Pepper steak frites

Pepper steak frites is a timeless French dish that combines speed with flavour. It features pan-seared steak doused in pepper sauce, served with potato chips. The best pepper sauces rely on homemade stock, simmered for hours to extract natural gelatine and flavour from the bones. This recipe uses a secret ingredient - powdered gelatine - to speed up this process to make a delectable pan sauce in a fraction of the time.

• serves

  2

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 2 thick eye fillet steaks, about 200 g each
• salt and black pepper
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 30 g butter
• 2 garlic cloves, bruised
• 6 thyme sprigs

For the pepper sauce

• 2 tbsp green peppercorns in brine, drained
• ¼ cup white wine
• 1 tbsp brandy
• 1 cup beef stock
• ¼ tsp powdered gelatine
• ½ cup thickened cream
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce (optional)

For the chips

• 700 g potatoes
• 1 litre vegetable oil, for deep frying

Resting time: 5 minutes

Instructions

1. Microwave the potatoes for about 8 minutes, then allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until cold, then slice into chips. Heat the oil to 180˚C and deep-fry the chips for about 5 minutes, until browned and crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined tray and season well with salt.

2. Season the steaks well with salt and black pepper and heat the oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over high heat. Cook the steaks for a few minutes, flipping once or twice until well-browned, depending on the thickness of your steak. Add the butter to the pan. Tilt the pan to collect the butter in one side, add the garlic and thyme and bast the steaks with the hot garlic and herb butter until cooked to your liking. Transfer the steaks to a plate and keep warm while you prepare the sauce.

3. Drain the pan of any garlic butter (reserve for another use!) and return the pan to a medium-high heat with the peppercorns, wine, brandy, stock, gelatine and cream. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, or until thickened. Stir through the dark soy sauce (if using).

4. Divide steaks between plates and spoon over the peppercorn sauce. Serve immediately with the potato chips.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Steak Out

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Watch the full episode here

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