Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins Serves: 6
Ingredients
6 steaks of choice (t-bone, rump, scotch fillet, etc.)
3 tablespoons oil
40g butter
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 sprigs thyme
Sauce
4 French shallots, diced
2 tsp minced garlic
60g butter
1/2 cup brandy
1/2 cup red wine
1 beef stock cube
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup cream
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
Method
Remove steaks from the fridge at least one hour before you start cooking (see note). Before cooking, rub the steaks with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook in a hot pan or barbecue (see notes) until cooked to your liking. When cooked to your liking, transfer steaks to a plate or baking dish, cover with foil and set aside to rest.
Return the same pan to the heat and add shallots and butter. Cook shallots in butter for approx. 7 mins until softened and slightly coloured. Add garlic, stir quickly, then add brandy and wine. As the alcohols reduce, stir in stock cube and mustard.
When the alcohol has reduced by half, add cream and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low-medium and simmer, stirring every now and then, until thickened. This step requires a lot of patience as the sauce takes a while to reduce down and thicken.
Just before serving, return steaks to pan to reheat, along with the resting juices. This is best served with a potato dish, like mash or smashed potatoes with cheese and bacon (see recipe), as well as steamed vegetables such as beans, carrots or broccoli.
Notes
In order to serve a juicy, tender, perfectly cooked steak, the steaks must be at room temperature. Remove the steaks from the fridge at least an hour before you start cooking. If you cook them straight out the fridge, they will dry out.
The steaks can be cooked either in a pan on the stove or outside on the barbecue. If you choose to cook the steaks on the stove; just before they are done, add the butter, smashed garlic cloves and thyme and baste the steaks to keep them juicy and moist. If you cook them on the barbecue, omit the butter (for steaks), chop garlic and thyme and rub onto steaks for extra flavour. You can season your steaks using whatever you like; you don’t have to use garlic and thyme. You can season the steaks with other herbs such as oregano or rosemary, or you can use a combination of garlic powder, onion powder and MasterFoods Steak Seasoning, or you can keep it simple and use salt and pepper; it’s your call.
When making the sauce, if the steaks were cooked on the stove, use the same pan to make the sauce since what is leftover in the pan is flavour. If you are cooking the steaks outdoors on the barbecue, make the sauce ahead of time and set it aside, stirring in the steak resting juices at the end.
This sauce is also great with chicken. If serving with chicken, omit the red wine, replace the stock cube with 1/2 cup chicken stock (see recipe) and just before serving, stir in 2 tablespoons chopped parsley and the juice of 1/2 lemon.
The quantities (measurements) for the sauce ingredients may need to be doubled, dependant on the number of people you are serving. While the sauce is reducing and thickening, it is recommended to keep an eye on it and to stir it every minute or so; remember, this takes a while.
Best for…
Barbecues, dinner parties