The two essentials are a hot pan and the best meat. Look for a beef that’s dark red in colour – this shows it’s been properly hung, so it should be tender.
Rub the steaks all over with a little olive oil and freshly ground black pepper. Heat a large heavy frying pan or cast iron griddle until very hot. Add steaks to the pan and leave to cook undisturbed for at least 2min. Depending on the thickness, cook the steaks for 2-3min in total for rare; 3-4min for medium rare and 4-5min for well done. (See tip).
Step 2
Turn the steaks over briefly, season, then lift on to warm plates. Take the pan off the heat, allow to cool for 1-2min, then spoon in the crème fraîche and mustard. Swirl around with the pan juices to make an instant sauce. Season to taste, then spoon over the steaks. Serve with boiled new potatoes and a salad.
Step 3
Easy ways to jazz it up:
1 Add 2tbsp roughly chopped green peppercorns to the pan with the crème fraîche and the Dijon mustard.
2 Add 1-2tsp freshly chopped tarragon to the pan juices with the cream and mustard.
3 Pour a small glass of medium-dry sherry into the pan juices, bring to the boil and bubble for 1min, then spoon over the steaks.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
