Balsamic Steak Au Poivre

Cooking Time: 6-10 min    Servings: 4

Products needed:

  • Tuscan Herb Infused Olive Oil
  • Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients:

  • 4 good-sized steaks 
  • -½ lb to 1 lb each, allow for ½ lb per person
  • sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons Olive Scene Tuscan Herb Olive Oil
  • 3 tablespoons black peppercorns, cracked
  • ¼ c finely chopped shallots or onions
  • ¼ c Olive Scene Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar 
  • 1 c beef broth or stock 
  • ¼ c heavy cream
  • ¼ c finely chopped parsley

Directions:

  1. Sprinkle salt generously over both sides of the steaks and let them come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
  2. Heat a large sauté pan over med-high heat.
  3. Add oil and allow to heat for a minute.
  4. Pat the steaks dry with paper towels (steaks brown better if they are patted dry first) and place in the hot pan.
  5. Sear, without moving the steaks, for at least 4 minutes.
  6. Try to pick up a steak with tongs, and if it comes clean, flip it and turn the heat down to medium. If it sticks to the pan, let it cook for another minute or two on that side.
  7. For this recipe, we sear on one side on high heat, and cook on lower heat on the other side.
  8. This way you get great flavor from the seared side, and better control over how done your steak is by cooking the other side more slowly.
  9. Use the finger test for doneness or a meat thermometer.
  10. For rare, remove the meat from the pan when the inside reaches 120°F, for medium rare 125-130 degrees.
  11. Once the steak is done, remove the meat to a platter and sprinkle on a generous portion of crushed black peppercorns on both sides of each steak.
  12. Tent with aluminum foil and let the steak rest while you prepare the sauce.

Sauce:

  1. Add the shallots to the sauté pan and sauté for 2 minutes.
  2. Add the balsamic vinegar and as it boils, deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to dislodge all the browned bits.
  3. Once the balsamic is thick, add the beef stock and turn the heat to med-high.
  4. Gently reduce the sauce until there is a noticeable trail when you drag a wooden spoon through the center of it (4-5 minutes).
  5. Pour in the heavy cream and resume gentle boiling.
  6. Again, reduce until you can make that telltale trail from the wooden spoon.
  7. Turn off the heat and add the parsley.
  8. Taste for salt and add if needed.
  9. Pour the sauce over the steaks when you serve.
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