Until fairly recently, steak au poivre was one of those dishes I never understood.
Too many peppercorns, disguising one of my favorite flavors – steak.
Then in Nice, I had an attitude-changing steak au poivre.
A perfect amount of peppercorns, cognac and cream.
Enhancing, rather than masking the essential steak flavor.
In the mood to recreate it I tried to find a simple recipe. Since Alton Brown is usually unbelievably obsessive, his recipe looked like what I was longing for. Serves 4:
Steak au Poivre Recipe
- 4 tenderloin steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each and no more than 1 1/2 inches thick
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/3 cup Cognac plus 1 tablespoon
- 1 cup heavy cream
Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature.
Sprinkle all sides with salt.
Coarsely crush the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle, or the bottom of a cast iron skillet.
Spread the peppercorns evenly onto a plate. Press the steaks into the pepper until it coats all the surfaces. Set aside.
In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. As soon as the butter and oil begin to turn golden and smoke, place the steaks in the pan. For medium-rare, cook for 4 minutes on each side. Once done, remove the steaks to a plate, tent with foil and set aside. Pour off the excess fat but do not wipe or scrape the pan clean.
Remove the pan from the heat, add 1/3 cup Cognac to the pan and very carefully ignite the alcohol with a long match or firestick. Gently shake pan until the flames die.
Return the pan to medium heat and add the cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tablespoon of Cognac, taste and adjust the seasonings. Add the steaks back to the pan, spoon the sauce over, serve and enjoy!
My verdict: First of all, be very careful when you’re setting any alcohol on fire (and always hold the pan away from yourself)!! Even though I was really paying attention, the height of the flames was a little scary.
We had a mystery steak in the freezer that I used for this. Something local and not Skittle-fed. I’m not terribly fond of tenderloin and the French generally use entrecôte which is sort of similar to a strip steak. In other word, while it wasn’t the best steak, it wasn’t the steak’s fault.
Because I wasn’t sure what it was, I coated it with the crushed peppercorns—some good ones I had brought back from France and cooked it sous-vide (125° for 90 minutes if you’re interested). Perfectly cooked.
The sauce was another story. I’m not sure what the problem was. I used good ingredients (and followed the recipe) but it was pretty ho-hum. Certainly nowhere near life-changing!
Do you have a good recipe for steak au poivre, or any suggestions?
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As would be expected, some classics are better than others, but maybe they become classics because it’s hard to mess them up. Case in point, a couple of meals the 
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Steak au poivre is something I always try to avoid-my theory being why ruin a good piece of steak by drowning it in peppercorns. Throwing myself at the whims of Virginie, the owner of Le Victor Hugo, had it making an appearance on my plate recently; however, this was not anywhere near what you would think of as steak ruined by pepper. It was a nicely sized piece of steak, covered in a thick sauce. Think butter, crème fraiche, cognac, and of course, peppercorns, married together in the best way possible, the flavor enhanced by the juices from the steak. Not only will I always be holding that up as the standard, I may have to cruise (and channel) Julia Child, for a recipe that will hold me until my next trip to Nice!
The last thing that has been on my “classics” radar recently, is mousse au chocolate. Not to be confused with its pallid American cousin-chocolate pudding-mousse, when well-made, is smooth, dark and dreamy. My friend Dave, has been teaching his sons to make chocolate mousse, because he believes it’s the one true way he’ll easily marry them off. If they add a little homemade caramel sauce to pour on top of it (like the one we had the other night), he’ll only have to worry about them marrying before they turn 15…
