Fillet steak with a quick peppered mushroom sauce

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Need to cook a perfectly medium-rare steak? Follow Clem Pedro’s tips to ensure each piece has that flavour-filled crust and a tender centre. Bonus: how to squeeze the most flavour out of your simple mushroom sauce.

Ingredients

For the steak:
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 kg Woolies beef fillet, portioned into 4 equal pieces
3 T Woolies ghee
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 stalks rosemary
For the mushroom sauce:
2 T butter or ghee
250 g Woolies portabellini mushrooms, torn into chunks
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
1 stalk rosemary
1 cup Woolies whipping cream
25 g Woolies demi-glacé concentrate
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cooking Instructions

1. Season the individually portioned steaks with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. It’s a thick cut of beef, so don’t be scared to season the steaks properly. Cover and set aside for 1 hour to reach as close to room temperature as possible.

2. In a heavy-based pan, like a cast iron pan, heat the ghee over a high heat. Add the steaks and allow to brown for 3 minutes before turning over and cooking the other side in the same manner. If you’re using a smaller pan, cook 2 steaks at a time.

3. With both top and bottom perfectly browned and seared, turn the steaks on their side and brown the sides. This should take another 3 minutes, but don’t rush the process – the brown, seared “crust” on the steak is where most of the flavour comes from.

4. Add the garlic and rosemary to the pan, along with extra ghee if needed. Allow the ghee to infuse with the flavours of the garlic and rosemary, becoming slightly bubbly, then start basting the steaks. Baste the steaks for 2 minutes before removing from the pan, pouring the extra ghee over and tenting with a lid or piece of foil. Allow the steaks to rest for 5 minutes while preparing the mushroom sauce.

5. To the same pan, add extra ghee and heat over a medium heat. Add the torn mushrooms and brown for 1 minute before tossing in the pan. Once the mushrooms have developed a golden-brown colour, add the garlic and rosemary, combining with the mushrooms and cooking for 1 minute or until the garlic becomes fragrant.

6. Add the cream as well as the demi-glacé and cook from another 2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Season lightly with salt and generously with freshly ground black pepper.

7. Serve the fillet whole or cut into thick slices and pour over the mushroom sauce. Serve with your favourite side, like Woolies’ creamy mashed potatoes.

Find more steak recipes here.

Photograph: Shavan Rahim
Videography: Romy Wilson and Katharine Pope
Food assistant: Leila-Ann Mokotedi