Steak Au Poivre Mortons Recipes

SIMPLE STEAK AU POIVRE

Steps:

• Put steaks in a shallow dish and season well on both sides with salt. Sprinkle black pepper and Sichuan pepper evenly over steaks. Press pepper into both sides with hands and leave for 10 minutes.
• Put a large cast iron skillet over high heat. When surface is nearly smoking, swirl 1 tablespoon butter in the pan and add steaks. Adjust heat as necessary to keep steaks sizzling briskly.
• Cook for 2 minutes on first side; seared side should be nicely browned. Flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Transfer steaks to a warm platter.
• Make the sauce: Add 1 tablespoon butter to the pan. Add shallots and sauté for a minute or so, stirring, until they begin to brown. Add broth and bring to a brisk simmer. Add Cognac and continue to simmer until reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in crème fraîche and cook until sauce is lightly thickened.
• Return steaks to pan to warm, spooning sauce over them and turning once. Arrange steaks on platter or individual plates and top with more sauce. Garnish with bouquets of watercress and serve immediately.

STEAK AU POIVRE

Steps:

• 1. Remove the steaks from the refrigerator 20 minutes in advance. Prepare a cooling rack (or small overturned plate - over a large plate).
• 2. Cover the steaks on both sides with crushed pepper. Pat it on firmly so that it sticks into the flesh. Salt the steaks on both sides. (Be sure to pepper and then salt, or the pepper will not stick to the steaks.)
• 3. Heat the oil in a sauté pan over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon butter. Rotate the pan as the butter melts, and when it begins to foam, lower the heat to medium. Lay the steaks in the pan and cook for 4 minutes, rotating them in the pan and spooning the cooking juices over them. Flip them with tongs or a spatula and cook 4 minutes on the other side, rotating and basting as before. Stand the steaks on their sides, using tongs to help, and cook them 2 minutes on their edges. Remove the steaks to the cooling rack and tent them loosely with aluminum foil.
• 4. Put a serving dish and a sauceboat to warm in the oven, turned to 150°F/80°C.
• 5. Pour the wine into the sauté pan and bring to a boil, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula until the wine is syrupy.
• 6. Dice the rest of the butter, which should be well chilled. Add the veal stock to the pan and boil for 2 minutes. If you are using the crème fraîche, stir it in. Then stir in the diced butter bit by bit. Put this sauce through a fine strainer into the warmed sauceboat. If you are using the mustard, stir it in now. Taste for salt and pepper.
• 7. Put the steaks on the warmed serving platter, coat them with sauce, and serve the rest of the sauce on the side.

PORTOBELLO 'STEAK' AU POIVRE

Steps:

• Brush the mushrooms all over with olive oil. Sprinkle the pepper evenly over the gill sides (about 1/2 teaspoon per mushroom). Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high, then add the mushrooms gill side up and sear until the underside is browned and the gill side looks wet, 3 to 6 minutes. Flip and cook until golden and the pepper is fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Flip the mushrooms so they're gill side up, then add the butter and garlic, and season with salt. While stirring the garlic to keep it from scorching, tilt the skillet to spoon up the melting butter and baste the mushrooms until tender, 2 to 5 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to a plate, leaving the butter in the skillet.
• Add the shallot and stir until softened, 2 to 4 minutes, adding a little more butter if the pan is dry. Stand back, and carefully add the Cognac. (It might flame.) Stir until the Cognac has nearly evaporated. Add the heavy cream and mustard, season with salt, and stir to combine. Return the mushrooms to the pan gill side down, and cook until the cream is thickened and the color of a latte, 2 to 4 minutes. Eat the mushrooms with a drizzle of the sauce.