RECIPE: Steak w/ mushroom sauce, cheesy roasted potatoes & fried baby corn & sugar snaps.

Another quick and easy recipe today as steak done medium/medium-rare just the way I like it only takes around 3/4 mins in the pan on each side and the veg is no hassle too.

I used a rump steak for this dish, seasoned with sea salt and ground black pepper and fried in butter. The butter keeps it moist, but not greasy, and I find it doesn't spit at you quite the way oil does when it's hot! For some really good advice on getting steak just right (I'm by no means an expert as my short and sweet description probably just proved!) and a great step by step cooking technique get The Meat Cookbook published by DK. It really helped me get this steak just right!


Onto the vegetable side for this dish: cheesy roast potatoes and fried baby corn and sugar snaps. Now you may be thinking that the potatoes will need a long, long time in the oven, but if you have a microwave, wash them, pierce them all over and put them in whole (one potato per person) for 7-8 minutes, leaving to rest for a minute or so halfway through. They should be nice and soft in the middle when done. Cut each potato in half (careful, they'll be hot!) and then slice twice lengthways and three or four times widthways, being sure to be gentle and not cut right through to the bottom of the potato - you don't want it to fall apart, just open up! Place them on a baking tray, sprinkle with salt, ground black pepper and parmesan before popping in the oven on around 160°C for 10-15 minutes while you cook the steak. For the last five minutes, add grated cheddar cheese to melt. Leave for even longer to turn it golden and crispy.


For the baby corn and sugar snaps, boil a pan of water and throw both types of veg in, boiling for only 5-6 mins. When the steak is done, take it out of the pan and use the same one, draining a little of the butter, to fry the veg in for 3-4 mins, seasoning to taste.

The mushroom sauce is the pièce de résistance of this dish, adding extra flavour to the steak and another veg to the whole dish. For a quick and easy sauce, heat a drizzle of oil, a tbsp of butter and fry up some garlic, onion and mushrooms. If you have white wine, add some and leave to reduce before adding creme-fraiche and leaving to simmer - don't worry if you don't have wine, or don't drink, it's just as tasty without, and with a dash of salt and pepper to season.

Serve hot and enjoy!