Steak with Green Peppercorn Sauce

November 12, 2010  •  Sauces, Technique

One of the things my daughter has wanted to focus on in cooking lessons with me is the technique for making great sauces. Most of them originate from a mother sauce, and in this case, green peppercorn sauce begins with a basic brown sauce. She’s also been a beef lover most of her life, so the idea of serving this sauce over these perfectly cooked, medium rare, juicy NY strip steaks I think sealed the deal for this lesson’s menu.

Basic Brown Sauce
Yields about 2 cups

1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or butter
2-4 tablespoons flour (less if you want it thinner, more if you want it thicker like in this picture)
2 1/2 cups beef broth

Cook the onion, carrot and celery in oil or butter over medium high heat until nice and caramelized (that brown color is what will help flavor and color the sauce). Stir in flour to make a roux, then whisk in beef broth, stirring until thickened. Strain out solids.

Green Peppercorn Sauce
Serves 4

1 shallot, minced fine
1 cup basic brown sauce
2 tablespoons port wine
2 tablespoons brandy or cognac
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons green peppercorns, rinsed

After searing steaks in a skillet, remove the steaks and add the shallot, cooking until soft, about 1 minute. Add all remaining ingredients and simmer together for about 3-5 minutes to cook off alcohol. Serve over sliced steaks.

Comments

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   My Kitchen in the Rockies says:

   Hm, we love peppercorn sauce. I make mine with Sherry and pair it with pork tenderloin. I like your combo, too. Yummy.

   November 12, 2010 at 8:16 am