Steak au Poivre

Okay, so I think I'm pretty well caught up on holiday celebrations, which means time to get back to recipes, book reviews, and other random material (yay!). I've stockpiled quite a few blog entries over the holiday season (especially books!), so I'm not going to waste any time in getting caught up.

Up first is the delicious steak au poivre that Darrell and I had for our French-themed Christmas celebration. As I mentioned earlier, neither of us can really comment on the authenticity of this recipe, but we sure can say that it was quite tasty. I'm not usually a huge fan of gravy-like sauces, but the sauce on this steak was light and creamy enough that I wasn't mistaking it for the thick stuff that usually get served around Thanksgiving time. I also liked the addition of shallots into the sauce instead of mushrooms; while I'm coming around to them, I prefer them to have small roles in my meals. And as a (somewhat random) bonus, Darrell liked how cooking the sauce in the same pan as the steak pretty well cleaned what would have otherwise been a terribly messy pan. The cooking process for this recipe was definitely new to us, but we certainly enjoyed it and will likely be working to perfect it again soon!

Steak au Poivre with Brandied Cream Sauce
(recipe originally found here)

Sauce:
4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
1 medium shallot, minced
1 cup low-sodium beef broth
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brandy + 1 tbsp
1 tsp lemon juice
salt

Steaks:
4 strip steaks, trimmed
1 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed
salt

Heat 1 tbsp butter in a 12-inch heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat. When foaming subsides, add shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add beef and chicken broths, increase heat to high, and boil until reduced to about 1/2 cup, about eight minutes. Set reduced broth mixture aside. Rinse and wipe out skillet. Sprinkle both sides of steak with salt and rub one side of each steak with 1 tsp crushed peppercorns. Press peppercorns into steaks to make them adhere. Heat the rinsed skillet over medium heat until hot. Lay steaks peppered-side up in skillet, increase heat to medium-high, firmly press down on steaks with the bottom of a cake pan (large enough to apply pressure to all steaks at once), and cook steaks without moving them until well-browned. Using tongs, flip steaks and repeat process to cook the opposite side. Transfer steaks to a large plate and tent loosely with foil to keep warm. Without rinsing pan, pour broth mixture, cream, and 1/4 brandy into the skillet. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Simmer until deep golden brown, about five minutes. Off heat, whisk in remaining three tablespoons butter, remaining one tablespoon brandy, lemon juice, and any accumulated meat juice. Season with salt as necessary. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve immediately.

One brief note about the process used to cook the steaks: the length of the cooking time will greatly depend on the thickness of the steak. The original recipe calls for steaks close to an inch thick, and recommends cooking them for six minutes on one side and four minutes on the other for medium-rare. However, our steaks were much thinner, so we cut the cooking time in half. They ended up being a little bit more done than we usually like--but still delicious nonetheless!