No. 1368

Small Sirloin Steak of Twelve Ounces, Plain

Bifteck de Contrefilet de douze Onces, Nature

Cut slices an inch and a quarter thick from a sirloin; beat them to flatten them down to one inch, trim nicely, after which they should weigh twelve ounces; salt on both sides, spread them over with oil or melted butter, and broil them on a steady fire; it will take about eight minutes to have them very rare, ten to have them properly done, and twelve if desired well done; set them on a hot dish with a little clear gravy (No. 404) or maitre-d'hotel butter (No. 581).

← No. 1367 Rump Steak a la Villageoise Beef No. 1369 Small Sirloin Steak a la Bearnaise →

For the Modern Kitchen

A single-portion broiled steak from Ranhofer's Delmonico repertoire, written for a cook standing over live coals. The only real work is in the trimming and the fire.

What cut to buyContrefilet is the boneless strip running along the top of the short loin — sold today as strip loin, New York strip, or top loin. Ask for a piece cut an inch and a quarter thick; a 14 to 16 oz steak trims down to the 12 oz the recipe wants.
Beating it downFlattening from 1¼ inches to 1 inch is not tenderizing so much as evening the thickness so the steak cooks uniformly over coals. Use the flat side of a mallet and a light hand — a hammered strip steak leaks juice and turns mealy.
"A steady fire"This means a bed of coals burned down past the flaming stage, giving even radiant heat without flare-ups from the oil. A charcoal grill raked to a single even layer, or a heavy cast-iron grill pan preheated over high heat, does the same job.
Oil and saltSalting both sides and coating with oil or melted butter is what gives the crust; the fat also keeps the meat from welding to the bars. Salt right before broiling, or a good hour ahead — not five minutes ahead, when the surface is wet with drawn brine and will steam rather than sear.
The timingsEight, ten and twelve minutes assume a steady, well-established fire; the recipe does not say how often to turn the steak. Ranhofer's "properly done" at ten minutes is probably a modern medium-rare to medium. Judge by an instant-read thermometer rather than the clock: about 125°F for rare, 130–135°F for medium-rare, 145°F for medium, pulled a few degrees early since it climbs while resting.
Rest before servingThe recipe sends it straight to a hot dish, which was standard when service was immediate. Five minutes on a warm plate makes a noticeable difference to the juices, and the "hot dish" instruction still matters — a cold plate kills a broiled steak.
The two finishesNo. 404 is the book's clear gravy, an unthickened one; No. 581 is maître d'hôtel butter — softened butter worked with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then chilled and sliced. A coin of the butter set on the steak as it goes out is the simpler of the two.
YieldOne steak, one diner, in the portioning of a nineteenth-century restaurant. By current appetites a 12 oz strip will feed two people modestly with a vegetable alongside.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of what he cooked in some thirty years at Delmonico's in New York, and its beef chapter reads like a menu list rather than a cookbook: the same cut recurs repeatedly, once nature — plain — and then again with béarnaise and other garnishes (No. 1369 follows immediately). The precision about weight looks like a restaurant habit rather than a domestic one. The French name contrefilet for the strip loin still marks a boundary in butchery that English speakers blur, since "sirloin" in American usage came to mean cuts further back toward the hip.