One butter log in the freezer, a month of better steaks

Café de Paris butter has a reputation as restaurant wizardry — a secret recipe, guarded for decades, melting gold over entrecôte in Geneva. Here's the truth from our kitchen: it's ten minutes of mixing. Anchovy, mustard, herbs, a whisper of curry powder, all beaten into good butter and rolled into a log. Chill it, slice a disc over a seared scotch fillet, and watch it turn into the best sauce you didn't have to make. The rest of the log lives in the freezer, quietly improving every steak for the next month.

2 hrs 35 mins 2 servings Prep 25 minsCook 10 minsMain CourseFrench

Ingredients

  • 280g Your Farmer grass-fed scotch fillet steak
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • 125g butter, softened (for the butter)
  • 2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped (for the butter)
  • 1 eschalot, very finely chopped (for the butter)
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed (for the butter)
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard (for the butter)
  • 1 tsp baby capers, finely chopped (for the butter)
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley (for the butter)
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped chives (for the butter)
  • 1 tsp curry powder (for the butter)
  • 1/2 tsp sweet paprika (for the butter)
  • Squeeze of lemon juice (for the butter)

Instructions

For the Café de Paris butter

Beat the softened butter in a bowl until pale and creamy.

125g butter

Fold in the anchovies, eschalot, garlic, Dijon, capers, herbs, curry powder, paprika and lemon juice until evenly combined. Season with a little cracked pepper — the anchovies bring the salt.

2 anchovy fillets1 eschalot2 tsp Dijon mustard1 tsp curry powder

Spoon the butter along a sheet of baking paper, roll it into a log about 4cm thick and twist the ends like a lolly wrapper. Chill for at least 2 hours, until firm enough to slice.

For the steak

Pat the steak dry, rub with the olive oil and season generously.

280g scotch fillet1 tbsp olive oil

Heat a grill pan or heavy frying pan over high heat until smoking. Cook the steak 3–4 minutes per side for medium-rare.

Rest for 5 minutes on a warm plate with two thick discs of the butter melting over the top.

Slice against the grain, add one more disc of butter, and serve with chips or steamed greens. Wrap the rest of the log and stash it in the freezer.

Appears in

Pack A & Pack C shares — Scotch Fillet (~280g)

Your Farmer CSA grass-fed beef share — vacuum-sealed steaks, roasts, mince and sausages, paddock-to-plate NSW & ACT delivery
CSA Grass Fed Beef Share
From $176.67

The Butter with a Backstory

The original Café de Paris butter was born in a Geneva restaurant in the 1940s, and the full recipe — rumoured to run past twenty ingredients — has never been officially published. Every chef since has reverse-engineered their own, and so has every home cook worth their salt flakes. Our version hits the chords that matter: anchovy for deep savouriness (nobody will pick it, everybody will taste it), Dijon for bite, fresh herbs for lift, and the famous whisper of curry powder that makes people squint and ask what's in it. A marbled scotch fillet is the butter's best canvas — the steak's own fat and the melting butter combine into an instant pan-free sauce that pools into every slice. It's the fanciest thing you can do to the Your Farmer® scotch from our grass-fed beef share while still being, honestly, mostly mixing. And because the butter waits patiently in the freezer, the ten minutes you spend tonight keeps paying you back for weeks of steak nights.

Swaps and Variations

No anchovies in the pantry? Use an extra teaspoon of capers and a small splash of Worcestershire — different route, same savoury depth. The butter is magnificent on other steaks from the share, sirloin and rump especially, and a disc melting over eye fillet is a genuine special-occasion move. It's not just for beef either: try it over barbecued corn, steamed green beans or a baked potato. If the ingredient list feels like a lot for a Tuesday, our simpler compound butter scotch is the weeknight cousin of this recipe.

Storage and Leftovers

The log is the whole point. Wrapped tightly in its baking paper and then a layer of foil, it keeps a week in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer — and you can slice discs straight off the frozen log with a hot knife, no thawing needed. That's a month or more of two-minute steak sauces from one mixing bowl. Leftover cooked steak keeps 2 days in the fridge; slice it cold into a baguette and spread the bread with a little of the softened butter. You will not miss the mayonnaise.

Frequently asked questions

Will I taste the anchovies?

Not as fish, no. Two fillets dissolve into the butter and just read as a deep savoury note — it's the ingredient that makes people ask why your steak butter tastes better than theirs. Leave them out and it's still good, just simpler.

Can I skip the curry powder?

You can, but try it once before you do — it's the signature of the original. At one teaspoon across a whole log it doesn't taste like curry, just a faint warmth in the background.

How long does the butter log keep?

A week in the fridge, or up to 3 months in the freezer wrapped tightly in baking paper and foil. Slice discs straight off the frozen log as you need them.

What else can I use the butter on?

Almost anything hot: other steaks, lamb chops, barbecued corn, steamed greens, baked potatoes, even stirred through hot rice. One disc over pan-fried mushrooms on toast is a very good lunch.

My butter split when I mixed it — what went wrong?

The butter was probably too cold, or the lemon juice went in too fast. Let the butter soften properly at room temperature, add the lemon last, and beat it in a little at a time. If it splits, a brief re-beat once everything comes to the same temperature usually brings it back.

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