Chef Adriana's Sous Vide Steak, Marinade and Bearnaise

Adriana Urbina prepares a medium rare steak inspired by her time in France for Epicurious.
Chef Adriana Urbina's rib-eye steak with bearnaise sauce

Epicurious' 4 Levels series explores preparation variations for classic recipes with three chefs and a food scientist. In this episode, Chef Adriana Urbina demonstrates how to cook, marinade and baste a dry-aged, bone-in, rib-eye steak.

"I wanted to combine my love for cooking meat and a little bit of the experience that I had in France," Chef Adriana explains.

She selects a 1 1/2-inch thick cut of rib-eye, leaves the bone in for flavor and marinades the vacuum-sealed meat for hours to impart more flavor. Chef Adriana drys the steak well after marinating to perfect the searing and then bastes it in a pan with garlic, thyme and butter.

The food scientist says her wet marinade "enhances the meaty, umami flavor" and her sous vide method of cooking is "reliable and consistent." The complex bearnaise made with sweet Meyer lemons is a "rich, velvety topping for your steak."

Watch Chef Adriana demonstrate her approach to the dish in the video below. Her signature steak recipe follows.

Recipe

Sous Vide Dry-Aged Beef with Meyer Lemon and Mushroom Bearnaise

Yields 4 steaks

Chef Adriana Urbina's rib-eye steak with bearnaise sauce
  • 4 prime dry-aged steaks
  • 3 tablespoons tamari sauce
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon yuzu
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon shallots
  • 1 tablespoon roasted garlic, minced
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon anchovy paste
  • 1 teaspoon mushroom powder
  1. Blend all ingredients except the steak in a Vitamix and pour into four vacuum-seal bags. This marinade can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to one month.
  2. Place a steak in each bag and seal. Marinate the steaks in the refrigerator up to 24 hours before cooking.

Meyer Lemon and Mushroom Bearnaise Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 cup white wine vinegar
  • 1/3 cup basil, chopped
  • 1/3 cup mint, chopped
  • 3 ounces shallots or red onions, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 3 meyer lemon peels
  • 1/2 bunch thyme
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 1⁄2 pounds butter
  • 2 teaspoons mushroom powder

Directions

  1. Combine the wine, vinegar, shallots, peppercorns and half of the meyer lemon peels in a pot, bring to a boil and reduce by half for a bearnaise reduction. Strain and cool over ice.
  2. Whip the egg yolks in a blender until fluffy and slightly pale. Add 1/4 cup of the cooled bearnaise reduction and process to combine.
  3. Melt the butter in a separate pot and slowly drizzle in the bearnaise. If the bearnaise looks very thick, add a tablespoon of water and adjust as needed.
  4. Stir in all the herbs (chopped basil, mint and thyme) and then add the rest of the chopped meyer lemon peels and mushroom powder. Add salt or pepper to taste.

See upcoming steak classes at ICE's New York campus.

Adriana Urbina is the Venezuelan chef behind Tepuy Dining and The Table, two pop-up dinner series with philanthropic efforts, in New York City.