The Canned Ingredient You Need For An Easier Steak Diane

Originating in London in the 1930s and supposedly named after a Greek goddess, steak Diane has now become synonymous with fine dining and tableside theatrics. After searing a fine cut of steak, the juices and butter left in the pan are used to build a rich sauce of shallots, garlic, mustard, cream, Worcestershire sauce, veal stock, and often mushrooms. A splash of brandy explodes into an impressive flame as it hits the hot pan for that final flambeed finish. The complex sauce is usually left to the professionals at your favorite steakhouse, but there's a canned ingredient to help you easily prepare steak Diane at home.

However unorthodox and strange it may sound, a can of pureed black bean soup is the ingredient you need to replace the veal stock. Black bean soup is precooked, with its own set of spicy and savory seasonings to enhance the earthy, hearty taste of the beans. Blending them creates a thick, complex base for the other traditional steak Diane sauce ingredients.

Puree the soup in a blender until smooth and velvety, then saute shallots and garlic in the frying pan with the remnants of the butter, fat, and Worcestershire sauce left over from searing the steak. Pour the pureed soup into the pan with the mustard, brandy or cooking wine, some water, and another splash of Worcestershire sauce for extra umami. After a few minutes over medium-low heat, you'll achieve a sauce that's a dead ringer for the original.

In addition to using black bean soup puree, there are other swaps and tips that will ease the cooking process and save you money. For instance, you can swap the traditional splash of cognac used in the flambee for bourbon or a cheaper type of brandy. If the thought of your saucepan bursting into flames for a few seconds is more scary than fun, you can skip the flambee. Instead, you can add brandy with the beans, simmering to cook off the alcohol and concentrate its underlying flavors. Mushrooms weren't in the original steak Diane recipe, but they'll only enhance the umami-rich notes of the sauce and add a nice chewy texture to contrast its creaminess.

The rich sauce is the most defining characteristic of steak Diane, so the cut of beef you use is up to personal taste. Fine cuts like tenderloin medallions are the classic choice, but we think that more affordable cuts like New York strip or top sirloin are the best cuts to really let that rich sauce shine. After all, it's the elegance of the sauce that will elevate the steak to fine dining heights. Whichever cut you choose, most traditional recipes call for pounding the meat into thin enough steaks to cook all the way through with a simple sear.