There’s something to be said for a winter braai. Sure it’s not the ‘sun’s out gun’s out’ vibe that so many love about summer, but it tends to bring everyone together – huddled around the fire for warmth.

Of course braaing is a way of life that can’t just be tossed aside for months on end while we wait for winter to bugger off, which is why we’ve been helping you out with some lekker Weber Winter Braai Series – Masterchef judge Peter Goffe-Wood letting us in on all his secrets.

You guys seemed to really enjoy the Beer Can Chicken Braai recipe (HERE) – but now it’s time to up the ante and nail the perfect rib eye steak.

We’ll give you the audio down the bottom of the post, where Peter runs you through each step, so fire up the Weber and let’s get this party started.

Time to lay out the basics:

Rib Eye Steak With Garlic And Red Wine Butter

Ingredients:

1 large rib eye steak (preferably a kilogram)
200 grams unsalted butter
1 onion
1 cup of red wine
One large stick of butter
2 cloves of garlic
1 handful of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

Method:

Use a one kilogram piece of rib eye and cook the entire piece in one go, as opposed to using several smaller steaks. Also, never use shop-bought barbecue sauce – for this treat you’re better than that.

For marinade use:

1) Equal parts of Worcestershire sauce and olive oil – which is rubbed onto the steak with salt and pepper.
2) Cook meat to the degree you prefer – medium rare is ideal for this recipe.
3) Resting time – this is a very important aspect of the cooking process. In other words, once you have removed the steak from the heat of the Weber Braai, let it sit for around two minutes. This way all of the flavourful juices are absorbed back into the piece of meat.
4) Alternatively – wrap the steak tightly in tin foil, and pop it into a cooler box for five minutes. The cooler box acts as an insulator, and keeps meat warm whilst still adding to the “flavour trapping” action.

For the compote butter:

1) Finely chop the onions and garlic.
2) Gently fry them until golden brown with some olive oil.
3) Slowly pour the red wine over the butter mixture, and keep stirring at a high heat.
4) Slowly reduce the heat and let the wine reduce, until you are left with a beautiful purple-coloured onion and garlic mixture.
5) Pop the red wine and onion mixture straight into the fridge and cover it.
6) Chop up the thyme very finely, and mix it into the butter. Make sure the butter is nice and soft.
7) Remove the red wine mixture from the fridge and add the thyme and butter to the bowl. Then beat the butter very thoroughly and quickly add into the red wine mix. You can stop when the entire mixture turns a dull purple-red colour.
8) Remove the butter and wine mixture and place it onto a large piece of cling-wrap. Next, roll it up into a sausage shape and place it back into the fridge.
9) Now, you have a red wine butter to add to your steak every time you cook it on the Weber this winter, so store what you don’t use for later.

When you remove your warm steak from the cooler box, slice the meat up into portions.

Then add a disc of the red wine butter mixture to each piece. It should melt beautifully over the steak as you serve it to each guest.

Yes indeed, you’ve just ascended to the lofty heights of Braai Master – take a bow.

If you prefer to listen to Peter Goffe-Wood run you through then let’s hit it:

Tune in to 2OV Radio every Wednesday between 14:00 and 15:15 to keep up to date with what the chef extraordinaire has in store for us.