This meal was inspired by a visit to a local favorite, Restaurant 17. It was a while ago and several prominent chefs have come and gone at that restaurant. I don’t remember which chef to credit but it was one of my more memorable dishes. Below is the description and picture of the meal. The other photos below this post are my attempts at recreating it. Haha.

The ribeye was very rare, as I like it. The carrots, sunchoke and green onion had been cooked on coals or over a flame, so they had a fantastic smoky char to them. There was a jus or sauce that tied the whole dish together.

I had family over for this meal, so for the steaks, I sous vide everyone else’s steak to 130°F. I seared all the steaks with my own. This ensured that my family got medium-rare to medium and mine was very rare. It was the spring when I made this and I had ramps which inspired the pesto.

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Ingredients

• 2 ribeye steaks
• 1/2 cup beef stock or bone broth
• 1/4 cup dry red wine (or a splash of Worcestershire sauce)
• 1 tbsp cold butter
• 1 lbs sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes), cleaned
• 2 tbsp duck fat
• 1 bunch heirloom carrots, preferably local
• 1 bunch spring onions, cleaned
• 1 bunch ramps, cleaned
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 3 tbsp grated pecorino romano
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Mico-arugula for garnish

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How to Make Sous Vide Duck Fat Sunchokes

The Day Before:

1. Set your sous vide to 190°F.
2. Vacuum seal the cleaned sunchokes with 2 tbsp of duck fat and season with salt and pepper.
3. Sous vide for about an hour until tender.
4. The Ice Bath: As soon as they finish, pull the vacuum-sealed bag out of the water and submerge it completely in a bowl of half ice and half water for 10 to 15 minutes. This immediately stops the cooking process and locks in the texture.
5. The Fridge: Store the chilled bag flat in your refrigerator overnight.
6. Dinner Day: Leave the cold sunchokes right in their bag until you are ready to plate. When it is time to char your vegetables, open the bag, drain the excess duck fat onto your sheet pan and spread the sunchokes out alongside your fresh carrots and spring onions.

How to Make Ramp Pesto

1. Add the cleaned ramps, grated pecorino romano, walnuts and chopped garlic to a blender or small food processor.
2. Pulse until roughly chopped and combined.
3. With the motor running on low, slowly drizzle in olive oil until the pesto emulsifies into a smooth, vibrant green sauce with the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.

Prep and Cook the Steaks (The Multi-Temp Strategy)

1. Set your sous vide precision cooker to 130°F.
2. Vacuum seal your family’s ribeye steaks with a touch of salt, pepper and a sliver of butter if desired. Leave your personal steak out of the water bath completely, holding it seasoned in the refrigerator.
3. Place the family’s steaks in the 130°F water bath for 2 hours.
4. Once the sous vide timer finishes, pull the steaks from their bags and pat them completely dry with paper towels. Pull your raw, cold steak from the fridge.
5. Heat a heavy cast-iron skillet over high heat until smoking hot, then add a high-smoke-point oil or a touch more duck fat.
6. Sear all the steaks simultaneously. Give the sous-vide steaks a fast flash-sear (about 45–60 seconds per side) just to develop a crust without raising the internal temp. Leave your raw, cold steak in the pan slightly longer per side to build a heavy crust while keeping the center a perfect, very rare cool red. Remove all steaks to a warm board and let them rest.

Quick Pan Jus

1. As soon as you remove the steaks from the cast iron to rest, turn the burner heat down to medium. Leave the remaining steak fat and browned bits in the pan.
2. Pour in the red wine and beef stock, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all those flavorful caramelized bits from the bottom of the skillet.
3. Let the liquid simmer and bubble rapidly for about 3 to 4 minutes until it reduces by half and thickens slightly.
4. Take the pan completely off the heat and stir in the tablespoon of cold butter, swirling it continuously until melted and glossy. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Keep Warm.

Char the Veg and Sunchokes

1. Turn your oven to broil. Line a large sheet pan with foil.
2. Add the pre cooked sunchokes and duck fat to the sheet pan and toss your cleaned heirloom carrots and spring onions. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Arrange the tender sous vide sunchokes, spring onions and heirloom carrots across the pan in a single layer.
4. Set under the broiler, watching closely. Flip the vegetables halfway through, allowing the intense heat to mimic a live-fire grill by creating deep, caramelized, smoky char marks on the carrot skins and onion edges.

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Plating

1. The Frame: Construct a loose circular border around the plate using the long, charred heirloom carrots and sliced carrot rounds.
2. The Center: Arrange a bed of the smoky, charred spring onions directly in the center to act as a platform for the meat.
3. The Star: Slice your rested ribeye and fan the pieces skin-to-skin over the spring onions, showcasing that gorgeous rare center.
4. The Accent: Scatter the crisped, duck-fat sunchoke pieces symmetrically around the carrot border.
5. The Finish: Drizzle your rich pan jus or reduction across the base of the plate, spoon a generous ribbon of the bright green ramp pesto right down the center of the sliced beef and garnish the entire plate with a scattered handful of peppery micro-arugula.

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