Charred steak with green peppercorn and wine sauce

Steak is rare in India, and well-cooked steak is even more obscure. Most Indians like their steaks overcooked into tough leather.

While cooking steaks, the process of "resting" or "tenting" the steak is crucial. This step ensures that the steak is juicy. After cooking to a done-ness of your choosing, the steak is ut on a platter and tend=ted with foil for about 2-3 minutes. This process allows the residual heat to cook the steak slightly more, but more importantly, the juices in the steak do not evaporate, drying it out. Cutting into a very hot steak allows the juices to dry out and you are left with a dry piece of meat.

Here is a lovely dish. The magic lies in the sauce, which is spicy from the green peppercorns, robust from the wine, and packed full of flavour. The steak was tented and was very juicy. I served this with Garlic mashed potatoes with rosemary and oilve oil for a perfect main course.

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For the sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

6 shallots, quartered or 1/2 onion, diced

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup pickled green peppercorns

1 1/2 cups Madiera wine or other sweet red wine

1/2 cup red wine

2 tablespoon buttermilk

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Salt, to taste

1/2 lb. steak, tenderloin or blade

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Parsley, minced, to garnish

Mix the pepper and salt and massage the steaks with the mix until the salt is completely dissolved. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Add the oil to a shallow pan and fry the shallots/onions on medium-low heat until they are deeply brown and well caramelized. Add the mustard and green peppercorns and cook for 2-3 minutes until the mustard has simmered gently.

Add the sweet and red wines and simmer for 15 minutes, reducing the wine to a thick syrup. Add the buttermilk and balsamic and mix them well. Cook for an additional 3 minutes. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.

When ready to serve, heat a pan on high and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the steak and cook for 4-5 minutes until the steak is charred and smelling aromatic. Flip over and fry for 3-4 minutes until the second side is charred.

Remove the steak onto a cutting board and cover with foil, tenting the steak for 4 minutes. Uncover and cut across the grain into 1/4-inch slices.

Reheat the sauce, adding a few tablespoons of water if needed. Spread most of the sauce on the bottom of a large platter. Add the steak and drizzle the rest of the sauce over it. Garnish with parsley. Serve immediately.