This being our first post, we felt that it would only be fair that it truly reflected our first love in food – a big fat juicy steak! The other reason is of course, that our appetites are still trying to recover from just such a steak, which we tucked into only a few hours ago! So if you love a steak as much as we do, then keep reading as this simple, yet delicious recipe is a must for anyone! It’s really not complicated, does not take very long, and oh so good!
What you will need is the following:
• 3 pieces of steak, 1.5 cms thick (rump does the trick)
• 3 Tbsp freshly ground black peppercorns
• 50 g butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt
• 2 Tbsp brandy (any make will do – no need to get expensive here)
• ½ cup cream
Trim all or most of the fat and grizzle (all the nasty bits) off of the steak and cut the fat into small pieces – this is most easily done with a pair of kitchen scissors. Next lay the steaks out and press the pepper into both sides of steak. If you don’t have anything better, you can even use the bottom of a glass to do this.
Heat half of the butter and all the oil in a heavy based frying pan. When it is smoking hot, put the steaks in for 1 minute per side to seal the meat. (Make sure it is no more than this per side as you may well burn it!!!) Take steaks out of the pan, turn the heat down and allow pan to cool to a medium heat. Once this is done, add steaks to pan and continue cooking for 3-10 minutes, depending on how you like your steak done. 
(We love our steaks medium rare and juicy, so we typically do them for 2 minutes a side.) While frying the steaks, you can also add to the pan, all the nasty bits you chopped up earlier for extra flavour. Once done, take the steaks out, salt them lightly and keep warm. Note: If you like your steak rare, make sure you don’t keep it too warm!!!
Now for the sauce. In the same pan which now contains the juices and cut up scraps, add the brandy. Bring this to the boil and then add the remaining butter. Now slowly add the cream and let it simmer until it is nice and thick. If it however is not thick enough, you are welcome to thicken it with a corn starch (or Maizena), but make sure you only add a little at a time as it can get very thick, very quickly! Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as needed.
And that’s it! Smother the steaks in the brandy sauce and serve immediately. We hope you enjoy it as much as we always do!!!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Pepper steak and brandy sauce
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6 comments:
When I make stake in the pan it usually comes out tough. On the fire it's always hundreds though. What am I doing wrong?
Willie, how well do you like your steak done? We often do it in the pan, and we think the trick in this case is that one first needs to seal the meat by doing it for 1 minute on each side in a really hot pan. Once that is done, take the meat off and carry on cooking it after the pan has cooled down to a medium heat. The sealing process seems to keep the juices where they belong!!
This looks and sounds absolutely delicious. Thank you very much for sharing it and I intend to try it and the earliest opportunity!
great recipe, tried and loved it. I will note though that searing steaks does not seal in juices as many would have you believe. In fact, if anything this technique causes more juices to be lost than retained. However, the process of searing the meat creates what is known as a Maillard reaction that is responsible for that caramelized "seared" flavor. Some have even recommended to me that I sear steaks at the end of cooking them, so that maximum moisture is retained during the slow cooking portion, but I have never tried this. Thanks though, brandy sauce was yet another refreshing and simple way to accessorize a savory staple. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction
Im sorry but? on the 50 g butter??
Rick, what is your question? 50 grams of butter is what you need. You use half for the initial frying and you add the other half during the making of the sauce.
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