Beef; Steak au Poivre & More
This classic French dish is made with steaks coated and embedded with cracked peppercorns. Steaks are usually crispy pan fried and an incredibly delicious yet simple sauce is made with its drippings.
The sauce often includes olive oil, butter, cognac, broth and wine; flavors can also be enhanced with any combination of minced shallots, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, herbs, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, etc.
The sauce is often finished with heavy cream. Even the color and variety of peppercorns used are debated.
The good news, I’ve enjoyed many varieties of Steak au Poivre including those in restaurants in France and can’t recall ever being disappointed.
I typically use New York strip steaks but filets, tenderloins, and boneless rib eye are all good alternatives. I also like my steaks thicker, 1 ¼ to 1 ½ inch. Common black or multi colored peppercorns work equally well. My recipe uses butter, cognac, red wine, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice.
Zip lock bag and a meat pounder are a convenient way to coarsely crack the peppercorns. Traditional pepper mills set course still produce peppercorns too fine.
Although I prefer not to make the sauce cream based, you can finish the dish with heavy cream to taste if desired. I also like an abundant amount of sauce.
I think chicken stock’s flavor is more intense than beef stock and is indistinguishable in the final sauce. Worcestershire spikes flavor and lemon complements well.
I enjoy my finished steaks medium rare. Pan fry and crust steaks rare initially. Once sauce is finished, quickly reheat steaks to final desired temperature. Remember steaks will continue cooking when initially removed from heat.
This extremely flavorful comfort dish is also very inexpensive to make. Most inexpensive cuts of beef (or most other meats) will also work in this dish.
Steak is lightly flowered and sautéed in a pot with olive oil. The meat is temporarily removed. An “odori”, aromatic herbs are diced or minced with carrots, celery and onions. Italians frequently also add minced salt pork for fat and flavor. I optionally add finely chopped pancetta, Italian bacon instead.
Uncooked, the mixture is referred to as “battuto”. Once cooked, Italians call the mixture “soffritto”. It is a fabulous base for braising. I add rosemary, sage, garlic, tomato paste, broth and wine to this great base.
Orzo absorbs excess juices and adds bulk and texture while delivering flavor.
.w1024.JPG)
I love burgers but often dissatisfied with what I’m served. I came up with a simple full proof technique creating double cheeseburgers that are super moist, charred outside and done inside as I like them.
Although I’ve always liked forming my own patties from flavorful cuts of beef like ground chuck, for predictability I now use 1/3rd pound frozen sirloin patties with my unique process. Secrets is systematically searing frozen burgers in a small pot with hot seasoned olive oil.
As discussed in my “Bread” chapter, burger buns made with my potato dough recipe are perfect to maintain texture and retain all those captured juices.
I strongly dislike traditional burger toppings; mustard, relish, sliced onions, catsup, sliced tomato, lettuce, etc. They detract from cheeseburger’s already unique great taste that I crave! However, I am including my simple recipe for my favorite quick pan roasted fresh tomato topping, a simple version of pizziola sauce (steak made with "pizza" style topping).