Steak au poivre (, Quebec French pronunciation: ) or pepper steak is a French dish that consists of a

steak A steak is a thick cut of meat generally sliced across the muscle fibers, sometimes including a bone. It is normally grilled or fried. Steak can be diced, cooked in sauce, such as in steak and kidney pie, or minced and formed into patti ...

, traditionally a filet mignon, coated with coarsely cracked

peppercorns Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...

. The peppercorns form a crust on the steak when cooked and provide a pungent counterpoint to the beef. ''Steak au poivre'' may be found in traditional French restaurants in most urban areas.

Preparation

The peppercorn crust is made by placing the steak in a bed of cracked black (or mixed) peppercorns. Typically, the steak is seared in a hot

skillet A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab han ...

with a small amount of

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condim ...

and oil. The steak is seared at a high temperature to cook the outside quickly and form the crust while leaving the interior rare to medium rare. The steak is left to rest for several minutes before serving. ''Steak au poivre'' is often served with pan peppercorn sauce consisting of reduced

cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cognac production falls under French appella ...

, heavy cream, and the fond from the bottom of the pan, often including other ingredients such as butter,

shallot The shallot is a botanical variety (a cultivar) of the onion. Until 2010, the (French red) shallot was classified as a separate species, ''Allium ascalonicum''. The taxon was synonymized with '' Allium cepa'' (the common onion) in 2010, as the ...

s, and/or

Dijon mustard Dijon mustard (french: Moutarde de Dijon) is a traditional mustard of France, named after the town of Dijon in Burgundy, France, which was the center of mustard making in the late Middle Ages and was granted exclusive rights in France in the 1 ...

. Common side dishes to ''steak au poivre'' are various forms of mashed potatoes and '' pommes frites'' (small fried shoestring potatoes). File:Steakaupoivre.jpg, ''Steak au poivre'' with cognac sauce File:Mexican pepper steak at restaurant Pancho Villa, Tampere.jpg, Mexican-style ''steak au poivre'' with

habanero The habanero (; ) is a hot variety of chili. Unripe habaneros are green, and they color as they mature. The most common color variants are orange and red, but the fruit may also be white, brown, yellow, green, or purple. Typically, a ripe haba ...

pepper served in

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steak Au Poivre Beef dishes French cuisine

Preparation

See also

References