There's no arguing, steak is objectively delicious. Pretty much all steak is good steak, but this recipe is insanely good. Steak Au Poivre is a french peppered steak served with creamy peppery sauce. All of this sounds much fancier than it actually is, when my wife first tasted this she said "this reminds me of stroganoff." I'm sure that would be offensive to every Frenchmen reading this, but I've already messed with Italian food, so why not mess with French food.
This dish is peppery, deliciously creamy, and absolutely worth making. You don't need a sous vide to make this, but it helps get a perfect cook on the steak. Link to great write up about sous vide steak time and temp here - https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak
Ingredients
Steak of your choosing (roughly 1-1.5 in thick)
2 tbsp coarse ground black pepper
Salt
Sauce (Makes 2 portions)
½ cup beef stock
½ cup Heavy cream
½ cup Cognac or brandy
1 shallot
1 tbsp green peppercorns removed from brine
Thyme
Salt/ black pepper
1 tbsp butter
For the sous vide method, season your steak generously with salt on both sides. Set your sous vide up as usual, and bring the water to 135f. Place this in a zip top bag with a little olive oil, and remove the air from the bag. Place the bagged steak in the water and let it cook for around an hour.
Finely dice your shallot and pull the leaves off a few sprigs of thyme. Run your knife through the leaves so there are no large pieces. Remove your green peppercorns from the brine and run your knife through them as well, I think they taste better when broken up a little bit. Measure out the cognac, heavy cream, and beef stock all into separate dishes.
Once the steak has cooked, remove it from the bag and blot off the excess moisture. Leave just enough for the peppercorns to adhere. Press your 2 tbsp of cracked black pepper into one side of the steak. Heat a pan over medium high until smoking hot. Add a small amount of canola oil to the pan and place your steak in, non-pepper side down. You want to let this side cook before the peppered side, that way the pepper won't burn. Sear this until well browned and then flip onto the peppered side. Sear this until the pepper side has become deeply brown and remove from the pan.
To build our sauce, turn off the flame and let the pan cool for a couple of minutes (don't wipe out the pan). Add your cognac to the slightly cooled pan along with the shallots Turn the heat back on and cook off the alcohol from the cognac. Let this completely reduce until the pan is close to dry, then add your beef stock and reduce again. Cook this till almost dry then add your green peppercorns, thyme, and heavy cream. Season this with salt and black pepper then reduce the heavy cream slightly over medium heat, just until it nicely coats the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and add in 1 tbsp of cold butter. Aggressively mix that until the butter has melted and emulsified into the sauce. You could strain out any of the solids if you like, but I prefer having chunks to scoop up with the steak.
Slice your rested steak or leave it whole; totally up to you. Serve it alongside tons of the peppery sauce, maybe some bread to scoop it up. mmmmm
If you don't have a sous vide, start by seasoning your steak generously with salt on both sides. Let it sit at room temp for around 20-30 minutes for the salt to bring out a little moisture. While that sits, prep the sauce ingredients.
Finely dice your shallot and pull the leaves off a few sprigs of thyme. Run your knife through the leaves so there are no large pieces. Remove your green peppercorns from the brine and run your knife through them as well, I think they taste better when broken up a little bit. Measure out the cognac, heavy cream, and beef stock all into separate dishes.
Press your 2 tbsp of cracked black pepper into one side of the steak. Heat a pan over medium high until smoking hot. Add a small amount of canola oil to the pan and place your steak in, non-pepper side down. You want to let this side cook before the peppered side, that way the pepper won't burn. Sear this until well browned and then flip onto the peppered side. Sear this until the pepper side has become deeply brown and remove from the pan. Place this on an oven safe dish with a wire rack and cook in the oven at 400 until your desired doneness. Anywhere between 4-8 minutes should get you in a good range depending on your preference. I like medium so around 6-9 minutes is good. Use a meat thermometer to confirm.
To build our sauce, turn off the flame and let the pan cool for a couple of minutes (don't wipe out the pan). Add your cognac to the slightly cooled pan along with the shallots Turn the heat back on and cook off the alcohol from the cognac. Let this completely reduce until the pan is close to dry, then add your beef stock and reduce again. Cook this till almost dry then add your green peppercorns, thyme, and heavy cream. Season this with salt and black pepper then reduce the heavy cream slightly over medium heat, just until it nicely coats the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and add in 1 tbsp of cold butter. Aggressively mix that until the butter has melted and emulsified into the sauce. You could strain out any of the solids if you like, but I prefer having chunks to scoop up with the steak.
Remove your steak from the oven and let it rest while the sauce finishes. Slice your rested steak or leave it whole; totally up to you.
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