Steak and ale is a traditional British steak recipe.

If you want to know how to cook steak and make it perfectly tender every time, this is it.

You can use a less expensive cut of steak or roast (notice the recipe call for rump roast cut into steaks, an inexpensive cut of meat) and still have a lovely tender piece of meat.

The beer gives this recipe a wonderful subtle flavor but also tenderizes the meat.

This is a wonderful recipe for entertaining.

After just a bit of prep work you pop it into the oven and go on to other things.

I love easy dinner recipes, especially when you have company and don't want to spend all your time in the kitchen.

Steak and Ale

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 60 minutes

2 pounds rump roast, cut into 6 pieces (or 6 steaks of your choice)
Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper
vegetable oil for frying
12 black peppercorns
12 green peppercorns
8 whole allspice berries
1 1/4 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup brown ale (Guinness or your favorite)
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Coat the steaks with a thin layer of Dijon mustard and lots of freshly ground pepper. Fry in a bit of oil on medium high heat, to rare. Carefully lift out the meat and set aside.

Add the peppercorns, allspice and mushrooms to the pan juices. Cook for 2 minutes. Add the beer and cook on high heat for 1 minute, then add the Worcestershire sauce. Lay the steaks in an oven proof dish and pour the beer liquid mixture over the top. Cover the dish with foil and bake for an 45 minutes to an hour.

• Use whatever mustard you want but Dijon or a grainy mustard are less sharp than the traditional yellow mustard in the squeeze tube.

• The recipe calls for both black and green peppercorns. Use all black if that is all you have or add pink peppercorns to the mix for added color. The green and pink peppercorns add a slightly different and more subtle flavor to the recipe, but all black will still be tasty.

• The recipe calls for a dark ale and that does work best. A light beer will not have the richness that a dark ale does. Again, use your judgement and use whatever you think will work for you.

• If you don't have allspice berries, add just a touch of allspice to the liquid. Not too much though, as the spice powder is much more pungent than the berries will be.

Serves 6.