Steak Diane

I love food history almost as much as I love food. I always thought this dish of steak with a garlicky sauce was a French classic. In fact, steak Diane originated in the USA in the 1940s, when tableside cooking was all the rage. Every recipe I’ve found is a little different; butter, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and parsley seem essential, while mushrooms and cream appear in some but not others. In Bloody Delicious!, Joan Campbell talks fondly of it being cooked at the lavish Romano’s in Martin Place in the early ‘50s, usually by a young Beppi Polese, and John Fuller’s 1960s classic, The Restaurateur’s Guide to Gueridon & Lamp Cooking, adds a quick flambé with brandy to finish. Pommes Dauphinois (the world’s best potato bake – see video below) and the elegant Ngeringa Syrah are the perfect accompaniments.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 x 150g pieces fillet steak
Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 cloves garlic, crushed
40g butter
1 golden shallot, very finely diced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
30ml brandy
1 tablespoon very finely chopped curly parsley
Pommes Dauphinoise, for serving
Green salad, for serving

Method

Pound the steaks with a meat mallet until about 5mm thick.
Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper and smear one side with mustard and garlic.
Melt butter in a frying pan over low-medium heat, add shallot and cook for a minute or so, until translucent.
Add one steak to the pan and cook for a minute.
Turn over, cook for 30 seconds then remove to a plate.
Repeat with remaining steak.
When second steak is removed from the pan, add Worcestershire sauce and swirl to blend into the butter.
Increase heat to high, add parsley and brandy and give the pan a good shake; it will likely spontaneously ignite, if it doesn’t you can ignite it with a match or gas lighter.
Return steaks to the pan, spoon sauce over to warm through and serve with Pommes Dauphinoise and a butter lettuce salad.