Ribeye Steak with White Truffle Butter

When it comes to Le Cellier, the thing that comes to mind, along with cheddar cheese soup and pretzel bread, is the absolutely amazing steaks.  I mean, I'm a huge fan of Le Cellier anyway, but the fact that their steaks are always cooked to perfection and paired with the delicious butters and side dishes which are all amazing by themselves, but a part of a beautiful medley of flavors if you enjoy it all together...  I've always thought it elevates the experience to a whole different level.

When I first ordered the ribeye with white truffle butter, I actually did it because it came with mushroom risotto.  I'm probably the only person in the world who, when presented with the chance to eat the one of the best cuts of steak out there, got excited not over the steak but the side dish.  In my defense, I was curious to try the risotto because, as a long-time and quite huge fan of Gordon Ramsay, I was curious to see in person the meal that makes Chef Ramsay go insane when it's prepared wrong.  I figured that if there was any place that could make risotto in a way that wouldn't make Gordon Ramsay freak out and call the chefs "stupid donkeys," this would be it.

After I'd satisfied my risotto curiosity (it was really tasty, by the way), I turned my attention to the steak and immediately realized (as all sane meat lovers would) that the succulent steak and the truffle butter was the real star of the table.  Oh.  My.  Goodness...  Was it amazing.  Probably the best steak I'd ever had in my life...  Until I made it at home, that is.

Believe it or not, I'm kind of a steak dunce.  I always tend to overcook it.  Considering how expensive special this meat is, I let somebody else do all the heavy cooking on that one.  I was confident it would be treated better in somebody else's more steak-experienced hands.  At the very least, if it was messed up, I had somebody else to blame.  I was fully in charge of the butter.

I freely admit, I'm a taste-as-I-cook person, and I was getting a little nervous about how it tasted while I was making it.  It was good, but had a very strong and quite a strong wine flavor to it.  I was terrified it'd overpower the steak's natural and amazing flavor, which would have been a huge disappointment, especially as I'm not a fan of wine.  At this point, you'd think I would just trust that the folks at Le Cellier knew what they were doing, but obviously, I'm a slow learner.  When I put it all together, it was easily one of the best steaks I've ever.

This recipe I left relatively the same as it's served at Le Cellier.  I replaced the shallots with onion and I left out the chives, but only because I couldn't find them fresh at the local grocery store.  I also used way less lemon then the recipe called for and actually probably should have left it out all together because the white wine I used had a really strong lemon note to it.  And I kind of forgot to strain the sauce.  Whoops.

I should also mention that when this dish was originally introduced, it was a ribeye steak but it was changed to the filet recently.  I'm not sure why, but every time I've ordered it, I've gotten the ribeye. 

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Ribeye Steak with White Truffle Butter

As is served at Le Cellier, Canada Pavilion, EPCOT

 

°o°  1 shallot, sliced

°o°  1 cup white wine

°o°  1 cup heavy cream

°o°  1 tablespoon butter
°o°  4 ribeye steaks or Filet Mignon

°o°  1/4 cup butter, cubed
°o°  1 ounce truffle oil
°o°  Kosher salt, to taste

°o°  pepper to taste 

°o°  lemon, juiced
°o°  1 tablespoon chives, minced fine

In a warm pan, saute shallots in small amount of olive oil until translucent.  Add wine and reduce the mixture by about 90 percent.  When reduced, add cream and reduce by about 75 percent.  Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, add butter to a hot pan and sear both sides of steak until well colored.  Place in oven preheated to 350 degrees and cook to desired doneness, about 7-10 minutes for medium on thick-cut steaks.

When shallot, wine, and cream mixture is cooled slightly, whip in butter and truffle oil.  Butter will melt.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  If needed, add lemon juice to taste.  Strain mixture and add chives.  

Serve over steak.    

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