Recipes

The steak-restaurant order you can make in one pan

There's a reason the green peppercorn sauce has never left the steak-restaurant menu: it's magnificent, and it takes about ten minutes. The little peppercorns come in a jar of brine, sitting near the capers at the supermarket, and they bring a gentle heat that cream rounds off beautifully. You'll sear the sirloin in a heavy pan, rest it, and build the whole sauce on the browned bits left behind. Two steaks, one pan, and a dinner that feels like a night out.

The great Aussie celebration plate, done at home

There was a time when steak crowned with garlic prawns was the fanciest thing an Australian bistro could put in front of you. It still earns its keep — and it turns out the whole plate is a 25-minute, one-pan job. Sear the medallions, rest them under foil, and the prawns cook in garlic butter in the same pan while you set the table. The resting juices go back into the butter at the end, which is the part the bistros never told you about. Anniversary, birthday, or just a Tuesday that deserves better — this is the one.

Salty fat, doing exactly what fillet needs

Eye fillet has one weakness — it's the leanest cut on the beast — and butchers worked out the fix generations ago: wrap it in something fatty and let the wrap do the basting. Prosciutto is the elegant version of that old trick. As the band crisps around each medallion, its salty fat renders into the meat, and a quick butter-and-sage baste at the end brings the whole thing together. Two medallions, one pan, thirty-five minutes — and a plate that looks like far more work than it was.

The bistro classic that's really just steak and chips, done properly

Every bistro in Paris built its name on this plate, and here's the quiet truth: it's steak and chips. What turns it into steak frites is care — chips cut thin and roasted properly crisp, a hard-seared steak rested as long as it takes, and a parsley-lemon butter that carries all the browned pan goodness over the top. The 420g sirloin halves neatly into two bistro-sized steaks, so this is dinner for two, done exactly right. Pour something red and don't answer the phone.

The restaurant sauce that's secretly a one-pan job

Marsala and mushrooms is what good Italian restaurants have been spooning over fillet for generations, and there's a reason: the cut is mild and buttery-tender, and the sauce brings the caramel depth it's quietly asking for. Here's the good news — the whole thing happens in one pan. Sear the medallions, rest them under foil, and while they sit, the mushrooms, Marsala and cream build the sauce on the same browned bits the steaks left behind. Forty minutes, start to plate, and it looks like you booked a table.

The fanciest steak in the share, on a Tuesday

Eye fillet has a reputation as restaurant food — the cut you order out because you're worried about wrecking it at home. Here's the truth: two medallions, a hot pan and eight minutes is all it takes, and the garlic cream sauce builds itself in the same pan while the steaks rest. No tricks, no cheffy equipment, no stress. If it's your first go at the tenderest cut in the pack, this is exactly where to start.

The Friday ritual: one great steak, spuds that shatter

Call it sirloin, porterhouse or New York strip — it's the same handsome steak, and it's the one waiting in your Pack C share. This is the Friday-night ritual version: chat potatoes boiled, smashed flat and roasted until they shatter, while the steak gets a hard sear and a minute under foaming garlic-and-rosemary butter. Nothing clever, nothing fussy — just the plate half the pubs in the country built their reputation on, done at home for a fraction of the price.

Thirty seconds a side, and the fridge does the rest

If raw beef sounds a step too far, tataki is the friendly cousin. The sirloin gets a ferocious sear — under a minute a side — so the outside is deeply browned while the centre stays rare, then a short chill in the fridge firms it up for slicing paper-thin. Fanned on a platter with sharp citrusy ponzu, ginger and sesame, one steak becomes an elegant shared starter for four. It's mostly waiting, honestly — the actual cooking is over in five minutes.

The pub bistro's best seller, cooked in your own kitchen for a fraction of the price

There's a reason scotch fillet with creamy mushroom sauce never comes off the pub menu — it's the steak-and-sauce combination that pleases absolutely everyone. And here's the good news: it's genuinely a 25-minute dinner. The marbling through a scotch keeps it juicy while it sears, and the same pan gives you a glossy mushroom sauce in the time the steak takes to rest. One steak, one pan, and a dinner that tastes like someone else did the cooking.