How to make Clodagh McKenna's steak au poivre

Tender, marbled sirloin in a creamy, spicy sauce
Clodagh McKenna
Clodagh McKenna4 March 2020

This is a classic grilled steak with a peppered sauce and sea salt roasties. Steak can seem simple, but it’s all in the shopping.

When buying a piece, look for one that’s been aged for 28 days at a minimum, with the beef a dull dark colour, rather than bright red. Usually, the darker the steak, the longer it’s been aged and the more tender it will be.

If you can’t get your hands on a well-aged steak then do what I do and suspend the meat in a sieve over a bowl, and sit it in the fridge for a few days — this will help improve the tenderness. It’s a neat trick.

The next thing to look for is the marbling. A great steak will have lots of thin threads of fat running through it, which is where all the flavour comes from. Once you’ve picked your piece, be careful with the cooking — too long on the griddle and all your thoughtful choices will have been for nothing.

Steak au poivre

Serves: 2

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Serve with: Langhe Nebbiolo 2016 De Forville, £11.99 from Majestic Wines

Ingredients

  • 2 x 300g sirloin steaks
  • Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp oil

For the peppered sauce

  • 85ml stout
  • 185ml beef stock 
  • 125ml double cream
  • 3 tsp coarsely crushed whole black peppercorns

For the rosemary and sea salt roast potatoes

  • 700g potatoes (Maris Pipers or King Edwards), peeled
  • 100g butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • 2 tbsp rosemary, finely chopped
  • Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Remove the steaks from the fridge and put them on a plate. I like to do this at least half an hour before I cook them so the meat comes up to room temperature; this makes it more tender.

2. Next, prep the potatoes. Cut the peeled potatoes into one-inch cubes and place in a saucepan filled halfway with salted water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook the potatoes for 15 minutes before draining. Place a frying pan over a medium heat and add the butter, tossing the potatoes in it, then add the chopped fresh rosemary, sliced garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked, crispy and golden in colour.

3. The sauce is wonderfully easy. Simply combine the ingredients in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir. Once the sauce starts to come to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and add more pepper if you wish.

4. Once the sauce and roasties are done, cook the steak. Heat a griddle or frying pan over a high heat until smoking hot. Lightly brush the steak with a little olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the prepared steaks on the hot pan, and cook to the following times — this is a guide only, and will depend on how thick the meat is.

Blue: 1 minute each side

Rare: 1½ minutes each side

Medium-rare: 2 minutes each side

Medium: 2¼ minutes each side

Medium-well done: 2½ – 3 minutes each side

Let the steaks rest for about three minutes before serving, to allow the juices that have been drawn to the surface relax back into the meat.

Follow Clodagh on Instagram @clodagh_mckenna

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in