Possibly My Favorite Sauce(s) Pt 2

Perfect Peppercorn Sauce

We are staying in France partly because it was the first cuisine I dove into and developed a true love for. To this day the flavors of France are always comforting and satisfying to me.

Today we are talking Steak au Poivre, which is simply steak with a peppercorn sauce, and I’m going to give the way I make it when I’m craving this dish.

My first memory of black pepper was seeing my father put the spice on scrambled eggs at breakfast. The first time I tried black pepper I fell in love with the zesty and piquant zing of flavor it added. I also remember the first time I added too much to my eggs and got the “peppercorn sneeze” that was a new experience for me 😂 .

Like most iconic food dishes, Steak au Poivre isn’t complicated but paying attention to certain details will make the difference between a “wow” vs a “meh” from your friends and family.

Here are the tweaks I’ve made over the years to make this a flavor bomb favorite everytime. I’m putting these first before the recipe since these subtle departures yield much better results so I urge you to not skip over.

The Beef:

Classically this dish is made with medallions of filet (aka beef tenderloin). This yields and extremely tender result where the sauce should be the star.

Over the years I’ve come to love NY Strip Steaks 🥩 for Steak au Poivre. The peppercorn sauce has cream and butter so I find it more balancing with a NY Strip vs a Ribeye which has been the darling steak of social media the last decade or so.

Ultimately the choice is yours.

To Crust or Not To Crust:

Classically, crushed black peppercorns are pressed into the steak before searing.

I find this problematic for a number of reasons.

1. You can’t get a good sear on the steak.

2. High heat for extended periods will make peppercorns bitter and acrid.

3. With the peppercorn crust, it’s hard to season with salt. (If you try and season with salt first the peppercorns won’t stick.

My answer is to season the steaks with salt only for 15-30 mins before searing. Once the steaks are cooked and rested, then I toast the peppercorns with the other aromatics for the sauce the bloom the flavor and then finish the sauce.

Peppercorns:

This is a dish where the sauce should 100% be the star!

It should be creamy, piquant, zingy yet rich to where everything on your plate you will end up dunking in it 🙌

Black peppercorns are traditional although its common to see peppercorn blends with red, white and green.

As I launched Craken Spices & Seasonings last year, the peppercorn blend (Craken Pepe) is absolutely magic with this preparation.

Note: You can use store bought peppercorns but factor in you will need probably 2x the amount of peppercorns to achieve an approximation, albeit with much less character and depth.

The other issue is that cracking peppercorns at home can be a pain, especially getting consistent granule size. The Pepe peppercorn blend is toasted and cracked to order before being sent out meaning you can use it straight from the jar at it’s freshest expression

That is a concise wrap of what will take your Steak au Poivre to the next level.

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Recipe: Steak au Poivre

Ingredients

Serving 4-6

(4) 10-12oz NY Strip Steaks, seasoned with sea salt 15-30mins at room temp before cooking

0.75-1oz Craken Pepe Peppercorn Blend (or toasted, cooled and crushed black peppercorns)

3 TB high heat cooking oil (avocado, palm)

2 TB unsalted butter

5 thyme sprigs

3 medium garlic cloves, smashed

1 large shallot, minced

1/3 cup brandy or cognac

3/4 cup beef broth (or sub chicken broth but ideally use beef)

3/4 cup heavy cream 

2 teaspoon whole grain mustard (optional, but I love the added kick)

Finishing Salt, to taste

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Method

1. While your steaks sit out at room temp seasoned with salt, prepare and measure out the rest of your ingredients.

2. Take a large saute pan and heat over med high heat for at least 5 mins (longer if using cast iron).

3. Sear and baste the strip steaks. For a full video tutorial on searing and basting steaks check out this Twitter thread on Steak & Eggs with step by step instructions.

4. If not searing the fat cap first, add the oil the pan, sear the steaks until golden brown. Then Baste with the butter, smashed garlic and thyme. Highly recommend checking out the video thread above, I forgot how detailed it was on the videos; step by step.

5. Remove the steaks and allow to rest. Remove the garlic and thyme from the pan, leave approx 2 TB of leftover fat in the pan and add the shallot and peppercorns.

6. Cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently for 2-3 mins to soften the shallot and bloom and the essential oils in the peppercorns.

7. Deglaze the pan with cognac. I like to light the alcohol flambé for flavor but you can just reduce if you don’t want to mess with fire.

8. The cognac should be almost completely reduced after about 30 seconds. Add the chicken stock, scraping the pan to get any fond and browned bit off the base. Bring to a simmer and then the cream.

9. Stir frequently and reduce over medium/medium high heat until the sauce coats the back of a kitchen spoon. This will take a few mins depending on the heat and width of your pan. Remember the sauce will keep thickening slightly as it cools.

10. Notice we haven’t salted our sauce yet, because of all the reductions. Now season the peppercorn sauce with sea salt and if using the mustard whisk in.

11. Your steaks should be fully rested now. I like to slice and plate in the kitchen then douse the peppercorn sauce over then serve my guests.

12. Finish with a sprinkle of finishing salt and indulge in one of my favorite sauces ever. 🤤

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Serving with some sort of potatoes being it mashed or fried makes a heavenly steak and potatoes. Have some blanched asparagus or green beans alongside with a nice green salad will balance all the rich and tasty flavors giving you a symphony of a meal to share with family and friends!

Drop any recipe questions below and if you want to order the Craken Pepe peppercorn blend simply click here

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