Printer-Friendly Recipe
The day I made the super salty Downton Abbey Hollandaise Sauce from The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook, I also made this Creamless Steak au Poivre. I have been really wanting to learn more about cooking meat and creating my own pan sauces and this fit that foodie bill.
“Rich yet popular, this French dish is one that Mrs. Patmore would feel confident to serve to any of Downton Abbey’s respected guests.”
Note Regarding The Recipe
I could not find a tenderloin steak around my hood so I picked up rib eye instead. As a result, I just cooked it in the pan for 5 minutes per side but will write the directions and ingredients in full for you.
I only made two steaks but kept the sauce recipe for the original 4 servings. In my world, there is no such thing as too much sauce.
The Recipe
Remove 4 1” thick beef tenderloin steaks from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat oven to 400F.
You will need 1 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper which I freshly ground in my coffee grinder. I hope Mrs. Patmore will forgive my high tech ways!
You will also need 4 tbsp unsalted butter (chopped), 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 cup chopped shallots, 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, 1 cup low-sodium beef broth and 2/3 cup good brandy.
I brought this brandy all the way from Nova Scotia in my luggage! I kept thinking to myself, this better be a damn good recipe…
Sprinkle 2 tsp of salt all over the steaks (I used less). Press black pepper evenly on all sides of meat until it coats the surface. Set aside.
Heat 2 tbsp of butter and the oil in a large oven-proof sauté pan over medium-high heat until butter is close to smoking.
Lower heat to medium, place steaks on pan and sear on pan 3 minutes per side. Place entire pan in oven for 10 minutes for medium to medium-well-done steaks. Remove pan from oven. Place steaks on platter and keep warm.
Remove all but 2 tbsp of steak fat from pan. Add shallots and mushrooms. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add beef broth and increase heat, cooking on high for 6 minutes.
Until sauce is reduced by half.
Make sure to scrape brown bits from bottom.
Add brandy and cook for another 3 minutes.
Turn off heat and stir in remaining butter and extra 1/2 tsp salt. (I added the butter, not the salt. This cookbook LOVES salt!)
Serve steaks hot with sauce poured on top.
Foodie Results
I do not mean to be indelicate but DAH-ANG! The Hollandaise was unforgivable but that steak was amazing. I did not actually have a ton of sauce by the end but I could have had the heat up too high.
After cooking this dish, I felt like I had made a real fancy meal complete with its own pan sauce made with brandy and butter. Not for the every day since not all of us are Crawleys! It was a beautiful dish and I did not even make it with the fancy tenderloin steak. But it is worthy of a tenderloin steak! (And the brandy…)
I give this recipe four and a half out of five wooden spoons. I recommend going lighter on the salt but keep the fiery black pepper as-is!
4.5, wow. Sounds like a good one. Well done on all the pictures, too.
Thank you! Yes, this was a winner, I will be making it again for sure. We love pepper steak which I normally guy in the store so this was so cool to make it at home with fancy sauce.
Very fun. I take step by step photos and it takes time when I’m doing it by myself.
I have a pork Hungarian dish in the fridge but not sure if we’ll eat that tonight. I accidentally left the lid off for nearly 24 hours so it’s a wee dried out.
So glad I am not the only one who does that with my camera! LOL. It helps me remember what I have done.
Oh that dinner sounds amazing! Even with it being a little dry. You can always add stock or water!
Man, that pan sauce sounds delicious! And nothing wrong with a good rib-eye! It’s the king of steaks, as far as My Rare One and I are concerned.
It was fabulous Debra and I agree, the rib-eye turned out to be an awesome steak which was a nice surprise. Thanks confirming that it was a good choice!