Delicious Steak au Poivre Recipe for Your Holidays

A tall Christmas tree with white lights in a round-windowed living room — My Tree 💚🧡🩵

I love Christmas, the weather, the season, the festivities, the family, my trees, thoughtful curated gifts, but most of all, I like the meals. I invited my friend, climbing partner, and colleague over for Steak au Poivre. The tree was up and lit, so we were deep in December. This was one of my famous high-alpine firs – I love how tall it is, and the sparse branches allow for proper display of my curated ornament collection

Mise en place

Everything gets chopped and bowled before the skillet goes on the stove. Shallots, garlic, butter, thyme, a bowl of cracked peppercorns, avocado oil, and a bowl of cognac. I love my MannKitchen pepper grinder for the task – a few years later, my friend Paul Ellington gifted me a pair of Hex Clad pepper and salt grinders; they look great and work even better!

Chopped shallots, minced garlic, butter, fresh thyme and a thermometer on a cutting board

A red pepper mill beside a cast iron skillet and bowls of shallots and cracked pepper — Although this Peugeot pepper mill looks great, it functions so-so. I probably gifted it away.

The back of a cognac bottle held up to the light — This was Yuiry’s Armenian cognac, which, once we realized how great it tasted, we drank instead of cooking with it – except for this last steak au proivre.

Prepped ingredients for steak au poivre on a cutting board

The Salad Course

Arugula, blueberries, chili flakes and yellow dressing — Arugula and blueberries, tossed with Dijon mustard, olive oil, and a little chili.

Two men with their arms around each other in front of a Christmas tree

Two men smiling in front of a Christmas tree

Two men posing in front of a Christmas tree

Back to the salad. The dressing is in the glass bowl, with two small dishes of chili sauce next to it.

A bowl of yellow dressing with two small dishes of chili condiments — I like a little heat in my dressing.

The Steaks

Three strip steaks go into the cast iron. Add butter and thyme on top, and keep the steaks browning.

Three strip steaks beginning to sear in a cast iron skillet — Cooking the fat cap.

A knob of butter and thyme sprigs on a searing steak — Butter and thyme.

Three strip steaks browning in a cast iron skillet

Three seared strip steaks in a cast iron skillet — The Maillard reaction at work.

Strip steaks browned in the skillet — Cooked to 115

Chopped green herb on a cutting board — A small pile of chopped basil.

Steaks with thyme in the pan, then out onto the board to rest.

Steaks with thyme in the cast iron skillet

Deeply browned steaks with thyme in the skillet — Perfect crust and sear.

Three seared steaks resting on a cutting board with thyme

The Pan au Proivre Sauce

The skillet does the rest. Shallots go into the fat and butter left behind, then garlic, then more butter and a big pile of cracked pepper. Add cognac, then heavy cream, to loosen everything stuck to the pan, and let the sauce simmer and reduce.