Okay, so this picture doesn't do it justice. It looks like a mess, but it was delicious. I went to the French butcher (from France) at Boucherie de Paris on Gatineau. He's a tiny operation opposite the park and Université de Montreal. I never knew how he survived, being on a side street like that, until one day I saw the students. I was going there to get some steak and there was no room to get in the door, with a line outside.
Seems the U of M students like his sandwiches. "Sometimes we make 300 a day," he says. I tried one once. It was good, nothing spectacular, but it's made right in front of you from stacks of ingredients on the wall, cut fresh daily.
Anyway, he is the one I go to when I want some mystery meat. I only call it that because everything goes by some arbitrary French name. I'm not sure if it's a French name from Montreal or from France. There's "Steak Boston." To this day I have no idea what cut that is, but it sure is great for melt-in-your-mouth stews and curries, as well as grinding for hamburgers. Then there's the Onglet, but now I think I've confused that with Bavette, because when I went in there to get some, he said he didn't have any Onglet, which leads me to believe I was buying Bavette all along, thinking it was Onglet. And then there is the Faux-filet, which I take to be the ribeye, but I can't be sure, since he doesn't speak English and doesn't know the English terms.
In any case, Bavette (I've seen it called an unappetizing "Flap steak" but I suspect it hangs around with the Onglet quite often and maybe messes around with a Strip or two occasionally) is a somewhat stringy-looking, striated slab with no marbling, really not very tasty-looking at all, but it cooks up really well. You just have to make sure it never gets past medium-rare. It's a peasant cut with really no class, but it rewards with an exceptional beefy flavor and melting interior.
It was about 3/4 of an inch at the thickest part, so I pan-fried it with shallot-butter and olive oil for about 4 minutes per side, and it turned out just lovely. It goes well with a starch or two, so I did some oven-roasted potatoes with thyme and some leftover fried rice. Here's the sauce recipe. It still isn't what I wanted, so you may have to do some tinkering.
Mustard-cream Sauce with White Wine and Mushrooms
1 large shallot , minced (1/4 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 or 6 large mushrooms, sliced thinly
1/2 C dry white wine
1/2 C cup chicken broth
1/2 C heavy cream
3 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
4 T shallot butter
2 T olive oil
Table salt and ground black pepper
While steak is coming to room temperature, melt 2 T of the butter and the 2 T olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots, cook until glassy (about 5 minutes.) Add mushrooms. At first they will dry up the pan completely, but after about 5 minutes they will start to release liquid. Add the garlic, cook another 5 minutes or so. Set all pan contents aside in bowl. Add the wine. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes. Add broth. Simmer another ten minutes or so until noticeably reduced. Add back mushroom mixture; cover and set aside off heat.
Cook steak (see above) in skillet. Remove steak from skillet to rest. Add all ingredients from the sauce pan, stir with steak juices to combine and bring up to heat. Add cream and slowly whisk in mustard. At last moment, add in last 2 T butter. Stir to combine and bring to boil, adding pepper and salt to taste. Simmer 2 minutes, remove from heat and serve atop sliced steak.
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