Texte : Virginie Dupont / Photographie : Maxime Degée

A new take on beef

Grilled Black Angus steak with coffee and cocoa nibs, Bintje potato coffee gratin, mixed salad and jus of grand cru Irish coffee

In the depths of the province of Luxembourg, you can be sure to find the best produce. Proof of this comes with L’Épisode, where chef Jordan Boreux brings out the very best in regional produce. Within the Domaine de Wallimont, he provides guests with a generous and innovative menu, rooted in a strong family heritage.  You can enjoy a grilled rib steak with a coffee-flavoured potato gratin – a nod to Charles Liégeois. This is a gourmet experience, which you can enhance by spending the night in one of 14 individual lodges on stilts.

Ingredients  (for 4)

  • 4 Black Angus rib steaks
  • Cocoa nibs
  • Pinch of fleur de sel 

For the potato gratin

  • 2 kg Bintje potatoes
  • 1 l cream
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tsp ground coffee
  • A few Venezia coffee grains
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

For the coffee beurre noisette

  • 500 g butter
  • 2 tbsp Venezia coffee beans

For the mixed salad

  • mixed salad leaves
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 shallot
  • 1 handful sweetcorn 
  • 1 handful pecan nuts
  • 1 handful pine nuts
  • 500 ml cold Venezia coffee
  • 200 ml white wine vinegar
  • 200 ml neutral oil
  • 1 tbsp mustard
  • A few coffee beans
  • Salt and pepper

For the Irish coffee grand cru sauce

  • 100 ml whisky
  • 2 l brown veal stock
  • 500 ml Temporel grand cru coffee
  • 1 tbsp your choice of coffee beans, crushed
  • Arrowroot
  • Water to add

Method :

  • Peel the potatoes and cut them into even 0.5 cm slices.
  • Pour the cream into a wide saucepan and place the potato slices flat. Season with salt and a teaspoon of ground coffee. Simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Transfer everything to a baking dish which has been rubbed with garlic and brushed with olive oil. Bake in a preheated oven at 180o C for 45 mins or until nicely coloured. Check the potatoes are cooked by pricking them with the tip of a knife. 
  • Meanwhile, make the coffee beurre noisette. Melt the butter in a fairly tall pan and bring to a boil with the coffee beans. Continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently until you obtain a nutty aroma. Filter, hot or cold, through a fine sieve and a clean tea towel. Set aside.
  • Prepare the sauce by heating the whisky with the crushed coffee beans. Carefully flambé. Add the veal stock and reduce by half, then add the grand cru coffee and further reduce by a third.  Dilute the arrowroot in a little water and add it to the mixture. Bring to a boil until you achieve the desired texture. Add more water if needed. Set aside.
  • Coarsely chop the salad leaves. Dice the tomato and chop the shallot. Add to the salad mix along with the sweetcorn, pecan nuts and pine nuts.  Prepare the vinaigrette by combining the cold coffee, the white wine vinegar, the flavourless oil and the mustard.
  • About 10 mins before the gratin is done, brush the rib steaks with the coffee beurre noisette and dip them into the cocoa nibs. Cook to taste. Once cooked, brush the rib steaks again with the beurre noisette and sprinkle with a pinch of fleur de sel. 
  • Arrange each rib steak on a plate and top with the coffee and whisky sauce. Place the potato gratin next to it, along with the salad topped with vinaigrette and sprinkled with grated coffee beans.