Ingredients

• 4 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp (15g) unsalted butter
• ½ tbsp sunflower oil if you’ve just cooked steak to go with this sauce, use the oils/meat-drippings that are left in the pan, instead of the sunflower oil and butter.
• 2 shallots peeled and chopped finely
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 tbsp brandy
• 180 ml (3/4 cup) beef stock
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) double (heavy) cream

Instructions

1. Place 3 teaspoons of the peppercorns in a zip-lock back, and roughly crush with a rolling pin (or use a pestle and mortar if you have one). Don’t bash too much – we want a bit of texture, rather than a fine powder. Put to one side.
2. Add the butter and oil to a frying pan and heat over a medium heat.
3. When the butter has melted, add the shallots, salt, the crushed peppers from earlier, and the remaining 1 teaspoon of whole peppercorns. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the shallots are just starting to soften.
4. Add the brandy to the pan, bubble for 1 minute, then add in the stock and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil and simmer rapidly for 5 minutes until reduced by half.
5. Stir in the cream (if you have any juices from resting your steak, add them to the pan now too). Bring back to a simmer, then turn off the heat.
6. Serve over steak.