Johnny Steak Au Poivre

My dad is away in the province half the time and he cannot stand it when I splurge on food at restaurants so in preparation for Father's Day, I have resolved to cook steak.  To maximize our time with dad, I figured the best father-daughter bonding (my hidden agenda in learning to cook meat) would be his teaching me to cook steak, which my dad is quite respectable at. So this past week I've stocked up on rib eye (bought some chilled American Angus instead of the frozen ones so I didn't need to thaw them out) and been experimenting. 

Yesterday I learned the basics, learning how to cook some medium well steak (I know it's not hard core but it's the way my dad likes his steak), and I even had a bit of potatoes with herbs to match it. But today was more challenging as I took on the task of cooking Steak Au Poivre. I wouldn't have gone down this path except that the Good Doctor invited me to watch a modern circus comprised of two French dudes, sponsored by Alliance Francaise. It wasn't the circus that inspired me to go Au Poivre but the newfound knowledge that at Alliance, there is a restaurant that has this dish as its specialty. 

The recipe is fairly simple but uses the following ingredients that you would not ordinarily find in other steaks: butter (since it's French?), cream and cognac. The rib eye would have been great with just peppercorn but the sauce really put character into the dish. I guess it's the way a hat or stockings, in fashion, would change an entire outfit. Or how a painting would alter one's interiors. 

My sister borrowed a recipe from the Food Network  but we must confess that since no one drinks cognac here at home, we used Johnny Black instead. And we also substituted the tenderloin with ribeye since I already had a couple of those.

Cooking it is quite enjoyable, especially the part where you light up the alcohol.  I was quite happy with our experiment. I think we could have made a slightly thicker sauce if we used better cream but I appreciated that the taste of the Johnny was quite noticeable (but not TOO obvious), which I think is the idea behind the cognac - a subtle yet exquisite flavoring.  

Next time I would opt to put the sauce on the side instead of having the steak swim in it, as instructed in the recipe, giving each individual the freedom to put on as little or as much as he wants. I was also appreciative of the bathing of crushed peppercorn. 

I'm thinking steak purists might gasp at this recipe but I guess that's why the recipe calls for tenderloin instead of any other part? I think the sauce is marvelous and that it's a lovely break from ordinary steak.

Johnny Steak Au Poivre (tweaked from this recipe by Alton Brown)

Ingredients

• Rib-eye steak
• Rock salt
• 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup Johnny Walker, plus 1 teaspoon
• 1 cup heavy cream

Directions

Coat the steak with crushed peppercorn and couple of pinches of salt. Set aside.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. As soon as the butter and oil begin to turn golden and smoke, gently place the steaks in the pan. 

Once cooked, move the steak to a plate, tent with foil and set aside.

Turn off of the heat, add 1/3 cup Johnny Walker to the pan and carefully ignite the alcohol with a long match or firestick. Gently shake pan until the flames die. 

Return the pan to medium heat and add the cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the teaspoon of Johnny and season, to taste, with salt. 

Add the steak back to the pan, spoon the sauce over, and serve.

There is no sincerer love than the love of food. - George Bernard Shaw