Minute Steaks with Peppercorn Sauce

It’s funny that even though I often order peppercorn sauce with my steak if I’m eating a pub meal, I hadn’t ever thought to try cooking my own peppery sauce. And then I came across a recipe in my friend Clotilde’s fab book Tasting Paris.

Since you’re relying on the flavour of the pepper to be the star of this dish, make sure you use freshly ground pepper. I adjust my pepper grinder so the pepper is nice and chunky, but you can use more finely ground pepper if you prefer.

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Minute Steaks with Peppercorn Sauce

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 2 steaks
• 1-2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 6 tablespoons cream preferably double cream
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground peppercorns
• salad or green veg, to serve

Instructions

• Cut steaks into 2-3 pieces each. Then using your fist, a small saucepan, a meat mallet, rolling pin or potato ricer bash each piece of meat until it’s about 1/2cm (1/4in) thick. Rub steak with oil and sprinkle with a big pinch of fine salt.
• Heat a large frying pan, griddle pan or your BBQ. When it’s super hot add steaks and cook for 1 minute on each side or until well browned. Divide steaks between two warm plates to rest while you make the sauce.
• Keeping pan off the heat, add vinegar and stir to scrape up any tasty bits from the bottom of the pan. Add cream and pepper and return to the heat. Simmer for a few minutes until sauce has thickened a little. Pour sauce over steaks and finish with salad / veg on the side.

WINE MATCH: A big ballsy red like a Barossa Shiraz or Coonawarra Cabernet.

Variations & Substitutions

vegetarian – mushroom steaks, pan fried tofu or eggplant steaks.

more substantial (carb lovers) – roast potatoes or easy home fries.

more substantial (low carb) – use larger steaks or serve with more substantial veg or lots of roast nuts. Roast walnuts are especially good with the peppercorn sauce.

dairy-free – make a mustard & peppercorn vinaigrette to serve with the steaks instead (1 tablespoon seeded mustard, 1 tablespoon peppercorns, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar and 6 tablespoons olive oil)

Waste Avoidance Strategy

steaks – freeze it.

sherry or red wine vinegar / ground peppercorns – keep them in the pantry.

cream – unopened cartons will generally keep in the fridge for another week. If you need to store for longer, just pop in the freezer in a sealed container. Or freeze in icecube trays so you can easily defrost just what you need.

salad leaves – are highly perishable. My first path would be to use them for another meal (salad for breakfast!) but if that isn’t possible you can pop them in the freezer. They will wilt down but can then be used anywhere you’d use wilted greens. At least this way they wont go slimey.

Prepare Ahead

Not really. Best when the steak is freshly cooked.