Ingredients

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Serves 4

• 3 fillet or sirloin steaks cut into very
• thin strips about 3" long
• 1 beef OXO cube crushed
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 25 g butter
• 1 onion diced
• 10 mushrooms cut into thin slices
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 4 tbsp tomato purée
• 30 ml brandy
• 30 ml sherry
• ½ pint beef stock
• 50ml fresh cream
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Handful of freshly chopped parsley
• Salt & ground white pepper

For the rice

• 200 g/7oz rice, cleaned and soaked
• in cold water for 30 minutes
• 365 ml/13 fl oz water
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Method

1. Remove steak from fridge 30 minutes before cooking to allow steak to come to room
2. temperature.
3. Combine steak with 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Add steak to a hot frying pan and cook in batches of 7-8 pieces until browned all over.
5. Add crushed OXO cube to steak and combine. Set aside.
6. In the same frying pan add 2 tbsp olive oil and 25 g butter to frying pan on medium-high heat, brown onion and mushrooms for 2-3 minutes, add garlic for an additional 1 minute.
7. Return meat to pan with onion, mushrooms & garlic.
8. Add tomato purée, brandy and sherry and allow to simmer for 5 minutes and the sauce will reduce a little as alcohol burns off.
9. Add the beef stock and once simmering, add the cream.
10. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes, loosely covered with tin foil to allow steam to escape.
11. If you need to thicken sauce at the end, remove tin foil and increase heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
12. Finally add lemon juice, salt and white pepper and taste to season accordingly.
13. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley and serve with your rice of choice.

For the rice

1. Drain the rice and place it into a saucepan with the fresh water and bring to the boil.
2. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to the water when cooking to stop rice sticking together.
3. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce heat and simmer for 7-8 minutes
4. When the rice is cooked remove the lid and take the pan off the heat.
5. Allow the rice to stand for five minutes.
6. Always fluff the rice using a fork.

Top tip: This also works great with chicken, just replace beef with chicken cut into strips.