To be honest, grilled and roasted meats work with pretty much any flavoured butter but a true classic has to be shallots and red wine butter. You do need to reduce the wine right down to almost a syrup before adding it to the butter and mixing. This will give it its colour and, above all else, its taste. Serves 4

Ingredients

1 generous fore rib of beef (approx. 1kg)

A drizzle of vegetable oil

250ml veal jus

100g red wine butter

Sea salt and freshly ground black

pepper

FOR THE SHALLOT TARTE TATIN

5 banana ‘torpedo’ shallots, cut in half

100ml white wine

100ml red wine vinegar

50g butter

50g caster sugar

300g puff pastry

Plain flour, for dusting

FOR THE BRAISED LETTUCE

25g pancetta, diced

150ml chicken stock

1 garlic clove, crushed

A sprig of thyme

4 baby gem lettuces, base trimmed

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan)/ 350°F/gas 4 and heat the barbecue until

hot and the coals are white.

2. Prepare the shallot tatin: secure the shallot halves together with a toothpick (this stops them falling apart). Add the wine and vinegar to a pan, bring to the boil and add the shallots. Cook for 30 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow them to cool in the liquor.

3. In an ovenproof frying pan over a medium-low heat, add the butter and sugar and allow to gently caramelise to a golden brown. Drain the shallots, discard the toothpicks and add them, cut-side down, to the butter-sugar mix. Continue to cook for 10 minutes until the colour is even. Cool slightly.

4. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to form a circle large enough to fit over the frying pan. Top the frying pan with the pastry and prick the pastry with a fork.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until the pastry is golden and cooked through. Turn out the tarte tatin and brush with any caramelised juices that have escaped.

5. In a frying pan (with a lid), fry the pancetta until crispy. Deglaze the pan with the chicken stock and add the garlic and thyme. Add the lettuces, cover with the lid and cook rapidly for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and allow the lettuces to cool in their juices, then rapidly reduce the liquid.

6. Brush the beef with the vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook the beef on the barbecue for around 20 minutes until it’s medium rare, turning halfway through cooking. Remove and rest it somewhere warm, covered with foil, for a further 20 minutes.

7. Gently heat the veal jus and reduce by half. Glaze the baby gem lettuces with the reduced juices.

8. To serve, carve your rib of beef and portion it between plates, topping it with the red wine butter. Serve with slices of tarte tatin along with the glazed lettuces and veal jus.

BUTTER: Comforting, delicious, versatile, over 130 recipes celebrating butter by James Martin (Quadrille) Photography: John Carey