Tag-Archive for » Cognac «
I fancied some crab, prawns and steak the other night a more surf and turf night I guess. I have made a couple of different recipes one being crab stuffed steak with a bearnaise sauce and the other crab stuffed ostrich with a whiskey cream sauce. I wanted to make something a little simpler so I came up with this, much easier to throw all the seafood on top than to stuff the meat and bake. I cooked the entire dish in the frying pan, you will notice the extra cream I have listed, this is because of cooking it in the pan for such a long preiod it reduces the liquid considerably so I add extra cream at the end.
Ingredients
Olive oil
2 Steak Fillets (250g-300g Each)
Salt and pepper, to season
4 Large green prawns
100g Crab meat
4 Baby asparagus spears (Optional)
Sauce
1 Shallot, finely chopped
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
4 Tablespoons cognac, divided use
1 Teaspoon beef stock granules
2 Teaspoons creamy mustard
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
2 Teaspoons black pepper
150ml Double cream
125ml Light cream
11/2 Tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped finely
50ml Light cream (Extra)
Method
1. Season steaks with salt and pepper, heat a little olive oil in a large pan, when hot add steaks and sear each side for 2 Min’s, remove and set to one side.
2. De-glaze pan with 2 Tablespoons of cognac, add a little extra olive oil, add shallot and garlic and cook until tender.
3. Add the remaining ingredients, including the extra cognac, except the tarragon and extra cream, stir to combine, return steaks to pan, cook 20 Min’s, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming, turn steaks once. (Medium rare steaks if thick like mine, cooking time will differ for thinner steaks.)
4. While steaks are cooking shell and de-vein prawns, cook in separate pan until pink and cooked though.
5. About five minutes before the end of cooking, add tarragon and the extra cream to the sauce stir to combine. Remove steaks and rest a couple of minutes.
6. While steaks are resting, warm crab meat in microwave, I served mine over celeriac mash.
To Serve: Place a mound of mash on a plate top with steak, wrap two prawns around the asparagus. Place spoonfuls of crab meat on top of the steak, top with the prawns and drizzle with sauce.
All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.
We have not enjoyed a good fillet steak in ages, it is just so expensive now days. Well I thought I would treat us all the other night to a super thick juicy cut of fillet. Normally with a nice cut like this I would just season it and grill it to enjoy the natural yummy flavour of the beef. I found this sauce recipe and it sounded good, so I thought I would try it and it was wonderful. I made some changes which I have listed below but if you want view the original recipe or see more reviews of this please click here.
Ingredients
4 beef tenderloin steaks, cut 1 inch thick (about 1 lb total)
3 tablespoons cognac or brandy (I added more cognac to steak and pour in the pan with steak and ignited.)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup sliced fresh mushroom
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup beef broth
1/4 cup fat-free half-and-half (I used low fat cream)
2 tablespoons dijon-style mustard
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour (I used cornflour)
Method
1. Trim fat from steaks. Place steaks in shallow dish. Pour 2 tablespoons of the cognac over steaks. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 15 minutes, turning once. Drain steaks, discarding cognac in dish. Sprinkle steaks with pepper.
2. Place steaks on rack of uncovered grill directly over medium coals. Grill for 11-15 minutes for medium-rare or 14-18 minutes for medium, turning once.
3. I cooked mine in a pan as I added extra cognac and ignited the steaks. Then finished under the grill.
For Sauce
1. In small saucepan, cook mushrooms, garlic and shallot in hot butter for 3 – 4 minutes or until tender.
2. Stir in beef broth and remaining cognac. Bring to the boil, reduce heat, simmer gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
3. In small bowl, stir together half-and-half, mustard, and flour. Stir into broth mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more.
To Serve: I served mine over mash, drizzled sauce over steak and then topped the steak with bacon wrapped asparagus.
All photos taken by me unless otherwise stated.
