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A Prime NY Strip steak with a peppery crust AND a delicious sauce? Sign me up! Also known as Au Poivre, the pepper crusted steak is mellowed out by the creaminess of the sauce. It makes for a tasty combination. And it’s easy to make!
Table of Contents
Let’s prep it up
In order to make pepper crusted steak on grill, you will need freshly cracked peppercorns. You can’t use regular black pepper as it won’t have the same effect. You need freshly cracked peppercorns. And the best way to get those is to buy whole peppercorns at the grocery store, put them in a plastic bag and smash them with a rolling pin.
In addition to the peppercorns, you will need kosher salt, parsley, shallots, beef broth, brandy and heavy cream.
Start by patting the steaks dry and seasoning both sides with the kosher salt and LOT of the fresh cracked peppercorns. Since these are pepper steaks, you want a nice layer of pepper.
We’ll get to the other ingredients later as they will be used to make the sauce.
We’ll be cooking these in a cast iron skillet to an AWESOME crust on it AND to then use the same skillet to make our sauce.
It’s steak cooking time
Crank up the grill to high and get that cast iron smoking hot. That’s how we will get the crust we’re looking for. Put 1 tbsp of olive oil in the skillet, swirl it around and put the steaks in. DONT’ TOUCH THEM. Let them sit and sear for about 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, flip them over and sear the other side. After the next 3 minutes, flip the steaks again and NOW check the internal temperature.
If you want the perfect steak you need to cook to temperature. I like using the Thermoworks Thermapen Mk4. It’s fast and very accurate. For a medium rare steak, pull it off between 125-130 degrees. Keep flipping the steak every 3 minutes and checking the internal after every flip. Depending on the thickness of your steaks, you’re looking at cook time of anywhere between 6 and 12 minutes.
Pull the steak from the skillet and set it aside to rest. I like to rest them at room temperature, loosely covered with aluminum foil.
Time for the sauce
We’ll be using the same skillet we used for the steak to make the sauce. We want all those tasty burnt bits on the bottom of that skillet to add flavor to the sauce.
Start by adding 1 tbsp of beef stock to the skillet and scrape the bottom with a metal spatula to get all the burnt bits off. Next add the shallots and saute them for a few minutes, until soft.
Add the rest of the beef stock, brandy and simmer until reduced by half. Then add the heavy cream and season with a pinch of salt and pepper, to taste. Cook until the sauce is thickens but is still liquidy. Add the chopped parsley at the end and stir it in. And now remove the skillet from the sauce.
Let’s put it together
The moment we’ve been waiting for.
Take the well rested steak and put it on your plate. Take the sauce and smother the steak with it. Don’t be shy, it’s delicious.
The creamy and light sauce goes great with the peppery crust of the steak.
Go ahead, slice into that bad boy and take a bite. I’m sure you’ll love it!
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Check out the full start to finish video from my Instagram page. Printer friendly recipe is below:
Pepper Crust Steak
Ingredients
- 1 Prime NY Strip Steak, 1-1.5" thick
- 1 tbsp Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp Fresh cracked peppercorns
- 1 Shallot, diced
- 1 cup Beef Stock
- 2 tbsp Brandy
- 2 tbsp Heavy Cream
- 1 cup Parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
Instructions
- Pat dry the steak and season both sides with salt and pepper
- Warm up your cast iron skillet over high heat and add the olive oil
- Place the steak in the skillet and sear for 3 minutes without moving
- Flip the steak over and sear an additional 3 minutes
- Check the internal temperature after every flip. Pull between 125-130 for medium rare
- Add 1 tbsp of the beef stock to the same skillet and scrape the bottom
- Add the shallots and saute for 5 minutes or until soft
- Add the remaining beef stock and brandy and cook until reduced by half
- Add the heavy cream and cook until sauce thickens
- Add the fresh parsley right at the end and stir it in
- Top the steak with the sauce and enjoy
Check out the Recipe for other tasty dishes.
