Steak au Poivre

Dedicated to my friend Jill, an enthusiastic carnivore and giver of Julia Child cookbooks (from where I took this recipe).

Cosmetic companies and chefs share a secret: decorate a simple item with a french title, and it becomes infinitely more fancy. Steak au poivre, steak with pepper, is easier and faster than most weeknight dinners. With the exception that good cuts of beef are more expensive than many other proteins, there are really no barriers to preparing this.

Steak au Poive, adapted from The French Chef cookbook by Julia Child. (By adapted, I mean I left the book at work, and so made this up from memory.)

• 2 good steaks
• Lots of crushed or coarsely-ground pepper
• Salt
• Oil or butter

Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel, coat lightly with oil, and salt well. Spread pepper over a plate, and press the steaks down to coat the first side. Re-pepper the plate, and flip the steak to do the second side.

Heat a little oil and/or butter in a pan on medium/high. Saute the steaks, turning when browned well on the first side. For medium-rare, this is about 4 minutes on each side. Remove steaks to a plate and tent with foil. They should rest 10-15 minutes. Turn heat to low, or off.

For sauce:

This is actually a sauce recipe for four steaks, but worked well with our two.

• 2T minced shallot
  
• 2T butter
  
• 1/2 C extra dry vermouth
  
• 1/4 C beef stock (I never make beef stock, so I keep something like Better Than Bouillon around -- opt for a reduced-sodium stock or base, so it doesn't get too salty when reducing.)
  

Spoon excess fat from pan, add shallot and vermouth. This should deglaze the pan easily, but scrape up any sticky bits. Alcohol should cook off very quickly. Add stock. You can also pour in any juices leaked from the resting steak. Reduce to sauce consistency. (The original recipe called for cornstarch in the stock, but I didn't use any and it seems unnecessary. This sauce reduced nicely.) Turn off heat and swirl in butter. Spoon over steaks before serving.

Potatoes are the traditional accompaniment. I roasted fingerlings, because the timing was easiest: toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and put them in the oven before you start the meat. They'll bake at 475 for 20-30 minutes -- if they're done early, just keep them in the warm oven until serving.

To brighten the otherwise-brown plate: present with a colorful vegetable, red wine, and a very satisfied smile at preparing such a damned fancy french meal. :)