Now, add the brandy or Cognac to the still-hot pan ... stir well and pour the bubbling sauce over the steaks. Serve immediately, with potatoes, asparagus, or a green salad.

Make a fillet steak that's already special even more ... bring to the boil and cook until reduced by half. Add the garlic, brandy, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, cream and peppercorns.

was a steak rolled in cracked peppercorns and pan-roasted. The sauce wasn’t made popular until the early 20th century and that did not have peppercorns in it, it was a simple brandy cream sauce.