Handful chives, chopped; Juice of half a lemon; For the Caesar salad:; 2 heads cos lettuce; 100g leftover focaccia (or similar); 20g parmesan; For the dressing:; 1 egg yolk; 1 tbsp white wine vinegar; 50g tin anchovies; 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard; 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce; 1 thumb-size piece of parmesan, grated; 250ml vegetable oil; Sea salt and black pepper

Mark MoriartyFrom the series · Cook Like A Chef

30 min totalServes 2Easy

Time30 min

Serves2

SkillEasy

ShowCook Like A Chef

Method

Begin by heating the barbecue to its highest setting. Brush the steaks with vegetable oil and season heavily with salt. Char the steaks on both sides before placing on an indirect heat (higher shelf of the barbecue). Cook for 8-10 minutes, turning every 2 minutes for a medium finish. Before serving, return to the direct heat for 1 more minute to achieve a crispy exterior to the meat. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

To make the bearnaise sauce, place a bowl on top of a small pot of simmering water. Add the egg yolks, mustard, and vinegar to the bowl and season with salt. Begin whisking until the mix doubles in size and lightens in colour. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the melted butter gradually, then season with the shallot, tarragon, chives and some lemon juice.

To make the Caesar, start with the croutons. Preheat the oven to 180c. Thinly slice the leftover focaccia and place on a tray with olive oil and salt. Cook for 12 minutes until golden brown.

To make the Caesar dressing, place the egg yolk, vinegar, half the anchovies, mustard, parmesan and Worcestershire sauce in a blender. Blend to a paste and then pour into a clean bowl. Using a whisk, slowly add the oil until a loose dressing is formed, whisking continuously. Adjust the seasoning.

Remove the stalks from the lettuce heads and pull apart the individual leaves. Coat the lettuce leaves in the dressing and finish with croutons and black pepper. Place in a bowl and top with grated parmesan and the remaining anchovy fillets. Serve with the steak slices and bearnaise sauce.

Cook's notes

Work the barbecue in two zones: char the steaks hard over direct heat, finish on the higher shelf turning every 2 minutes, then give them a final minute back over the flames for a crisp exterior.
Take the steaks out of the fridge a good half-hour ahead so they lose their chill — cold meat cooks unevenly and fights you on the crust.
Béarnaise splits if it gets too hot. Keep the bowl over barely simmering water and add the melted butter gradually — if it turns greasy or grainy, a splash of warm water whisked in hard will usually pull it back.
Rest the steak the full 5 minutes before slicing and cut across the grain, so the juices stay in the meat rather than on the board.
Grill a few extra strips of the leftover focaccia alongside and let them catch the steak juices — that's the restaurant habit of wasting nothing, and they're arguably the best bite on the board.

Serve with This is a board-in-the-middle-of-the-table dinner: sliced steak, the béarnaise in a bowl for spooning, the Caesar piled high. A robust red — a Malbec or Rioja — stands up to the char, and a wedge of lemon on the side sharpens the salad.

Make ahead & storage Béarnaise really doesn't keep or reheat — it splits — so make it just before serving. Any cooked steak is best sliced cold into a sandwich the next day rather than reheated, and the undressed Caesar leaves and dressing will each hold a day in the fridge if kept apart.

30 Minutes

Recipe by Mark Moriarty · From the series Cook Like A Chef · Photography © Appetite Media
Published 15 July 2026

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