Peppered Fillet of Beef with Whisky Sauce

This simple dish is a real masterpiece. A prime fillet steak is coated in cracked pepper and carefully cooked, then coated in rich meaty juices with more than a hint of whisky. Just that. Heaven. Serve with home-made chips and a big bowl of mixed salad.

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 tablespoons black peppercorns
4 fillet steaks, weighing about 175g (6oz) each
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
50g (2oz) butter
50ml (2 fl oz) blended whisky
4 tablespoons chicken and beef stock or 1 beef stock cube dissolved in 4 tablespoons boiling water
4 tablespoons double cream

Crush the peppercorns coarsely in a coffee grinder. Tip the pepper into a fine sieve and shake out all the powder û this is very important because the powder will make the steaks far too spicy. (Alternatively simply grind enough pepper to coat the steaks using a pepper grinder.) Now spread the peppercorns over a small plate. Smear both sides of the steaks with the Dijon mustard and coat them in the peppercorns. Only season with the salt now, because salting first would draw the moisture out from the steak, thus preventing the pepper from sticking to the meat. Set aside.

Heat a large frying pan until hot. Add the sunflower oil and then the steaks and give them a couple of minutes on either side (a bit longer if you donÆt like your meat so rare). Do not move them around once they are in the pan or the peppercorn crust will fall off û the aim is to produce a good crusty coating on each surface.

Now add the butter to the pan and allow it to colour to nut brown, basting the steaks with the buttery juices as you go. Transfer the steaks to a baking tray and leave in a warm place.

Add the whisky to the pan and boil over a high heat for 1 minute û the alcohol must be boiled off. A word of warning û the whisky is liable to burst into flames. If this worries you, have a large lid handy to whack on the pan. Then add the stock, bring back to the boil and pour in the cream. Scrape and stir together any gooey bits from the bottom of the pan. When it boils fiercely, itÆs ready. Pour any juices from the steaks back into the sauce and place a steak on each plate. Spoon the sauce over the steaks and serve.

© Nick Nairn

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