Steak poivre
dolohov says that I should use this LJ for foodblogging. Enh, we'll give it a try. The major notable food occurrence around here is recipe failure, of course, but that can be interesting in its own right.

My most successful recent recipe was steak poivre. No two recipes for this are ever even slightly the same, but this did not dissuade me. Got a truly beautiful 2" strip steak from Whole Foods, cut it into two 1" steaks, covered it in a paste of garlic, cracked pepper, cracked brown mustardseed, salt, and bacon grease. Let sit for a few hours. Then pan-fried it, removed steak, added cognac, set on fire. PILLAR OF FLAME! That's a good thing in this case. Tossed in some shallots, a touch of sherry vinegar, some heavy cream; whisked vigorously. Miraculously, the sauce mounted perfectly, something which never ever happens for me. Poured it on the steaks.

Served with a salad -- blanched bok choy sliced thin, grated carrots, and chopped peanuts, splashed with a champagne vinegar. I had meant to do bok choy mignonette, but I forgot.

Overall rating:
+ Steak: Excellent
+ Salad: Okay

Lessons learned:
+ Our stove hood is not powerful enough for dramatic flames to appear reassuringly safe.
+ Something made this sauce mount perfectly. Burnination?
+ Grated carrots are too sweet to take a very sweet vinegar with good grace.

Fun Fact: Because I don't drink, I don't know cognac from Gatorade, so I asked my mother for a recommendation. On hearing my plans for the rest of the recipe, she recommended that I wait a little while and maybe she could make it up to Boston in time for dinner. Alas, she was joking, but perhaps I shall repeat this recipe when my parents next visit.