Steak au poivre (pepper steak)

I've been wanting to sear a steak in my cast iron skillet for a while now.  I really like my cast iron skillet.  It is a no-name 10" skillet that I got a a junky tool show 15 years ago.  It has a decent finish on it now, pretty smooth and black.  I've reseasoned it several times, and I think I'll try again soon with flaxseed oil, 6-8 coats.

Anyway, I've heard about heating it up as hot as it can get to sear the steak, then finish in the oven.  This gives you a nice sear, and good control on the finish.  I was watching PBS, and Martha Steward pan seared some NY strip steaks on medium, then made a mustard cream sauce.  It looked good, so I went to the store to get the ingredients.

I got a pair of NY strip steaks, then started looking for the vermouth.  I don't drink much, so I wasn't familiar with all of the alcohol and couldn't find it.  I decided to make steak au poivre instead.  I had steak au poivre in a restaurant once, and I thought it was way too fancy for me to make myself.  The only different ingredient is pretty much cognac instead of vermouth, and I knew that I had congnac.

I followed a recipe from Alton Brown pretty closely.  It is actually really easy to make.  Here are the ingredients, right from that web page.

• 4 tenderloin steaks, 6 to 8 ounces each and no more than 1 1/2 inches thick
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup Cognac, plus 1 teaspoon
• 1 cup heavy cream

I used 2 strip steaks, probably 12-14oz each, so the same total weight.  They were only about an inch thick, though.  I let them warm to room temperature for an hour in some paper towels to remove moisture.  Martha Stewart said to make sure that they were dry to avoid steaming them, and not to season them until it was time to cook.

I heated up the pan.  I crushed some peppercorn.  I salted the steaks, then coated both sides of each steak.  That is a lot of pepper, but it ends up tasting just fine.  I added the butter and olive oil to the pan, which was set to med/med-high on a large burner.  I put the steaks on and left them alone for 3 1/2 minutes.  Then I flipped them, let them cook for another four.  I checked with a thermometer and pulled them at 125° to be tented.   I drained off the liquid and added the cognac. 

I have to admit - I have never lit cognac on fire before in my life.  It started boiling in the hot pan right away, so I should have known that there was a lot of alcohol vapor rising.  That didn't stop me.  I lit it and got a four foot fireball.  My wife ran to get a lid to put it out.  Like an idiot, I said no; it's supposed to burn.  As flames were licking up the cabinets.

I finally had the sense to move it away from the cabinets and shook the pan gently.  The flames went out, so I put the pan back on medium heat and added the cream.  I reduced it by about half, adding the steaks back in with the juice.  I should have added the juice back and reduced some more.  I ended up taking the steaks back out to do that.

The final touch was a little more cognac and salt.  Served with baked potato and plenty of sauce.  I guess french fries are typically served with this.  The whole family loved it.  It was pretty easy to make and tasted great!