Steak au Poivre

Ingredients

• 2 fillet or sirloin steaks, 200g each and at least 3cm thick
• 2 tbsp black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 40g unsalted butter
• 1 banana shallot, very finely chopped
• 60ml cognac or brandy
• 150ml beef or veal stock
• 150ml double cream
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• Flaky sea salt

Before you cook

• Take the steaks out of the fridge forty minutes before cooking and pat them completely dry.
• Crush the peppercorns coarsely in a mortar or under the base of a heavy pan, so you have cracked shards rather than powder.
• Tip the cracked pepper onto a plate and press both flat faces of each steak into it, leaving the edges bare.
• Finely chop the shallot.
• Salt the steaks generously just before they go into the pan.

Steps

1. Set a heavy frying pan over high heat until it is faintly smoking.
2. Add the oil and lay in the steaks, pressing each one down for a second so the whole face makes contact.
3. Sear for three minutes without touching them.
4. Flip the steaks, add half the butter to the pan, and cook for a further three minutes for medium-rare, spooning the foaming butter over as they go.
5. Lift the steaks onto a warm plate and leave them to rest.
6. Drop the heat to medium, add the shallot to the pan, and stir for one minute.
7. Pull the pan off the heat and pour in the cognac.
8. Return the pan to the heat and let the cognac bubble for one minute, scraping the pan base with a wooden spoon.
9. Pour in the stock and boil hard for two minutes until reduced by half.
10. Stir in the cream and the mustard and simmer for three minutes until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
11. Tip any juices from the resting plate into the sauce and whisk in the remaining butter.
12. Taste the sauce and add salt.
13. Set the steaks on warm plates, spoon the sauce over, and serve with fries or a sharp green salad.