Cognac Peppercorn Gravy

Sauce au poivre lives or dies on two things: cooking the brandy out properly and crushing the peppercorns rather than grinding them. Crushed pepper gives you pockets of heat and a much better texture. Cognac is used rather than plain brandy because the extra age brings a dried fruit note that suits beef.

Ingredients

Makes about 350ml, enough for four steaks

• 2 tbsp black peppercorns roughly crushed, not ground
• 20g (¾oz) butter
• 2 shallots, very finely chopped
• 60ml (2fl oz) cognac a VS or VSOP, nothing older
• 300ml (10fl oz) hot beef stock as strong as you can make it
• 100ml (3½fl oz) double cream
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• salt

Kit

• Heavy frying pan
• Pestle and mortar or rolling pin

Method

1. Crush the peppercorns in a mortar or under a rolling pin until they are cracked into rough pieces. You want gravel, not powder, since powdered pepper turns the sauce muddy and harsh.

2. Cook your steaks in a heavy pan and rest them. Tip out any burnt fat, keep the pan on a medium heat and add the butter.

3. Add the shallots and the crushed peppercorns and cook for three minutes, stirring, until the shallots soften and the pepper smells fragrant. Toasting the pepper in fat takes the raw sneeze out of it.

4. Pull the pan off the heat, pour in the cognac, then set it back on the hob. Let it boil hard for two minutes until it has almost entirely evaporated and the pan is nearly dry. Cognac is 40 per cent alcohol and if you rush this the sauce will taste of raw spirit for the rest of its life.

5. Pour in the hot stock and boil for five or six minutes until reduced by about half and slightly syrupy.

6. Lower the heat, add the cream and let it barely simmer for three minutes until it thickens enough to coat a spoon. Do not let it boil hard now or it can split.

7. Stir in the mustard and any juices from the resting steaks, taste and add salt. Pour over the meat and serve straight away.

Tips worth knowing

• Use a properly strong stock. With only 300ml of it and no flour, the stock is doing most of the heavy lifting, and a weak cube will give you a thin sauce.
• A mix of black, white and green peppercorns gives a more interesting heat if you have them.
• For a non-alcoholic version, replace the cognac with 60ml of apple juice plus 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar and reduce it the same way until the pan is nearly dry. You lose the spirit warmth but keep the fruit and the caramelised base.
• Salt this at the very end. The stock reduces by half, so salting early is the fastest way to overdo it.

Keeping and reheating

Best served immediately. It will keep two days in the fridge but the pepper heat grows and the cream can separate on reheating. Warm it very slowly and whisk, and do not freeze it.

Questions people ask