Steak au Poivre

t bone steak with black peppercorn sauce au poivre

Cooking a T-Bone steak is one of my go to dinners when I am alone and want to treat myself. It’s extremely easy to cook, and because the steak has both a fillet and a NY strip, there’s a good amount of meat if you wanted to share with someone as well. Of course, no one will shame you if you eat the entire thing yourself. This recipe will not go too much into detail about cooking a perfect steak, since you can ready my T-Bone recipe for a more guided walkthrough. This recipe is mainly to showcase the black peppercorn sauce, which makes this dish steak au poivre.

While I use a T-Bone for this recipe, feel free to use any quality piece of meat you feel like, from a rib-eye to a petite fillet. In fact, the richness of the peppercorn sauce really does complement the leaner cuts of steak quite well.

Quick And Easy T-Bone Steak

T-Bone steak in a pan

To start, get your pan as hot as possible. You want to lock in the juices and create a good crust from the maillard reaction. Use a paper towel to dry off both sides of your steak as much as possible, then salt and pepper both sides.

Place into the hot pan and let sit without moving it for about 2-3 minutes.

Basting the steak with butter and herbs

After 2-3 minutes, or when you can see a good crust forming, flip the steak and add in about 3 tbsp of butter. Also drop in a few cloves of smashed garlic and some fresh rosemary sprigs. Tilt the pan slightly and use a spoon to baste the meat in the butter/drippings mixture. Cook like this for anywhere from 2-6 minutes depending on how cooked you like your meat. I prefer blue so I never go more than 2+2. Remove the steak and place on a board to rest while you make the black peppercorn sauce.

Black Peppercorn Sauce (au Poivre)

Making the black peppercorn au poivre sauce

After you remove the steak you’ll have a good amount of butter and drippings left in there. This is the base of a great ‘au poivre’. Traditionally you should first splash in a bit of cognac, but I’ll let you in on a secret; I prefer using bourbon. Oh, the horror – French people are rolling in their graves. Oh well, you should be allowed to cook how you like, and I just happen to prefer using bourbon in a peppercorn sauce than the traditional cognac. After adding about 3 tbsp of alcohol to the pan use a spoon to scrape the bottom and allow all the nice fond to mix in. This is also allowing some time for the alcohol to burn off.

simmering the cream for the black peppercorn sauce for the steak

After a minute of letting the alcohol burn off, add in a cup of beef stock and half a cup of heavy cream. Here you can also add crushed black peppercorns to taste, but don’t add salt just yet. As the sauce thickens and your stock reduces, it will naturally get more salty due to concentration. Only add salt at the very end if it really needs it. Just stir the pan and allow the sauce to thicken to a consistency you like, then pour into a serving bowl and present alongside the steaks.

Bite of steak au poivre

Steak au Poivre

A quick and easy recipe for steak with black peppercorn sauce
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Sauce Time+rest 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Dinner, Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine American, European, French
Servings 1 steak
Calories 931 kcal

Equipment

  • Pan
  • Spoon

Ingredients
  

  • 1 300g T-Bone Steak or any steak you prefer
  • 3 tbsp Butter
  • 5 cloves Garlic smashed
  • 2 sprigs Rosemary
  • Salt to taste
  • Black Pepper freshly cracked, to taste

Black Peppercorn Sauce

  • 3 tbsp Butter+drippings from the steak pan, no need to add more butter
  • 50 ml Bourbon tradition is cognac, but use what you prefer
  • 250 ml Beef Stock
  • 125 ml Heavy Cream
  • 1 tbsp Black Peppercorns freshly cracked, more or less to taste
  • Salt to taste

Instructions
 

  • Salt and pepper both sides of the steak.
  • In a very hot pan lay down the steak and allow to cook without moving it for two minutes. Flip the steak and add in the butter, garlic, and rosemary. Tilt the pan and baste for 2-6 minutes, depending on your preferred doneness. Remove the steak, garlic, and rosemary, and place on a board to rest.

Black Peppercorn Sauce

  • Right into the pan add in the alcohol and use a wooden spoon to scrape the fond from the bottom. This is flavor so don't worry if it doesn't look tasty.
  • After a minute add in the beef stock and cream and allow to come up to a simmer. Add black pepper to taste and reduce by about 50% or to your desired thickness. Taste for salt and adjust as needed.
  • Serve in a bowl alongside the steak.

Notes

This sauce provides enough for about 4-6 people, so disregard the total calories as most come from the sauce, and no one’s going to drink it straight.
Keyword Au Poivre, Peppercorn Sauce, Steak
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