Preheat the oven to 180C. Remove the Côte De Bœuf from the fridge an hour before you plan on cooking it to bring it up to room temperature. Season well with salt and pepper.
To make the dauphinoise, warm the cream in a small saucepan with the garlic, thyme and nutmeg. Season this cream really well with salt and pepper. It's important to get it almost over seasoned, as it will have the job of seasning the potatoes as well. Place the poateos in a bowl, pour over the cream and mix thoroughly.
Grease a small baking dish with butter. Layer up the potatoes in the dish until it's full. Place a sheet of baking parchment over the surface and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the baking parchment and return the dish to the oven for a further 15 minutes until the top of the dauphinoise takes on some colour.
Heat a wide, heavy-based frying pan until hot. Add a drizzle of oil to the outside of the Côte De Bœuf and place in the pan, fat side down. Use a pair of tongs to hold the piece of beef in place and carefully render down the fat, creating a lovely golden crust on the beef fat.
Remove the beef from the pan and pour away any excess fat. Increase the heat of the pan until very hot, then add the beef, cut side down, and fiercely sear the meat for 2 minutes on each side.
Once again remove the beef from the pan and leave to cool a little. Now add the butter, bashed garlic and sprigs of thyme to create an aromatic butter. Return the beef to the pan and continue to cook on each side. It is useful as this stage to have a digital thermometer probe to keep track of how the beef is cooking. For rare, aim for a core temperature of 48-52C; for medium aim for 55-58C and 60C for well done. If you don't have a temperature probe, cooking the beef in the butter for a further 4 minutes on each side should work well.
Transfer the beef to a tray, pour over the butter and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Carve into thick slices and serve with the rich dauphinoise potatoes and sharp watercress salad.
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