Steak with Green Peppercorn Yoghurt & Roast Potatoes

Ingredients

• 900g Maris Piper potatoes, cut into wedges
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 2 large sirloin steaks, about 300g each
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 220g Greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp green peppercorns in brine, drained and roughly crushed
• 15g chives, finely chopped
• 60g rocket
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• salt and black pepper to taste
• Crusty bread, to serve
• Simple green salad, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C fan. Pat the potato wedges properly dry — water means steam, and steam means no crisp edges. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the smoked paprika, rosemary, and a generous pinch of salt and black pepper. Spread them out on a tray in a single layer; crowded wedges steam instead of roast. Bloom in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until bronzed and crisp with fluffy middles — the paprika toasts on the wedges as they roast, turning fragrant rather than dusty.
2. Mix the grated garlic with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and spoon it over the potatoes for the final 5 minutes only. Garlic added early would burn black and turn the whole tray bitter — late and low, it goes pale gold and fragrant. Watch it.
3. Season the steaks generously with salt, pepper and the lemon zest, then leave them at room temperature while the potatoes finish. A cold steak straight from the fridge fights the pan; a tempered steak gives you proper colour. Pat the surface dry just before they hit the heat.
4. Stir the Greek yoghurt with the crushed green peppercorns, a good squeeze of lemon juice and most of the chives. Taste it — it should land cool and tangy first, then gently peppery at the back. Adjust with salt now, not at the table.
5. Get a heavy stainless or cast-iron pan ripping hot — you want a faint shimmer and a wisp of smoke. Lay the steaks away from you and don't crowd the pan; two steaks, single layer, no shuffling. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Look for a dark mahogany crust and a little spring when you press the centre — pull at that point, the temperature carries up off the heat.
6. Rest the steaks for 5 minutes on a warm plate. This is non-negotiable — slice early and the juices run onto the board instead of staying in the meat. Taste the yoghurt one more time and adjust if it needs another pinch of salt or another squeeze of lemon.
7. Scatter the rocket and spring onions across a serving platter and tumble the roast potatoes over the top so they wilt the leaves slightly. Slice the rested steaks across the grain — against the grain is the difference between tender and chewy — and lay them over the potatoes.
8. Spoon the green peppercorn yoghurt alongside in generous pools, scatter the last of the chives over the steak, and bring it to the table with crusty bread and a simple green salad to mop the plate.