A quintessential French bistro dish,

but it's actually quite simple to make.

Today in the Test Kitchen, Steak Au Poivre.

We'll take a luxurious steak like the filet mignon,

pack it with tons of pepper flavor,

the richness of heavy cream,

the luxurious flavor of some cognac,

and then baste it with tons of butter.

I'll show you a simple way to make it.

Here we have four beautiful six ounce filet mignon

and these have got some great marbling going on in them.

Filets are already super tender,

but all that marbling will really help them to melt in your mouth.

Start by mincing one shallot,

section it as you would an onion and mince it fairly small.

Shallots bring a light onion flavor

without overpowering the sauce.

This is a classic ingredient to many pan sauces.

Reserve the minced shallot for building our pan sauce later.

Next we'll crush our peppercorns.

I like to put them in a small zip top bag

and strike with a meat mallet,

but you could also crush them with a flat bottom skillet.

They should be roughly cracked.

You don't want them finely ground,

because then the pepper would burn when you saute it in a pan.

I'm using a mélange peppercorn,

but using all black would work just fine.

It's helpful to pat the steaks dry,

so that the peppercorns adhere well to the meat

season the steaks with plenty of kosher salt on the first side,

then apply the peppercorn crust by pressing firmly

into the cracked peppercorns.

Having a dry exterior and pressing firmly into the peppercorns

helps to keep the crust from falling off during cooking.

Gently flip the filets,

making sure not to knock off any of that peppercorn crust.

Season the second side with salt only.

You will get plenty of pepper flavor from the crust.

So there's no need to pepper the second side.

I'm gonna cook this over a gas burner

in order to flambe the sauce later.

You can cook this on an electric or an induction range top,

if that's what you have.

Heat your skillet to medium high and add some canola oil.

The key to this recipe

is to sear on the side without the peppercorns first.

This will allow for a good crust development on the steak itself

and help to build a fond in the pan

and make sure you hear that sizzle when your steak hits the pan

you want it good and hot to develop a crust on that unpeppered side.

Check to make sure that you have built a good crust before flipping them over.

This is your only opportunity

to get a good sear on the un-peppered side.

Once you flip the steaks, add some butter to the pan.

This will help the pan cool slightly,

which will prevent the peppercorns from burning.

The butter provides a flavorful fat

in which to baste the steaks.

Basting helps to enhance the crust

as we cook the second side.

Make sure to get a good sear on the sides of the steaks,

but remember to be gentle

so that the crust doesn't fall off the top.

Try only to touch the sides of the steaks when handling them

to keep the pepper crust intact.

We'll get these into the oven to finish cooking through while we build our sauce.

I like to use a sheet pan with a wire rack

so that the stakes aren't resting directly on the pan

in order to evenly cook them through

and keep that good sear on the bottom.

To start building our sauce,

we'll put the shallots into the pan,

season them with a little salt

and let them saute for just a minute.

Here we use brined green peppercorns.

Green peppercorns are fresh peppercorns

that have been brined rather than dried.

Take the pan off the heat before adding the cognac.

This will help prevent an unexpected flare up.

Turn the heat back up

and let the flame touch the simmering cognac to flambe.

This step isn't necessary,

but it does give you a visual cue

as to when the alcohol is completely cooked off.

And it's a pretty cool party trick.

If you no longer smell the alcohol evaporating,

then it's time to add the beef broth and bring it to a simmer.

Add the heavy cream to the broth, let it come to a boil

and then reduce that to a rapid simmer to reduce.

We're gonna allow this to simmer and reduce for about 10 minutes

or until it has reduced by half.

As this sauce reduces,

the flavor from the shallot, cognac, peppercorns, and broth

combine with the rich cream and make such a delectable sauce.

Make sure to use brined peppercorns, not dries

because the latter would overwhelm everything with spicy pepper flavor.

If you can't find green peppercorns,

a couple pinches of ground black pepper would be fine,

but it's really worth searching out the brined ones.

Occasionally stir so that nothing's scorches to the pan.

You'll be able to tell that it's ready

once the sauce begins to coat the back of the spoon.

The filets are out of the oven and lookin' beautiful.

They have an awesome pepper crust on top

where the peppercorns are nicely toasted, but not burnt.

My favorite way to serve this

is along side some fries seasoned with some salt and fresh herbs.

Steak frite is one of those classic French dishes that I always crave.

The crunchy pepper crust on a tender steak,

the creamy peppery sauce and crispy fries

work together so beautifully.

Now we'll get this plated up.

Pile up a big mound of the fries on the side,

and then we'll spoon a beautiful bed of the Au Poivre sauce.

Now just take a second to admire that beautiful sauce.

Place the steak on top of the sauce,

because you don't wanna cover up that beautiful pepper crust.

There you have one of the classic,

French Bistro dishes and with these tips,

you will have success doing this in your home kitchen.

Be sure to like and subscribe and we'll see you next time

here in the Test Kitchen at Certified Angus beef.