A standard on the menu of any respectable steakhouse is peppercorn steak, or “steak au poivre” as the French call it. The steak is usually crusted with cracked black or green peppercorns and served with a sauce with cognac, and cream or demi-glace. The following recipe uses crushed black peppercorns, brandy, beef stock, and cream.
Ingredients
- 4 good-sized steaks (allow for 1/2 pound per person)
- Salt
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil, canola oil, or other high smoke-point oil
- 2 Tbsp black peppercorns, cracked
- 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots or onions
- 1/4 cup cognac or other brandy
- 1 cup beef broth or stock (for gluten-free version use gluten-free stock)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Directions
- Salt the steak and let sit at room temp: Sprinkle salt generously over both sides of the steaks and let them come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Sear the steaks: Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. When the oil begins to smoke, take the pan off the heat. Pat the steaks dry with paper towels and place in the hot pan. Return the pan to the heat and turn the heat down to medium-high.
Sear, without moving the steaks, for at least 4 minutes. Try to pick up a steak with tongs, and if it comes clean, flip it and turn the heat down to medium. If it sticks to the pan, let it cook for another minute or two on that side.
For this recipe, we sear on one side on high heat, and cook on lower heat on the other side. This way you get great flavor from the seared side, and better control over how done you want your steak by cooking the other side more slowly.
- When done, remove steaks from pan, sprinkle with crushed peppercorns: Use the finger test for doneness. Once the steak is done to your liking remove the meat to a baking sheet and sprinkle on a generous portion of crushed black peppercorns on both sides of each steak. Tent with aluminum foil and let the steak rest while you are preparing the sauce.
- Make the sauce: Add the shallots to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the brandy and as it boils, deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge all the browned bits.
Once the brandy is almost cooked away, add the beef stock and turn the heat to high. Boil the sauce down until there's a noticeable trail when you drag a wooden spoon through the center of it (4-5 minutes).
Pour in the heavy cream and resume boiling. Again, boil down until you can make that telltale trail from the wooden spoon. Turn off the heat and add the parsley and any remaining black pepper. Taste for salt and add if needed.
