Pepper Sauce for Steak (Steak au Poivre Style)

Eye fillet is the classic cut for steak au poivre and the most tender cut of all. It is lean and cut thick, so the pepper crust and cream sauce bring the richness. For better value and a fuller beef flavour, use porterhouse steaks, following the usual method to cook porterhouse steak. Scotch fillet works too, and its marbling makes the sauce taste even richer. For a creamy peppercorn sauce without brandy, swap the brandy for an extra 1/4 cup (60ml) beef stock and add another 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce for depth. If you do flame the brandy, turn off the rangehood fan, keep a lid nearby, tie back long hair and stand back as you light it. The flames die down quickly once the alcohol has burnt off. Black peppercorns give the classic heat and aroma, while green peppercorns in brine are softer and slightly fruity, so many cooks use both. Cracking the pepper coarsely and sieving out the dust keeps the heat warm rather than harsh. Cook the crusted steaks over medium-high rather than smoking-hot heat, because cracked pepper scorches and turns bitter, and turn the heat down if the pan starts to smoke. Pepper sauce and peppercorn sauce are the same thing in Australia, and the names are used interchangeably. Steak au poivre is the French dish built around it: a pepper-crusted steak finished with a cognac and cream pan sauce. Bottled pepper sauce is handy, but a sauce made in the steak pan picks up the browned bits and resting juices, which give it far more depth. To make it ahead, cook the sauce in a frying pan, cool it quickly and keep it covered in the fridge for up to 2 days, then reheat gently with a splash of stock. A sauce that is too thin needs another minute of simmering, and one that splits can usually be rescued off the heat by whisking in a splash of cold cream. Doneness guide for the steak after resting: rare 55 to 60C, medium rare 60 to 63C, medium 65 to 70C, well done 75C. Pull the steaks 3 to 5C below your target, then make the sauce in the 10 minutes or so spent resting the beef. The Food Safety Information Council recommends cooking whole cuts of beef to at least 63C and resting them for 3 minutes. Rarer beef is a personal choice that pregnant women, older people, young children and anyone with a weakened immune system are safest avoiding, so cook their steaks to at least 63C.