This grilled sirloin steak with peppercorn whisky sauce is the most tender and flavorful steak you’ll ever eat. Simply seasoned with salt and pepper and seared to perfection. A golden crust on the outside and juicy medium rare beef in the center. All served with a robust whisky peppercorn sauce. It’s like having a steakhouse in your own kitchen.
Top 5 Tips for perfect grilled sirloin steak
- Always start with room temperature beef. That way as the outside grills the meat inside will be the perfect medium-rare. If you start with cold beef, the meat has to warm up too much before it starts cooking and you’ll end up with beef that’s burnt on the outside and rare on the inside.
- Ensure that the beef is dry before grilling to ensure proper contact between the beef and the grill or pan.
- Use oil with a neutral flavor and high smoke point. You need and oil with a high smoke point because you need a very hot pan. I use sunflower oil because it doesn’t have any flavor while having a very high smoke point. You can use olive oil too, but I just think it has too much flavor.
- Use a heavy based pan that conducts heat well. A cast iron pan is perfect. You can also use a cast iron grill pan.
- Use a thermometer to make sure that your beef is done perfectly.
How do your steak?
Knowing what temperature you need to cook your steak to is the most accurate way to get it just how you like it. Yes, you can use the cheek method or the palm method (see video below), but the most accurate way is with a thermometer. And th ese are the temperatures that you should be looking for:
- Blue Rare- 115f. Seared on the outside, completely red throughout. Meat remains firm and juices are not yet flowing.
- Rare- 120f. Seared on the outside and still 75% red throughout. Once rested, the juices are flowing and the steak is tender.
- Medium rare- 126f. Seared with 50% red center. Juicy and full of flavor. (The most popular cook)
- Medium- 134f. Only 25% pink on the inside. Drier and tougher than medium rare.
- Medium well- 150f. Done throughout and very dry. (Not recommended)
- Well Done- 160f. Unless you need it this well done for health reasons, avoid well-done steaks. They’re tough and without flavor.
Now that you’re equipped with the facts about grilling the perfect steak you can serve this with a simple peppercorn sauce (with a splash of whisky) and get grilling.
Grilled Sirloin with Peppercorn Whisky Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 x 200g sirloins steaks
- 2 Tbsp sunflower or olive oil for brushing the steaks
- sea salt and cracked pepper
For the sauce
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 Tbsp mixed peppercorns
- 2 Tbsp cream
- 2 Tbsp whisky
For the potatoes
- 1 large baking potato
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup finely grated gruyere
Instructions
Peppercorn Sauce
- To make the peppercorn sauce, heat the tablespoon of olive oil in a medium sauce pan. Sweat the shallots and garlic until they are soft and translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Add the beef stock to the pan and cook on high for 15-20 minutes, or until the stock is reduced by half. Strain the stock and return to the pan, discarding the shallot and garlic. Add a knob of butter and the whisky, cream and peppercorns. Cook for a further 3 minutes and set aside.
For the steaks
- Brush the steaks with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a very hot grill pan or barbecue and cook for about 3 minutes each side for medium rare or until desired doneness. *See temperatures above.
For the potatoes
- Pre-heat oven to 400f.
- Finely slice the potatoes into 8cm x 5cm rectangles. Place in a bowl and toss with the melted butter and grated cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Place 6-8 potato slices, overlapping by 1cm on a sheet of grease proof paper. Repeat with the remaining potato slices. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and crisp
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