Steak with lemon butter for Father’s Day

First make the butter. Put a few chips of ice on a small plate, and
place it in the freezer. Finely chop or snip the rosemary needles and
gently crush the peppercorns using a mortar and pestle, or a rolling
pin. Don’t pound them too hard, or they’ll turn to a paste.

Stir the rosemary, crushed peppercorns and fresh lemon zest into the
butter, and mix well. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Take
the plate with the ice out of the freezer and push the ice chips to one
side. Place the heart-shaped cutter on the plate, and fill with the
flavoured butter. Smooth the top and place back in the freezer for 10
minutes, or until firm.
 
Push the heart-shaped butter pat out of the mould and set to one side
of the plate. Repeat the process to make a second heart-shaped butter
piece. Reserve the remaining butter.
 
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat. When the oil is very
hot, and shimmering, add the steaks and cook on one side until nicely
browned and caramelised (see my notes). Flip the steaks
over. Add any remaining flavoured butter to the pan, and, using a spoon,
baste the steaks every twenty seconds. When 
the steaks are done to your liking, remove them from the pan and place on a plate to rest for 4-5 minutes.

Slide the steaks onto plates and top each one with a pat of
flavoured butter. Serve immediately with green salad and a baked potato.
 
Serves 2.

Chef’s notes:

• Don’t marinate the steaks.
• Season the steaks with salt and pepper immediately before you cook them.
• Heat the oil until it’s blisteringly hot, but not actually smoking
• Lay the steaks in the fiercely heated oil and allow to cook for a minute and a half (depending on the thickness of the steak) without
  moving or prodding them. Turn them over with a pair of tongs when
  they’re beautifully browned, and the add a knob of butter to the pan
  (see recipe, below). Cook for another minute and a half, basting frequently with the butter.
• If you’re not sure whether the steak is cooked, turn it over and
  sneakily cut a deep slit in its thickest part. If the middle of the
  steak is a lovely dark pink, and you’re looking for medium-rare, remove
  the steak from the heat immediately (it will continue to cook as it
  rests). If it looks disturbingly bloody on the inside, give it a little
  longer.

Reprinted with
permission of Scrumptious South Africa.

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