Chris Cosentino's Wagyu Striploin au Poivre with Snails, Garlic, Parsley & Watercress
Chris Cosentino
Chris Cosentino
Chef and adventurer, Chris Cosentino co-owns Acacia House in Napa Valley, California, and Rosalie in Houston, Texas. He’s known for his focus on sustainability and whole animal cookery. “Inspiration is everywhere,” he says. “It comes from walking through a museum and seeing a unique brush stroke or a mobile moving with just enough wind from the people walking by. For me, it's riding my bike. I will smell wild fennel, see fresh bay leaves, pick beautiful spruce tips. Those things make my brain move, they trip a switch.”
This is a dish where I think about the cow and its grazing. When you look at cattle, when they're raised in the right environment, there's usually some form of water around and where there's a stream, there's watercress and where there's watercress, there's snails. And what does the cow do? It trots right over, drinks the water and grazes on the cress and you know what else they inevitably eat? The snails that are right in the way.
So this is super fun and simple. It’s a nice, big, fat pepper-crusted striploin, pan-seared and basted, covered in buttered snails and then, boom, a nice big watercress salad. We know surf ‘n’ turf. Now we have turf ‘n’ turf.
Ingredients
Striploin
Striploin
1 Westholme striploin
7g Red Boat salt
34g Red Boat Phu Quoc black peppercorns
oil, for cooking
2 sprigs rosemary
2 sprigs thyme
1 shallot, thickly sliced, for basting
6 garlic cloves, crushed, for basting
84g butter
Snails, to finish
Snails, to finish
12 Helix snails (see below)
20g garlic, sliced
18g flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper
lemon zest
To Serve
To Serve
32g watercress
18g shaved shallots
flaked salt & pepper
Meyer lemon zest
Meyer lemon juice
Snails, to prepare
Snails, to prepare
1 can 90 count Helix snails
Champagne
lemon peel
1 fresh bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
Method
Striploin & Snails, to finish
Season the striploin with Red Boat salt then press crushed peppercorns on both sides of the steak.
Using a cast iron pan on medium high heat, add a little oil to start the pan then add the steak. Let the steak sear and release its own fat, ensuring a good crust.
Place the rosemary and thyme on top of the steak, add the sliced shallot and garlic and the butter. Start to baste the steak, releasing the flavour of the herbs on the steak. Flip the steak over and continue the basting process until the steak reaches 38C/100F. Remove from the pan and let rest on a rack. Strain the basting butter into another pan to cook the snails.
Over medium high heat, add the snails, garlic and parsley and cook until hot through and aromatic. Season the snails with salt and black pepper and some fresh lemon zest.
To Serve
In a mixing bowl, add the watercress, shaved shallots, flaked salt and pepper.
Once the meat is rested, slice 3 cuts and arrange on the plate. Place the rest of the steak on the plate. Top the steak with the snails, garlic and parsley. Then top that with the watercress and shallot salad, and top with lemon zest.
Strain the snail butter into a sauce container, pour over the cut meat then add a squeeze of lemon.
Snails, to prepare
Rinse snails in water to remove any can liquid and purge.
Place in a non-reactive pot, cover with Champagne, add lemon peel, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a simmer over medium heat until the Champagne is ¾ reduced. Transfer to a non-reactive container and cool.
"This is a dish where I think about the cow and its grazing. When you look at cattle, when they're raised in the right environment, there's usually some form of water around and where there's a stream, there's watercress and where there's watercress, there's snails."
