John Torode's perfect steak with peppercorn sauce
With Valentine's Day approaching the supermarkets are awash with juicy offers for steak. Whether it's part of a Valentine's meal deal offer or just a bargain cut, John's in the kitchen helping us master seasoning, searing, and cooking to perfection - all to make sure we can get that steak restaurant-worthy in no time!
John Torode’s perfect steak with peppercorn sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the steak:
200g Steak of your choice, per person or 400g steak, to share between 2 people
1 kg Côte de boeuf (this size steak will serve 4 people)
For the whipped butter
225g softened butter
6 tbsp milk
1 ½ tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 ½ tbsp chopped fresh parsley
For the peppercorn sauce
1 tbsp drained green peppercorns in brine, drained
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brandy
100ml double cream
For the wedge salad
1 Iceberg lettuce
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp grated parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chips to serve
Method
JOHN’S RULES FOR COOKING ANY STEAK:
-Oil the meat then season with salt and lots of pepper.
-Turn once during cooking, let it rest for the same amount of time it cooks for.
-Use a rack with a tray under to put the steak on for resting so you can catch and use the juice back in the pan for your sauce.
For the steak:
1. With any steak, remove from the fridge an hour before you want to cook it.
2. Place a frying pan over a high heat for 10 minutes so that it gets really hot. Do not add any oil to the pan.
3. Rub the steaks with oil and season well on both sides.
4. Open the window so smoke can escape. Place the steaks in the pan and leave for 2 minutes, do not be tempted to touch or move the steak around in the pan. After two minutes flip the steak and repeat.
5. The cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of the steak, if it’s a really thick steak you will need to cook for roughly 8 minutes in total. The best way to tell when it is cooked to your liking is to use a temperature probe - for a rare steak you need an internal temperature of 50 degrees, medium-rare 55 degrees, medium 58-60 degrees, and well done 70 degrees.
6. Remove the steak from the pan and place on a wire rack with a tray underneath so that you can catch the juices to use in the peppercorn sauce later.
7. If you are cooking a bone in steak like a Côte de boeuf, a great technique is to reverse sear - always follow the same rules, remove from the fridge an hour before and oil and season the steak.
8. Preheat your oven to 130C and cook your bone in steak for 50-60 minutes - you are looking for an Internal temperature between 50 and 55 degrees.
9. Towards the end of the cooking time, heat a frying pan until it is piping hot. Remove the steak from the oven, place 1 tsp oil on the meat and then sear the steak in the hot frying pan for two minutes on each side to colour.
10. Remove the Côte de boeuf steak from the pan and rest for 15 minutes before serving.
For the Whipped Butter:
11. To make the whipped butter, place the butter in the bowl of a food mixer and whisk for 1 minute on a low speed.
12. Add the milk then increase the speed and and continue whisking for a further 3-4 minutes or until the butter is very pale and fluffy.
13. Stir in the herbs then remove from the bowl and serve.
For the Peppercorn Sauce:
14. For the peppercorn sauce, crush half the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar. Add the whole and crushed peppercorns to the pan in which you cooked the steak and cook for 30 seconds. Add the brandy and bring to the boil then add the butter and cream, swirl around and immediately take off the heat.
For the salad:
15. To make the salad, remove the core and outer leaves from the lettuce, then cut into quarters. Drizzle over the oil and turn gently to coat, then sprinkle on the grated parmesan and season with black pepper.
Serve with a side of chips.