I am not a big fan of beef. In my previous life I wouldn't touch red meat at all — until one Sunday I walked into Casa Capri in Rochdale, caught the smell of mint sauce from the carvery, and ended up with roast lamb instead. That was the beginning of a slow reconciliation with red meat that has taken decades and still hasn't fully resolved itself. I love beef mince. Steak, however, has always felt underwhelming to me – which makes it hard to explain why I picked up a chuletón at the village market.

The offer helped. 450g for €6.50, good fat ratio, and a decent bone. A chuletón is the Spanish bone-in rib steak — what the British would call a ribeye, roughly speaking, though the Spanish version tends to be thicker and better aged. I brought it home and this chuletón recipe is what happened.

The method for this chuletón recipe is straightforward. Dry the steak and bring it to room temperature. Season with black pepper — salt waits until the end. Heat oil and butter in a pan with a couple of crushed garlic cloves until shimmering, then lower the steak in and cook for 5 minutes each side. That gives a good char and a medium result. Rest it under foil.

While it rests, make the gravy in the same pan — don't waste those bits. A roux, good chicken stock, tomato purée, Dijon mustard, a crushed garlic clove, and everything scraped from the base of the pan. That's real gravy. Not a powder, not a cube — a proper sauce built on what the steak left behind.

I served it with a cauliflower purée made earlier — whole cauliflower simmered in chicken stock until completely soft, then blended with butter and garlic. The same stock went into the gravy. A sprinkle of sea salt flakes before eating.

Chuletón Recipe — Ingredients

(serves 1)

For the steak:

• 1 chuletón (bone-in ribeye), approx 450g
• A knob of butter
• A splash of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Black pepper and sea salt flakes

For the gravy:

• 1 tsp plain flour
• 150ml good chicken stock
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove, crushed

Method

1. Remove the steak from the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking. Pat dry with kitchen paper and season with black pepper.
2. Heat the oil and butter in a heavy pan over a high heat. Add the crushed garlic cloves. When the fat is shimmering, lower the steak in carefully.
3. Cook for 5 minutes each side for medium. Remove and rest under foil for at least 5 minutes.
4. While the steak rests, make the gravy. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the flour to the pan and stir into the fat, scraping up all the bits from the base. Add the stock gradually, stirring continuously, then add the tomato purée, Dijon mustard, and garlic. Simmer until thickened.
5. Sprinkle the steak with sea salt flakes and serve with the gravy and cauliflower purée alongside.