What is better than a nice steak for Christmas dinner? Probably nothing. So this is what I did.

No tips for choosing good beef, but I got this from Cold Storage. It looked good (no funny colours, nice and red like the flesh under my scalpel) and was on offer.

Marination. This is important. I took a shortcut and used a flavoured tenderiser. Let it stand for the whole afternoon in the refrigerator (lower compartment in case the newbies ask).

Balancing yin and yang here. Baby carrots and French beans to accompany the sinful main attraction.

Decided to experiment with sauce-making. Water, corn starch, balsamic vinegar, sugar and black pepper. My own invention. Glad to say that it worked pretty well.

All ready to go into the oven.

After grilling for 10 minutes, the steak and the accompanying vegetables are ready. I heated up the sauce and dressed the steak and vegetables with it.

I just had to have a good wine to go with this. I chose Two Oceans Shiraz because I like exotic, Southern Hemisphere wines and… it’s on offer. Seriously, this wine is medium bodied, not peppery like some Shiraz, but the buttery after taste is still there. Very easy to drink even if you don’t really like Shiraz.

© Chan Joon Yee