Gratin Dauphinois

Bonne fête! After missing last year, it's great to be back for another Bastille Day post. Gratin Dauphinois is a rather simple dish compared to what we often think of with French cuisine, but it's no less delicious for it. The best part is perhaps how easy it is to make. This particular recipe is adapted from one I found in Jacques Pépin's Essential Pépin, scaled down slightly to the amount of potatoes I had on hand. The dish gets its name from the Dauphiné region of southeastern France, where it originates. This is a part of France I know very little about. Some quick research tells me it was the site of the Day of the Tiles, a series of riots in Grenoble (the capital of Dauphiné), considered by some to be the start of the French Revolution. 

Grain Dauphinois reminds me quite a bit of scalloped potatoes, which I posted thirteen years ago and have not made again since. The main difference is the strong garlic flavor here - grating the garlic on a microplane really brings it out. As far as the potatoes themselves go, I did not peel them, but that's certainly an option. Pépin points out that it is important not to otherwise scrub or rinse the cut potatoes because the starch from the potatoes themselves is what thickens the liquid. There is no flour or any other thickener in the dish. There is some debate over the use of cheese. My cursory research points out that traditionally, it is not included, but that many recipes do use it, such as Escoffier himself. Gruyère is probably best, though I used a Sweet Swiss from Fair Oaks Farms that I picked up on our last drive through Indiana. This was also a good excuse to use the nice copper gratin pan seen the the photo, but any small casserole dish will do the job.

Upgrade: Chicken Cassoulet

Bonne fête! No Free Lunch is back for another Bastille Day, albeit a touch late. After a few months off, I think it's appropriate to return with a dish that's personally important to me. I started making my chicken cassoulet shortly after Ariel and I moved in together about a decade ago. It quickly became a staple meal, to the point were we just call it "beans." This is not meant to be a traditional Occitan cassoulet, but it does adhere to the rustic spirit of the dish and is authentic to the way I like to cook. It takes humble ingredients and puts them together into a very satisfying meal. I thought this was a great time to update the recipe to how I make it now.

I've made a few small but important changes to my previous recipe. It turns out that stews like this freeze exceptionally well and are great to pull out for a quick dinner later. As such, I've scaled it up, but a bigger pan is needed. Although precision is not really needed for something like this, I've also weighed out the vegetables for more clarity as there is a lot of variance in the size of onions and carrots. For the chicken, I now recommend bone-in pieces as there is flavor to be had in the bones. I usually pull the meat off the bones after cooking and return it to the stew to serve. This makes it easier to portion out and easier to eat, especially if you have to hold a baby. If you like the presentation with whole chicken pieces, skip that step. 

Many great dishes balance richness and acidity, which I now get done with a little butter and sherry vinegar at the end. This should be done to taste - you can always add vinegar but can't take it away. I no longer recommend my old method of cooking the stew with a lemon as it can add bitterness. My last change is in the beans. The cooking orthodoxy (which I once followed) says to always drain and rinse canned beans. I think this arose from older generations who thought of canned food as a little unclean. For me, this changed from making Kenji's white bean soup, where he notes that there is flavor to be had in the bean liquid. If making a bean salad, I would still rinse, but in a stew, leave it in. I drain two of the cans to make room for some chickens stock, but don't bother with rinsing. I served with a little parsley for color and some crunchy baguette toasts.

Ratatouille

Bonne fête! It's that time of year again, when we celebrate Bastile Day through classic dishes of France. Our Bastile Day feast started with escargot and bread and continued into a pan-seared ribeye and ratatouille. I've enjoyed ratatouille here and there over the years and made it a few times before, but had not yet dug into the sources on it. Julia Child has two versions, both on the fancier side, with thin slices of eggplant and zucchini layered between the peppers and onions. Mark Bittman's recipe does the same. Jacques Pépin goes with a more rustic style with cubed vegetables all mixed together. That is the form of the dish I'm most familiar with, so that's what I did here. The most interesting thing I took from these sources is to keep the cuts of vegetables large, so that each can be enjoyed on its own merits. This recipe makes a lot, but the sources agree that ratatouille is excellent both cold and reheated.

Ratatouille is a classic dish of Provence, the southeastern coastal region generally known for its seafood. As I wrote on 2019's Bastile Day post, olive oil, garlic, and tomatoes are characteristic of Provençal cuisine. These elements are central to ratatouille, as well. The four other vegetables featured here (eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, onion) seem to be the most commonly used, but can certainly be swapped out. It's an excellent way to use up summer vegetables like yellow squash or kohlrabi. Any fresh herbs you have on hand can also boost the dish. I used basil because I tend to have a lot of it on hand this time of year. I will finally note that I increased the recommended baking temperature to 400, up from the 350 I used. A dish composed entirely of vegetables has a lot of liquid, which could have been reduced more. At that higher temperature, it may be necessary to stir more often.

Upgrade: Croque Madame

Bonne fête! It's Bastille Day again, and this time, its one of my all-time favorites, the croque madame. Over nine years ago, I wrote about the croque monsieur, the classic French ham and cheese sandwich. I go back to that recipe from time to time, and I think it's one of my best from the very earliest period of No Free Lunch. A croque madame is simply a croque monsieur with a fried egg on top, an upgrade in and of itself. My other reason for revisiting the recipe is to improve on the crunchiness by toasting the bread ahead of time. It's definitely worth the effort!

This is my first post to feature our new convection oven. This enabled me to toast the bread, bake the sandwiches, then broil them all in one device. I'm still experimenting with it, and I expect it will pop up here from time to time. Of course, the whole recipe can certainly be done in a toaster and/or regular oven.

At their core, both a croque monsieur and croque madame are ham and cheese sandwiches, so using good quality ham, cheese, and bread is important. I used Gruyère here, which packs a ton of flavor, but is expensive. It's great as an occasional treat, but feel free to substitute. I shaved the ham off a half boneless ham from Costco and the bread was a peasant loaf from Vermillion's own Mr. Smith's. As with so many things, a fried egg makes everything better. Just make sure to have a knife and fork for this one.

Steak Marchand de Vin

Bonne fête! It's that time of year again, when No Free Lunch celebrates Bastille Day with another French recipe. This time, I'm turning to the master, Jacques Pépin for inspiration. His book, Essential Pépin, is a treasure trove of ideas, most of which are quite accessible. This year's dish is a classic steak with a pan sauce, which hearkens back to my second recipe ever, though this is considerably more sophisticated. I even (unintentionally) used the same copper sauté pan, which is very effective for building a good sear on steaks and then developing a pan sauce.

Pépin translates the dish as "wine merchant steak," and describes it as a bistro dish. As I understand the term, a bistro is a small, informal establishment serving simpler and heartier food than a formal restaurant, originating in Paris. This is the kind of food that really appeals to me to try to replicate at home. "Pub grub" might be a good analogy in the British Isles, though bistro food tends to be a little more refined than that. This recipe is a reasonably close replication of Pépin's dish as written, though I've made a few adjustments to my own taste. For the meat, I've swapped out New York strips for some nicely marbled ribeyes I found at Walmart, of all places. I also increased the garlic and mushrooms, which is quite common practice in our house.

There are a few ingredients of note to talk about. Pépin calls for a "fruity, dry red wine," and suggests Beaujolais. I used La Granja Tempranillo Garnacha, an inexpensive Spanish wine from Trader Joe's. Quite appropriately for pandemic cooking, we realized we were out of Dijon mustard when the sauce was about half done. I used hot Chinese mustard instead, and then kicked up the acidity with a small squeeze of lemon juice. Do what works in these strange times! The last interesting addition is potato starch, which I recently used in fried calamari. Pépin briefly discusses his preference for potato starch over corn starch for thickening sauces. Although well-known in Kosher-for-Passover and Japanese cooking, it's not commonly seen elsewhere. It worked very well here, and I plan to experiment with it further.

Poulet Chasseur, Provençal Style

Bonne fête, everyone, or as we say here in the USA, happy Bastille Day! With all the wedding planning going on, July 14 kind of sneaked up on me. This morning, I grabbed Essential Pepin and Julia Child's The Way to Cook and got to work. When I recently posted my chicken with bell peppers recipe, I commented that chicken is a real workhorse in a busy person's home. With a little French technique, it's easy and inexpensive to turn a few pieces of chicken into a nice dinner. Pepin, in particular, seems to be a master of the humble chicken. 

While in the past, I've tended to recreate some classic French dish for Bastille Day, I went with something of my own creation this time, loosely based on my reading from this morning. Julia Child writes that the Provençal style involves olive oil, tomatoes, and garlic. Since Provence is located in southeastern France, next to Italy, this makes a lot of sense. Since Ariel is a huge fan of mushrooms, I decided to add these, as well, positioning my dish as a tomato-forward variant of poulet chasseur, or "hunter's chicken." Interestingly, other countries also have dishes with the "hunter" label, including Italy's chicken cacciatore and Germany's jägerschnitzel, which I covered last year. I chose to serve it with cavatappi pasta, Ariel's favorite, but rice, potatoes, or any other kind of pasta would work well. As a side, we had sautéed string beans from our farm share.

To add a little French revolutionary history, chasseur was the name given to the light troops in Napoleon's army, who served as scouts and skirmishers. The chasseurs à cheval were one of the most distinguished regiments in the Garde Impériale, and the emperor himself was known to wear their uniform on campaign.

Ingredients

• 6 chicken thighs
• 1 onion, diced (about 1/2 lb.)
• 1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
• 6-8 cloves garlic, grated or minced (dependent on size)
• 1 Tbs flour
• 2/3 c dry white wine
• 1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 tsp Herbes de Provence
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 lb. pasta (optional)

Instructions

Dice the onion, rinse and slice the mushrooms, and grate the garlic ahead of time. Gently break up the tomatoes with fingers. 

In a large sauté pan, heat some olive oil on medium-high heat. Pat the chicken dry and season both sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the pan, skin side down, and cook until the skin is crisp and releases easily from the pan. Flip over and cook a few more minutes, until lightly browned. 

Chicken after flipping

Set the chicken aside (it will not be fully cooked yet) on a plate. Turn the heat to medium and add the onion and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and sauté a few minutes, until softened. Add the flour and garlic. Stir well and cook a few more minutes. This will form the base of the sauce. Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and cook down briefly. Add the tomatoes, their juice, and the herbes de Provence. Bring to a boil and reduce to thicken for about 5 more minutes. (Note: I forgot to do this, and reduced at the end. This is fine, too).

Ready to simmer

Return the chicken to the pan. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the chicken is fully cooked, about 20 minutes. If serving with pasta, now is the time to cook it, timing according to how long it takes to cook.

To assemble a portion, place a layer of pasta, dish out some sauce, making sure to get a good mix of tomatoes and mushrooms, and add a piece of chicken on top.

Escargots in Compound Butter

Bonne fête from Vermillion! There's been a lot of changes here at No Free Lunch, and I've really fallen behind. I have some more posts in the pipeline where I'll talk a little more about that. For now, let's celebrate our sixth Bastille Day with escargots! Escargots have been a family tradition since I was very young, and we often have them for Christmas dinner. I've seen and heard of many different preparations for escargots, but the simple classic can't be beat. The most iconic preparation involves baking the snails inside shells, but lacking those, ramekins work well. Make sure to have lots of bread ready to absorb the delicious compound butter.

The butter is closely based on Jacques Pépin's recipe from Essential Pépin, including fresh parsley and chives from our garden. It ended up being a little too salty, so adjust to taste. The bread pictured is the baguette made daily at Vermillion's own Mister Smith's. Grandpa's French bread would be a great option, as well. 

We rounded out our dinner with pan roasted chicken thighs with mustard sauce (recipe forthcoming at some point!) and sautéed crookneck squash from this week's farm share.

Ingredients

• 20 escargots (1 small can)
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 sprig fresh parsley
• Breadcrumbs
• Bread, for serving

Compound Butter

• 1 stick butter (4 oz.)
• 2 Tbs fresh parsley, minced
• 1 Tbs fresh chives, minced
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 Tbs white wine
• A few grinds black pepper

Instructions

Drain the snails and inspect for any feed still inside them. If present, rinse it out. Bring the wine and stock to a boil in a saucepan or sauté pan. Add the parsley sprig and the snails. Lower the heat and poach for about 5 minutes. Remove the snails and store in the fridge until ready.

Combine the butter with the rest of the butter ingredients. This will work best if the butter has been left out to soften. Fold everything together. Both the snails and butter can be kept until ready to serve.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Divide the snails and butter into equal portions and place in ramekins. I used four, with five snails in each. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan and bake for 12 minutes. 

Serve with baguette slices.

Grilled Leg of Lamb Kebabs

Bonne fête, folks, we've made it to another Bastille Day. I struggled a little with what to make for this dearest of No Free Lunch traditions, and ended up settling on a recipe that's been overdue on the blog - a Julia Child-inspired leg of lamb. I've been making this with some regularity for the last two years, and it even made a pictorial appearance in the 2016 birthday special. I believe Child's original recipe is for a whole butterflied leg of lamb (for which this marinade would do nicely), but I generally make it into kebabs. Although kebabs might be stretching the theme a touch, let me remind you that less than 12 years after the storming of the Bastille, Egyptian Mamluks were recruited into the French army, and would eventually become part of Napoleon's Imperial Guard cavalry. I'm calling it close enough.

I must make an admission here in the ingredients section. The lemon juice completely slipped my mind when making the marinade today. If you do happen to be lacking lemon juice, I can report the lamb is still excellent. However, I normally include it, and it does add a nice element. This was also a great opportunity to use some fresh rosemary we've been growing on the deck, and while dried will do the job, it doesn't quite compare with the fragrance of fresh. Finally, let's talk about soy sauce. If there's anything food-related I could possibly claim to know more about than Julia Child, it might just be Chinese fermented bean products. For the uninitiated, Chinese soy sauce comes in two varieties: dark and light. Dark soy sauce is, as the name suggests, very dark, a little viscous, and will dye anything it comes in contact with a lovely dark brown, including your shirt. It's great for marinades and stews, but a little goes a long way. Light soy sauce is the "default" Chinese soy sauce and is typically used for saucing stir fried dishes, where a more delicate touch is required. I often mix the two, as I've done here.

Ingredients

• 2 lb. boneless leg of lamb
• 4 Tbs. olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, grated or minced
• 3 Tbs. Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbs. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbs. light soy sauce
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary (about 1 tsp.), chopped
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 large onion

Instructions

For kebabs, cut the lamb into small chunks, about 1 to 1 1/2 inch square. Trim fat as needed, as the large chunks of fat can be tough. Transfer the pieces to a gallon bag.

Combine the olive oil, garlic, mustard, soy sauce, rosemary, oregano, and lemon juice. Mix well into a loose paste and pour over the lamb. Mix thoroughly to coat the meat. Transfer to refrigerator and marinate for a few hours.

Cut the onion into small pieces, about an inch square. Toss with a little olive oil. Thread the lamb on skewers, alternating with onion pieces. This will make about 4 skewers.

Grill on high flame until well browned on all sides and cooked to preferred temperature. Turn frequently for even browning. I generally keep the hood open on a gas grill to avoid overcooking.

Soupe à L'Oignon Gratinée

Bonne fête! Welcome to another No Free Lunch Bastille Day special. Having been busy with the move and the class I'm teaching, the blog has, unfortunately, been neglected of late. You'll now notice the third kitchen to be regularly featured premiering in this post. In the time since my last post, I've fallen back on the old favorites, including another huge batch of potstickers. There's nothing like a yearly tradition to drag me out of my torpor. My choice for this year's recipe is about as classic as they come: onion soup. 

I've been a big fan of onion soup for about as long as I can remember, yet for whatever reason, I never made it until today. In general, as much as I enjoy soups, I rarely make them and even less often feature them on the blog. This was also a great opportunity to give our new soup bowls a try. I consulted both Julia Child and Kenji Lopez-Alt's recipes, and took some inspiration from both. Onion soup very simple in terms of ingredients, but it all comes together beautifully. The wine I used was the 2013 Chardonnay from Bloomington's own Oliver Winery. The bread was, of course, the one featured on this blog.

Ingredients

Basic Soup

• 2 lb. yellow or sweet onions, or a mix of the two (4-5 onions)
• 3 Tbs butter
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbs flour
• 6 c chicken stock
• 1/2 c dry white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 Tbs cognac (optional)

For Gratinée

• French bread (enough to cover the bowls)
• Olive oil
• 1 clove garlic
• Grated Swiss cheese, such as gruyère or emmental

Instructions

Slice the onions into thin strips. Melt butter with vegetable oil in a large dutch oven or heavy pan over low heat. I ended up splitting my onions across two pans, as in the photo. Add onions, cover, and cook 15 minutes. Turn the heat up to medium-low and add salt and sugar. Cook until golden brown, stirring frequently. For me, this took about an hour.

Onions after cooking

At this point, I combined all the onions into one pan. Add flour, stir together, and cook a few minutes. Add wine, stock, and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook, partially covered, about 40 minutes. When ready to serve, stir in the cognac, if using.

Soup simmered and ready to go

To prepare the toast, slice French bread and brush with olive oil. Toast until hard and crunchy. Cut garlic in half and rub on the toast.

Headed to the broiler

Transfer the soup to oven-safe bowls. Top with the toast and cover with cheese. Broil the bowls for a few minutes, until the cheese is bubbly.

Flammekueche (Tarte Flambée)

Bonne fête and welcome to the 2015 edition of the No Free Lunch Bastille Day special, which I think is fair to say has become a tradition here. This time, we head to Alsace for flammekueche, known in French as "tarte flambée." It translates roughly as "flame cake," but can be thought of as a thin crust pizza. Although flammekueche is not part of the "core" library of French cuisine, it is an Alsatian classic. In a way, Alsatians were the first to celebrate Bastille Day, storming the Strasbourg city hall just a week after the Bastille fell. Today, we salute their revolutionary spirit.

Alsace is one of the world's fascinating border regions, being passed from the Austrian-led Holy Roman Empire to Burgundy, to France over the years. Seized by Otto von Bismarck in the Franco-Prussian War, Alsace became a part of the German Empire until returning to France, where it has remained, in the Treaty of Versailles. Traditional Alsatian cuisine is a testament to the cultural blending that came out of this history. Where else in France is sauerkraut a central part of the cuisine? Their coq au vin is even made with Riesling. In fact, the first time I had flammekueche was in Germany.

As with many traditional dishes, my investigations turned up a lot of variation. The biggest differences are in the dough. Some use yeast and rise the dough, while others do not. Since the Wikipedia article describes it as "bread dough" I went the yeast route. There are also a variety of takes on the topping. I had decided on a mix of crème fraîche and fromage blanc, a tart fresh cheese from France. I was unable to get fromage blanc, so I am substituting fat free Greek yogurt. I also had some of the crema Mexicana left from the corn, and used that in place of crème fraîche.

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 package) dry active yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F)

Topping

• 3/4 cup crème fraîche (substitute crema Mexicana)
• 3/4 cup fromage blanc (substitute fat free Greek yogurt)
• 1 onion
• 6 strips thick-cut bacon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Dough

Start by preparing the dough about 2 hours ahead of time. Mix the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour the water in. Slowly mix the flour into the water until everything is integrated. 

Before kneading

Knead until smooth. I did this in the stand mixer. Note the dough is quite sticky compared to bread dough. 

After kneading

Transfer the dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. Punch down, cover again and let rise for 1 more hour. Punch down again and divide the dough in half.

Assembly

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Halve the onion and cut it crosswise as thin as possible. Cut the bacon into thin strips, about 1/4 inch wide. Mix together the crème fraîche and the fromage blanc/yogurt. 

Ready to bake

Roll both pieces of dough into large, thin rectangles. Transfer to oiled sheet pans. Spread the topping mixture over both, and sprinkle onion and bacon on top. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake on lower rack for 15 minutes. Cut into squares for serving. Wine pairing would traditionally be Riesling, but Vouvray did nicely today.

Easy Chicken Cassoulet

It's that time of year again, folks, and of course, I mean it's Bastille Day. Is there any better way to celebrate than by storming our hunger? Non. This dish is essentially a simplified and easy-to-make version of cassoulet, with inexpensive and relatively easily found ingredients. Along with some variants, it has become one of the most common and favorite meals in our house, where it is simply known as "beans." 

The basic formula lends itself to variation, substitutions, and experimentation for many bean-based dishes; the recipe here is really just a suggestion. Swapping the mustard for some garam masala and coconut milk puts an Asian spin on the dish, for example. Different meats (duck, of course, among others) or different types of beans can work well, too. If changing the bean type, you should be careful to stick with beans that hold their shape well after a long cooking time. Any type of kidney bean, as well as chickpeas fit the bill nicely.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs, skin removed
• 1 large onion, diced
• 5 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 smoked sausage or kielbasa, sliced
• 1/2 tbs butter
• Olive oil
• 2 cans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 3 tbs Dijon mustard
• 1/2 large lemon
• 1 sprig fresh parsley, removed from stem
• 1 bay leaf
• Herbes de Provence
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Flour or Wondra for thickening

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat a bit of olive oil on medium-high heat. Rub both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken on both sides, then remove from the pot and set aside. Add butter and more olive oil as needed. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and sausage. Cook the mixture until the vegetables become soft. Salt and pepper to your preference.

Next, add the chicken back in, along with the beans and chicken stock. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the pot, then stir in mustard, parsley, Herbes de Provence (a few good shakes), and bay leaf. Finally, add the thickening agent. If using Wondra, a few generous shakes is sufficient; if using flour, mix with water first. Stir thoroughly. I have also had some success with, in addition to the lemon juice, putting a piece of lemon rind in the pot before baking. I used the rind from a quarter of the lemon here. 

Ready to reduce

Put the pot in the oven and bake for about 1 hour. It is recommended to stir a few times and taste during baking. If the dish is not thickened to your liking after 1 hour of baking, you can remove the chicken and then reduce the liquid on the stovetop on high heat. I generally do this for at least 5 minutes. At the end, you should always be sure to taste and add salt or pepper if needed.

Steak au Poivre

Bonjour and a happy Bastille Day to you all, my dear readers. 223 years ago today, a Parisian mob stormed the Bastille in search of the stores of gunpowder held within, kicking off the French Revolution. Today, we celebrate with a delicious steak dinner. A few hours ago, I was looking on Wikipedia at the list of French dishes and found the steak au poivre. I started reading what it was and immediately got very hungry. The basic idea is a pan seared steak encrusted with peppercorns with a pan sauce of cognac and cream.

My recipe is based somewhat off a combination of The Joy of Cooking and my fellow bowtie enthusiast Alton Brown. The departure I took from the traditional method is that I used half and half instead of full cream to cut the richness a little. The flavors in this dish come together beautifully. The peppercorn crust cuts through the sauce just enough to assert itself. The traditional cut used is a filet mignon, but for those who aren't huge fans of that, use your favorite cut, or whatever you have on hand. I used top sirloin, and it came out very nicely.

Ingredients

• 1 steak, your favorite cut
• 1 tbs black peppercorns
• Salt
• 1 tbs butter
• Dash of olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1/4 cup cognac
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• A few leaves of flat leaf parsley, chopped

Instructions

Cut excess fat from the steak. Salt both sides of the steak as you normally would. Using a mortar and pestle, crush up the peppercorns. They should be coarsely crushed, with much bigger pieces than would come out if you used a pepper mill. Rub both sides liberally with the peppercorns.

Heat the butter and just a little olive oil in a saute pan on high heat. To get a good sear, we want the pan nice and hot. Lay your steak in the pan and cook for 4 minutes. Turn it over and cook another 4 minutes. You should generally leave it alone during each cooking period. Remove from pan and set aside to rest. Cooking the steak in this way will give you a beautiful pink-red interior. Do not overcook the steak, okay?

Add the onions to the pan and saute briefly, a minute or less. Deglaze the pan with cognac and reduce by about half. Add beef stock and half and half, bring to a boil, and reduce again by at least half, until desired thickness is reached. While you are doing this, add the mustard and mix it in.

Remove the sauce from heat. Add the parsley and mix in. You can salt the sauce to taste, but I didn't find it necessary. Spoon the sauce over the steak and enjoy! I had some simply roasted red potatoes on the side and a glass of 2010 North Point Petite Sirah. And for those wondering, it was arguably no 1904 Clos de Bèze, but it was quite delightful.