Grilled Tomahawk with Whole Burnt Onion and Chimichurri
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Go big or go home. Tomahawk steak, beloved by ’Grammers and sometimes called ‘cowboy steak’, is rib eye with an extra long bone left on so it resembles (you guessed it!) a tomahawk. It’s a prime cut, and a chunk of grass-fed, dry-aged rib eye isn’t cheap, so I tend to make this dish for big family events or special occasions. It’s a ridiculously tasty centrepiece, especially with chimichurri and Argentinean red wine!
Recipe details
Serves: Serves 4
Protein: Beef
Ingredients
4 onions
1.4 kg (3 lb 1 oz) tomahawk steak at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil
best flaked salt to taste
100 ml (3½ fl oz) sherry vinegar
50 g (1¾ oz) butter
Chimichurri
1 bunch coriander (cilantro), leaves picked
2 garlic cloves
¼ bunch thyme, leaves picked
½ bunch oregano, leaves picked
125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) olive oil
60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Put the onions, skin and all, in a roasting tin and bake for 25 minutes.
While the onions cook, using a massive pan, plancha or barbecue, grill the steak. First, season the steak by coating your hands in the oil, then massaging it into the steak. From a height, sprinkle the salt very evenly over. Since the steak is so large and often pans don’t have consistent heat throughout, it can be a challenge to cook the steak evenly. I find the best way to do this is to constantly rotate the steak by 90 degrees. After about 5 or 6 minutes, flip the steak and repeat on the other side. Remove from the heat and rest it in a nice warm place, either on top of the oven or near the stove.
Once the onions are cooked, cut them in half, still keeping the skin on. Use tongs to handle them, as they will be hot. Get a large frying pan very hot and, again using tongs, sear the cut side of the onions until blackened and burnt-smelling. Return the onions to the roasting tin, cut side up, and top each onion with the vinegar and butter. Put them back in the oven at 160°C (320°F) for 20 minutes.
For the chimichurri, pulse all the ingredients in a blender. You want a paste-like consistency – you don’t want to purée it.
Return the pan you cooked the steak in to a high heat, then reheat the steak for about 2 minutes on each side.
Place the onion halves on one side of a large serving platter. Next, pour a large scoop of the chimichurri where the steak will sit. Slice the steak and then season with your best flaked salt. Place it on top of the chimichurri, and then sprinkle over the remaining chimichurri and serve.