Cherish Every Moment: Steak au Poivre Recipe (Photos Included!)

Truth be told, if you aren't a meat lover, you probably won't be able to understand the intense "deliciousness" of a great cut of steak. I tried the whole vegetarian thing for a little while in high school and here I am blogging about a steak recipe, so you see where that left me lol There is nothing I love more, when it comes to food that is, than a juicy steak. Who doesn't love Filet Mignon?!

The boyfriend decided that he wanted to try something new one night so we decided to whip up some peppercorn Filet Mignon otherwise known as Steak au Poivre. Now, you can use this recipe with any cut of steak but I prefer the tenderness of a tenderloin like here. (using the word "tender" twice so close in that sentence made me feel a bit awk....moving on...)

Here is the delicious recipe!

What you will need:

2 steaks (this is supposing it is just you and a special guest--for more people just double etc.) It is great to get a cut that is around 1-1.5 inches thick at the most but no less.
Salt
1-1.5 tbsp. freshly ground peppercorns (the peppercorn container in stores usually comes with a grinder attached)
1 cup of heavy cream
1/3 cup of any cognac of your choice with an extra tablespoon reserved (we used Hennessy)
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp. olive oil
A pan that is NOT non-stick---you will see why later

Directions:

You want to work with room temperature steaks for a recipe like this so once they are at room temperature (you can achieve this by setting them outside of the refrigerator covered for about 45 minutes before you are going to begin the recipe), sprinkle them with salt on both sides (this brings out all of the yummy flavors and helps prep them for what is going to happen later!)
Crush or grind your peppercorns (if you aren't lucky enough to have a grinder, place them in a good old plastic Ziploc and crush them with a kitchen mallet or something of that sort) and spread them onto a plate. Then, as seen in the very first photo above, cover both sides of the steaks by GENTLY pressing them into the peppercorn mixture.

In a medium heated skillet, melt the olive oil and butter together. Once they are golden in color, and sizzling with delight, place your steaks into the pan.
Depending on how you like your steaks cooked, you can either cook them for 4 minutes on each side (medium rare) or add two minutes to each side for medium and so on and so forth. I did mine for about 7-8 minutes on each side--I don't like my meat too too red.
This next part is KEY!!!!! Remove the steaks and set aside under foil to keep them warm. DRAIN THE EXCESS FAT FROM THE PAN WITHOUT SCRAPING THE GOODNESS THAT HAS BURNT ON THE BOTTOM! (this is why we DID NOT want to use a non-stick pan).
WARNING: FIRE INCLUDED IN THIS STEP! Once the pan is removed from the heat, I set mine on a trivet on the kitchen table, pour in your cognac (minus the reserved tablespoon). Now carefully ignite the contents in the pan with a long lighter or a long match. It will shock you at first (I had my boyfriend do this part because I was scared but honestly it wasn't even that serious haha) Swish the pan with the flame going lightly until the flame dies down--and no worries it will!
Bring your pan back to medium heat and add the heavy cream. Bring this to a boil for 5 minutes or so until it thickens. Make sure to consistently whisk the contents to make sure everything is mixing well together.
Once it is thickened to your liking, taste it, if it needs it, add more salt and or the extra reserved cognac :)
Add the steaks back to the pan and pour some of the delicious cognac heavy cream mixture over them and serve!