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There’s no need to trim a steak: if the diner doesn’t want to eat the fat he or she can leave it on the plate. Have the steaks ready at room temperature, not straight from the fridge.

Choose a medium-sized, heavy-based frying pan that isn’t going to stick, and don’t try to cook more than two steaks at a time. Take orders from your guests as to how they’d like their steaks done. Start with the longer cooking times – the very rare steaks will cook in a couple of minutes. Heat the pan, then rub a small knob of fat over to grease the surface. 
The pan should be hot but not absolutely smoking – hot enough to sizzle merrily when the meat hits it, and to turn a test morsel of steak brown in about 30 seconds. Turn the hob down, if necessary, to maintain a steady heat.

Lay the steaks in the hot, greased pan and do not move them for at least 30 seconds. Then give the pan a little shake. After about a minute, turn each steak – regardless of how long you are planning to cook it. This will tell you how quickly it’s cooking. It should already be well browned and looking appetising. Season the cooked side with a little salt and pepper. After another minute, a very rare (bleu, as the French say) steak is ready. Just flip it once more, then season the other side and flip it again. This gives the steak a nicely seasoned surface. A steak served bleu is literally raw in the middle.

Longer cooking times for less rare steaks can be gauged roughly as follows (for a steak about 3cm thick, begun at room temperature). I give an approximate overall cooking time, rather than minutes per side, because I don’t think you should leave a steak for the whole of one side’s cooking time without turning it. It’s better to flip it every minute or so, seasoning each side very lightly before you flip it.

Rare: 3-4 minutesMedium-rare: 5-6 minutesMedium 6-8 minutesWell done: about 10 minutes

Transfer each finished steak to a warm plate at once and let it rest for about 3 minutes before serving. 
This is the equivalent of resting a joint. It doesn’t take long, but it does make a difference.

Ingredients

• 2 large banana shallots
• 12 stems new season English asparagus
• 160g french beans
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 12 chestnut mushrooms
• 12 cherry tomatoes
• 2 tbspn picked tarragon leaves
• 2 large handfuls picked watercress
• 100ml rape seed oil
• Malden salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mustard dressing

• 100ml rape seed oil
• 4 tspn Dijon mustard
• 1 tbspn red wine vinegar

Method
Pre heat oven to 200°c.

Peel shallots and slice vertically in 5mm slices through the trunk. Push the slices in to rings.Place large non-stick frying pan on the hob, moderate heat. When the oil is hot, add the shallot rings, cooking in batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Fry onions on either side until crispy and golden. Remove with slotted spoon, pat dry with kitchen paper to remove excess oil and reserve,

Quarter the mushrooms, fold them through the chopped garlic and place on a roasting sheet. Put cherry tomatoes on the same roasting sheet. Drizzle with a little oil. Season. 
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 5-7minutes until the cherry tomatoes have blistered. Remove from oven and reserve on a warmed dinner plate.

Trim woody stalk from asparagus base and cut in half lengthways. A diagonal cut looks more attractive. Heat a ribbed griddle pan on the hob over a medium heat. Brush each piece of asparagus with a little oil and broil on the griddle. Achieve a good chargrill marking and smokey flavour, the asparagus should remain quite crunchy.

Top and tail the beans. Blanch in boiling salted water for 30 seconds. Drain through a colander and refresh immediately in iced water. When cold, completely dry the beans. Set a ribbed griddle pan over a moderate hob, no need for oil. Chargrill the beans for 2 mins to achieve a grill mark and smokey flavour. Reserve.


For the dressing:

Place all ingredients in small sauce pan and heat almost to a simmer. Whisk ingredients in a pan to emulsify.

Reheat the onion rings, asparagus, French beans, garlic mushrooms and tomato. Either sear in a wok or carefully stir fry. Alternatively mix together on a baking sheet and place in a preheated 200°c oven for 4-6 minutes.

When very warm, fold through the watercress and tarragon. Dress with the warm mustard vinaigrette. 
Place warm salad in a large serving bowl to accompany steak.

Ingredients

• 125g best quality 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 125g unsalted butter
• 125g castor sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 35g plain flour
• Butter and flour for preparing the ramekins

Method
Put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and suspend it over a pan of simmering water. Don’t put so much water in the pan that it touches the bottom of the bowl, this would turn the chocolate grainy.

Give the melting chocolaty goo an occasional stir.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs and flour – then gradually whisk the chocolate into the sugar/flour/egg mixture.

Meanwhile, take 4 soufflé dishes, ramekins or oven proof cups, 250ml sized and lightly grease them with a wipe of butter, then dust the buttered surface with flour, tapping the dishes to get rid of excess.

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Set the ramekins on a baking sheet and pour the mixture in. Place in the pre-heated oven for 10-12 minutes until the tops are firm and cracking slightly and the edges are set. Serve immediately – they need to be ‘cooked to order’, whilst the chocolate mix can be made in advance, they are best eaten straight from the oven (not that anybody would have the willpower not to devour one immediately, with haste and greed!)