Sunday, September 14, 2008

Green Peppercorn Pan Sauce for Steak







After you have removed the steak to a plate to keep warm in the oven, place your pan that you cooked the steak in back on a burner over a medium-high heat. Add one minced shallot and using a wooden spatula, stir the shallots over the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. After about a minute, add 1 cup of your favorite wine, or chicken broth if you prefer. It doesn't matter if it is a red wine or white wine or even champagne. As long as you like to drink it, it will taste fine. Continue to stir the shallots and the wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. The brown bits is called a "fond" and it's where all the flavor from cooking your steaks is. Not only does this flavor the sauce, but this method is called "de-glazing" and it actually makes the clean up easier, too! Add a few sprigs of fresh thyme leaves. The shallots and the thyme will add so much flavor to the sauce. If you prefer, you can use rosemary or another herb to make this sauce your own. You can also use fresh minced garlic or minced red onion in place of the shallots. My rule is to use whatever you like best to make it to your preference.








After a few minutes, the sauce will start to reduce. You are looking for it to reduce at least by half and start to get thicker, and less soupy like in appearance. Add 1/4 cup heavy cream. This will help bind the sauce and thicken it. Continue stirring for about another minute. Turn off the burner and season with fresh black pepper. Add 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley and about 10-12 green peppercorns. Taste to adjust salt and pepper as necessary.








If you don't like green peppercorns, substitute with capers, sauteed mushrooms or whatever you like. You can even add a tablespoon of dijon mustard, or lemon juice or a dash of good vinegar to make the sauce different.








Remove the steaks from the oven and pour any of the drippings from the steaks into the sauce. Pour the sauce over the steaks and serve.

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