Steak au Poivre (Peppered Steak)

If using whole black peppercorns, crush them with a pestle and mortar or with the back of a spoon.

Put the oil, crushed garlic, and peppercorns into a shallow dish and mix. Put in each steak and turn it well to coat it with the oily peppercorns (press the peppercorns into each side). Leave to marinate for as long as possible, preferably at least 2 hours. Turn them once in this time.

Heat up a large heavy based frying pan over a hot heat. When it is hot, sear the streaks quickly on both sides (you may have to do 2 steaks at a time if your pan isn't big enough to get all 4 in - although it is better not to do so, especially if you like well done steaks. The first batch end up hanging around to long and can toughen). Once seared, turn down the heat to medium hot and cook the steaks to your liking, turning regularly. A medium-rare steak will take 6-8 minutes. A well done steak will take up to 20 minutes depending on its thickness. I

If you had to split the cooking, let the steaks rest in a warm oven whilst you repeat the process with the other 2 steaks.

Once cooked, pour the wine into the pan with the steaks and let it bubble. It will reduce fairly quickly and deglaze the pan. Sprinkle over a little salt to taste and serve the steaks with the syrupy, peppercorn, wine sauce spooned over.