Porterhouse Steak With Red Wine Sauce

Steaks occupy a special place in the American heart, and no wonder. They are simple and quick to make and absolutely fantastic to eat, whether they be T-bone, sirloin or porterhouse, as here. The red wine sauce in the recipe below may be omitted if you prefer your steak unadorned.
ingredients
serves 4
3 Tbs Black peppercorns
4 Porterhouse steaks, cut about 1 cm (1/2 in) thick
2 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp Salt
50 g (2 oz) 4 Tbs Butter
2 Medium onions, thinly sliced
125 g (4 oz) 1 cup Mushrooms, thinly sliced
125 ml (4 fl oz) 1/2 cup Red wine
1/4 tsp Dried thyme
1 Tbs Beurrie manie (two parts flour and one part butter blended)

method
1. Crush the peppercorns coarsely and put them in a shallow dish. Rub the steaks all over with the garlic and salt, and press each side into the peppercorns.

2. Melt half the butter in a large frying-pan. Add the onions and fry until they are soft. Stir in the mushrooms and fry for 3 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a plate while you cook the steaks.

3. Add the remaining butter to the pan. Add the steaks and fry for 3 minutes on each side over moderate heat. Reduce the heat to moderately low and fry for a further 3 minutes on each side. This will give you rare steaks; double the cooking time for well-done steaks. Transfer the steaks to a warmed serving platter and keep hot.

4. Return the vegetable mixture to the pan and pour over the wine. Stir in the thyme and boil for 2 minutes. Add the beurre manie, a little at a time, and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring constantly, or until the sauce has thickened.

5. Pour over the steaks and serve at once.