Pepper steak and brandy sauce

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!!!