Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Recipe for Steak Au Poivre


After my Cast Iron Blog, I've have a few people ask me for the Steak Au Poivre recipe. I just have a copy so I don't know where the recipe originated. I will list it as Fritz sent it to me and then give you tips on how I did it myself. For two 4-6 oz steaks you will need:
2 ribeye steaks
4 tsp green peppercorns in brine
2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 TBL unsalted butter
2 TBL Cognac
1/4 c beef stock
1/4 c heavy or whipping cream
First of all, please note that this is not the time to skimp on calories. This is a delicious treat and it worth every fat gram and calorie. Use real butter and real heavy cream! I promise you will not be disappointed.
I drained the green peppercorns and rough chopped them. I also cracked the black pepper by putting it in a Ziploc and letting the kids bang it and roll it with a rolling pin. I'm sure there are other more romantic ways of cracking the pepper, but my way got the job done. I used more pepper than listed because I LOVE pepper and I really like a crust of it on my steak. I didn't really meaure it. OK, now you put all the pepper on a plate, you trim your steak of excess fat and then you press, press, press your steak into the pepper on both sides.
In the mean time, heat up your favorite cast iron skillet on a medium heat. Melt butter and saute steaks until they are done to your liking. Pour the extra fat from the skillet and add the Cognac. Here comes the fun part...take your pan away from the heat source and carefully light the Cognac---preferably with a long match or candle lighter. It is pretty exciting, so make sure the kids watch, but from a distance. Once the flames are out, move your steaks to plates to rest.
Add the stock, cream and some more green peppercorns to the skillet. Cook over high heat for about 2-3 minutes until sauce thickens. Taste it and add salt and pepper if you need to just don't burn your tongue!
We ate ours with basic mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus with whole roasted garlic. YUMMY!

1 comment:

  1. I'm loving your blog! steak au poivre is a huge favorite at our house! we had it new year's eve and its everyone's favorite bday dinner request. i'm so glad you are loving it too and passing the recipe along. hey, and i'm a cast iron skillet fan too. we must be related! funny. keep up the good thoughts!! Anne-Marie

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