Steak Au Poivre
Adapted from www.foodnetwork.com, Alton Brown.
Steak Au Poivre
ingredients:
4 beef tenderloin steaks, 1.5 inches thick, room temperature
2 tbsp whole peppercorns
1/3 cup cognac/brandy/dark beer
1 cup half-and-half
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
salt, to taste
Directions:
Crack the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle/ mallet and pie pan/ brute strength. Pour decimated (not a technical term) pepper into flat plate. Salt both sides of the steaks liberally. “dip” the tops (and botooms, depending on your perspective) of each steak into the pepper. Put a stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and olive oil. Once the fat begins to just barely smoke, add the steaks. Cook steaks for four minutes on either side for medium rare. Keep in mind that the “finger” technique to check for steak doneness doesn’t work all that well with tenderloin since it is so… tender. The steaks will feel like they are more rare than they actually are.
Once the steaks are done cooking, remove to a plate and cover with aluminum foil or a large bowl to keep warm and prevent condensation from falling back on the steaks. Pour out excess fat from your skillet. Return the skillet to high heat. Deglaze the pan with your alcohol of choice. (If using high-proof alcohol such as cognac or brandy, make sure to flame the gases that come off the liquid so you don’t start a fire unintentionally.) Scrape the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan with a fork. Let the liquid boil for a minute or so, then slowly add the half-and-half or cream. Cook on high heat until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.
You can now return the steaks to the sauce and coat, or, as I prefer, dip the bottoms of the steaks into the sauce, plate, and then spoon additional sauce on the tops. This ensures that each steak gets plenty of sauce without ruining the crispy crust produced by the peppercorns. It also makes the presentation nicer.
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