Valentine’s Day Deliciousness: Steak au Poivre à Deux & Roasted Rosemary Garlic Potatoes!

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and if you’re looking for the perfect dish to seduce your Valentine – look no further. Our recipe for Steak au Poivre à Deux and Roasted Rosemary Garlic Potatoes paired with a deliciously seductive red wine will ensure an evening of endless possibilities!

Steak au Poivre is a classic French dish that consists of steak, usually filet mignon, seasoned with peppercorns, pan roasted and then topped with a delightfully creamy, peppercorn-Cognac sauce. The traditional accompaniment for this dish is pommes frites, crispy thin french fries, which are essential for mopping up all the mouth-watering sauce! I’ve made a few tweaks to the classic recipe that have upped the deliciousness factor and made it perfect for satisfying your hungry Valentine.

While you can use filet mignon in this recipe if you’d like, I prefer the flavor and texture of a juicy New York strip so I’ve substituted it in our recipe for Steak au Poivre à Deux, which is specifically tailored for two hungry Valentines. You can adjust the amount of black pepper to suit your tastes but the sauce also calls for green peppercorns in brine – please don’t skip this ingredient! You might have to make a trip to the gourmet grocery store (I found them at Fresh Market) but it IS Valentine’s Day after all and it really adds amazing flavor to the sauce.

Instead of pommes frites, I’ve substituted Roasted Rosemary Garlic Potatoes which are incredibly flavorful, easier to make and healthier than fried frites. More importantly though, they are even more effective at mopping up the mouth-watering sauce. Can you tell I’m particularly obsessed with the sauce?!? A word of caution when making this recipe, please be sure to remove the pan from the heat when adding the Cognac and immediately after flaming it. The flames may shoot up pretty high but don’t panic, they subside quickly. So while you’re dazzling your lover with your pyrotechnic skills, just take a few deep yoga breaths as the Cognac quickly burns off. Be sure to taste the sauce towards the end of cooking and adjust the seasoning if necessary. If you find it too salty, just add a bit of water and/or more cream (yes!) to thin it out which should do the trick.

As far as wine goes a big, bold Cabernet Sauvignon is perfect with this dish! We enjoyed the 2012 Atalon Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($40), a Bordeaux blend which stood up to the flavors in this dish and complemented them beautifully. This full-bodied red includes all five Bordeaux varieties (76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 5% Malbec, 3% Petite Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc) and exhibited enticing notes of plum, black currant, spice and pepper with chewy tannins and a long, lingering finish. Alternatively a Syrah, Bordeaux or full-bodied rosé Champagne would also make nice pairings.

I hope you share this delicious meal with your Valentine and enjoy it as much as we did! Stay tuned for our delicious dessert recipe which will be posted later this week.

Cheers,

“Steak au Poivre à Deux”
Serves 2 hungry people

2 boneless NY Strip Steaks
1 Tablespoon good olive oil
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
10 fresh thyme sprigs
6 fresh rosemary springs
1 large shallot, finely chopped
1/3 cup Cognac
1/3 cup demi-glace
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon jarred green peppercorns, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh, Italian flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.) Pat the steaks dry with paper towels and, just prior to cooking, generously season all sides with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and press seasonings into steak.
3.) Using a paper towel, wipe the inside of a large, preferably cast iron, skillet with the Tablespoon of olive oil. Place oiled skillet over a high flame and, as pan is heating, spread half the butter on one side of both steaks. When pan starts to smoke, place steaks butter side down in the skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes, spooning out any excess liquid that accumulates in the pan. While steaks are cooking, slather the remaining butter on the other side of the steaks. When ready, flip steaks over and top each steak with half of the rosemary and thyme and then slide the pan into the preheated oven and cook an additional 5 minutes for medium-rare. Remove steaks to a cutting board and allow them to rest for 5-10 minutes.
4.) Pour excess fat from the pan (do not wipe it out) and place it back on the stove over med-high heat.
5.) Add shallots to the pan and saute until translucent and tender, scraping up any delicious bits off the bottom of the pan, about 3-5 minutes.
6.) Remove pan from heat and add Cognac (never pour directly from the bottle). If you have a gas stove, return pan to burner, lean back and tilt the pan to ignite the Cognac. If you don’t have a gas stovetop, just use a kitchen lighter. The Cognac will flame for a few minutes and then die down at which point you stir in the demi-glace and cream and simmer for 1-2 minutes until sauce thickens slightly.
7.) Finish the sauce by stirring in the mustard and peppercorns until well mixed. Season to taste and serve drizzled over steaks and garnished with chopped fresh parsley.

“Roasted Rosemary Garlic Potatoes”
Feeds 2-4 hungry people

2 lbs. small potatoes, rinsed with skins on (we used a mix of yellow and purple potatoes)
Good olive oil
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
8-10 twists of freshly ground black pepper
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2-3 large garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a Chef’s knife, skins removed and chopped
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh, Italian flat leaf parsley

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.) Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and place them in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with foil. Scatter rosemary (leaves only) and chopped garlic over sliced potatoes. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season with the salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix potatoes, garlic, rosemary leaves and seasonings until well combined.
3.) Roast potatoes in the oven for 45-60 minutes, until they are crispy and brown. Flip them at least twice during that time so that they cook evenly.
4.) Remove potatoes from oven and toss with fresh parsley and season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

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