I've recently been developing a rather excessive love of tweedesque patterns. My first purchase was a green tweed blazer I picked up in a lovely little vintage shop in the le marais area of Paris. My most recent is this tweedesque double breasted coat which I found in "Snoopers Paradise" down in the North Laine area of Brighton. I'm still looking for a nice herringbone tweed blazer with three buttons and elbow patches. My friend picked up a lovely one recently and I have to say I'm jealous. Couple of tweed finds are shown above. Oh, and how amazing does the new Doctor Who look?

Well, its been a while since I updated this blog. Two years infact, so here I am updating. I might get more into this blogging thing, its quite fun to talk about random stuff sometimes. I quite like it. So today I'm going to share my recipe for steak with peppercorn sauce. This is insanely rich and incredibly unhealthy but delicious. I've tried a few versions of this over the years but this is the finely tuned version. If you like rich food this is for you.

Ingredients:

For two:

2 Rib-eye Steaks

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 Banana Shallot

2 Sprigs of Thyme

2 Sprigs of Rosemary

2 Portabello Mushrooms

10 Black Peppercorns

2 tsp of Green Peppercorns

2 tbsp Brandy

175ml Red wine

150 ml of Beef Stock

100 ml of Double Cream

Butter to Baste Steaks

Seasoning;

Prepare the ingredients : Season with steaks with salt and pepper both sides - Set aside - Make sure you've taken the steaks out of the fridge 30 mins before cooking to come to room temperature so they aren't cold inside when cooked. Finely chop shallots, garlic and mushrooms. Crush peppercorns with thyme and rosemary in a pestle and mortar. Cook steaks (for medium rare) - 3 minutes each side in olive oil, add butter when you turn steaks over and baste continually for the last 3 minutes. Take out and of pan and keep warm. Add a little more butter and shallots and fry for 2 minutes with garlic until soft. Add mushrooms until soft and then pour in Brandy to deglaze the pan (keep back from the pan or your hair will set on fire and then you'll be in serious trouble) Add herbs for 20 seconds. Add wine and reduce by half, add stock and reduce by half - The kitchen will now smell delicious, and you may faint. If you are prone to fainting, ensure you have a glass of water standing by. Finally pour peppercorns and cream into the pan for 2 minutes. When slightly reduced and the consistency looks just right (so that it coats the back of a metal spoon will do) pour over steaks. Serve with Dauphinoise Potatoes and a glass of Red wine. Leave the washing up till the morning, you won't want to move after this. I suggest curling up on the sofa and wacking on a nice film.