Gayle has been wanting to have this dish for a long time.  Yesterday I decided it was time.  So, after obtaining the necessary ingredients and searching for the sherry, I got to cooking.  My recipe was combined from a few places – mainly here and here.

This is my take on Steak au Poivre:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 2  6-8 oz. steaks about one inch thick or less
• Olive oil as needed
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 heavy cream

METHOD

1. Sprinkle salt generously over both sides of the steaks and let them come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

2. Heat the oil in a cast iron pan over high heat.  When the oil begins to smoke, take the pan off the heat. Press peppercorns into steaks and place in the hot pan. Return the pan to the heat and turn the heat down to medium-high. Sear, without moving the steaks, for at least 4 minutes.

3. Once the steak is done, remove the meat to a baking sheet. Tent with aluminum foil and let the steak rest while you are preparing the sauce.

4. Make the sauce. Add the onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the sherry and as it boils, deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom of the pan to dislodge all the browned bits. Once the sherry is almost cooked away, add the water and turn the heat to high. Boil the sauce down until there’s a noticeable trail when you drag a spoon through the center of it (4-5 minutes).

5.  Pour in the heavy cream and resume boiling. Again, boil down until you can make that telltale trail from the spoon.

6.  Pour the sauce over the steaks right when you serve.

I also made Parmesan cheese mashed potatoes by adding 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese to my mashed potatoes.

Everyone really loved this one – including Wrigley!  Although, he didn’t get to eat much.  The only complaint that we both had was that the steak was not cooked enough, and that was my fault.  We will definitely be trying this one again.  We might switch up the alcohol we use – we’ve heard cognac or bourbon work well.  Stay tuned for updates!