A retro night - Steak Diane

I am not sure how authentic my Steak Diane was but it turned out nicely – particularly the sauce.

I made a mushroom sauce using:

1 punnet of ordinary white button mushrooms, sliced up

1 clove of garlic, chopped finely

A teaspoon or so of butter and a drop of vegetable oil (stops the butter burning)

A half teaspoon of porcini powder (this makes the flavour of button mushrooms deeper – you could just use brown mushrooms to start with, of course)

When the mushrooms have cooked for about 5 minutes, add a generous splosh of brandy (I don't risk lighting it, but in the classic dish you would have)

Finally I thickened it a little with cornstarch (cornflour)

When the steak was resting, I deglazed the pan with a small spoonful of plum vinegar (you could use wine vinegar or white wine) and then added that to the sauce as well.

Right at the end, when the steak was ready I added a dollop of crème fraiche (could have been cream)

I am not an expert on cooking steak. This one was expensive wagyu sirloin (produced locally). I simply fried it quickly in a hot pan, turning only once and then put it into the oven where the vegetables were roasting for about 10 minutes (longer if you don't like it pink in the middle).

Later I checked out an old fashioned recipe for Steak Diane – which used to be the height of sophistication in the 70's. In addition to my ingredients, you would have to add finely chopped shallots, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard and parsley. Will have to try that next time!

For another recipe, click here