Oksefilet med Peberflodesovs

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy frying pan or cast-iron skillet, 28cm
• •Kitchen tongs for turning
• •Warm plate for resting the beef

Instructions

1. 1

   Temper and season the beef

   Take the steaks out of the fridge thirty minutes before you cook. Cold meat seizes when it hits a hot pan, the outside burns while the centre stays raw. You want the beef at room temperature so it cooks evenly from edge to centre. Pat each steak thoroughly dry with kitchen paper. Moisture on the surface creates steam, and steam prevents browning. Season generously with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper on all sides. Don't be timid. A thick steak needs more salt than you think.

   Press the steaks with kitchen paper until there is no dampness left on the surface. Dry beef sears. Wet beef steams. That is the whole difference.
2. 2

   Sear the filets

   Set a heavy frying pan over high heat. Add the oil and butter together. The oil raises the smoke point so the butter can brown without burning. When the butter is foaming vigorously and the foam is just beginning to turn golden, lay the steaks in the pan. Do not crowd them. If your pan won't hold four steaks with space between them, work in two batches. Sear without moving for three minutes. You want a deep, dark crust, not pale gold. Flip once with tongs, never a fork, and sear the other side for two to three minutes more for medium-rare. The surface should be the color of dark mahogany. That crust is flavor, and everything that follows depends on it.

   Press the centre of the steak gently with your finger. For medium-rare, it should feel like the flesh at the base of your thumb when you touch your index finger and thumb together: soft with a gentle spring back. If it feels firm, you've gone too far.
3. 3

   Rest the meat

   Transfer the steaks to a warm plate and let them rest for eight to ten minutes. Do not skip this. When meat cooks, the juices are driven toward the centre by the heat. Resting lets them redistribute through the whole steak, so when you slice, the juices stay in the meat instead of flooding the plate. Tent the steaks loosely with foil. Tightly wrapped, they steam and the crust goes soft. Keep every drop of juice that collects on the resting plate. That goes into the sauce.

4. 4

   Build the sauce base

   Return the pan to medium heat. The bottom will be covered in dark, sticky fond, the caramelized proteins left behind by the beef. That is concentrated flavor. Add the chopped shallots and cook for two minutes, stirring them through the residual fat until they soften and turn translucent. Add the crushed green peppercorns and stir for thirty seconds until they become fragrant. Now pour in the cognac. It will bubble and may flame. Let it. The alcohol burns off in seconds and leaves behind a deep warmth that cream alone cannot give you. Let the cognac reduce until the pan is nearly dry.

   If the cognac flames, don't panic. Stand back, keep your hands clear, and let it burn itself out. The flame lasts only a few seconds and it is doing good work, burning off the raw alcohol and leaving the spirit's warmth behind.
5. 5

   Finish the pepper cream

   Pour in the beef stock and let it simmer until reduced by half. This concentrates the flavor and gives the sauce its backbone. Add the cream and stir gently. Let the sauce simmer for four to five minutes until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Stir in the Dijon mustard. It won't taste of mustard in the finished sauce. What it does is add a quiet depth and a slight sharpness that keeps the cream from feeling flat. Take the pan off the heat and swirl in the cold butter. The cold butter emulsifies into the hot sauce and gives it a glossy, silky finish that hot butter cannot. Now pour in any resting juices from the plate. Taste the sauce. Adjust the salt. It should be rich, peppery, and rounded, with enough heat from the green peppercorns to warm the back of your throat without overwhelming the beef.

6. 6

   Serve at the table

   Place each steak on a warm plate. Spoon the pepper cream generously over and around the meat, making sure each serving gets its share of green peppercorns. Scatter a few snipped chives across the sauce if you like. Serve immediately with buttered new potatoes or a simple green salad alongside. This is a dish that doesn't wait, and neither should the people at your table. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Talk to your butcher. Ask for centre-cut filet, trimmed and tied if the pieces are uneven. Good beef is where this dish begins, and no sauce, however well made, can rescue a mediocre steak. This is not the night to economise on the meat.
• •Use a cognac you would drink, not cooking brandy from the back of the shelf. The sauce carries whatever you put into it. A decent cognac or brandy gives the sauce depth and warmth. Cheap cooking spirit gives it bitterness you'll regret.
• •The hardest part of this dish is the resting. Ten minutes feels like a long time when the kitchen smells like seared beef and butter. But the difference between a rested steak and an unrested one is the difference between juices in the meat and juices on the plate. The joy of waiting.
• •Keep the sides honest. Buttered new potatoes with a little flaky salt, or crushed potatoes with chives. A green salad dressed with a sharp vinaigrette. The sauce is rich and generous. Everything around it should be simple enough to let it lead.

Advance Preparation

• •Take the beef out of the fridge thirty minutes before cooking. This is not optional. Cold steaks cook unevenly and the crust suffers because the pan loses too much heat at once.
• •The sauce is built in the moment from the fond the beef creates. It cannot be made ahead. Have your sides ready and your plates warming before you start the sear, so everything comes together at the table.
• •For a larger gathering, sear the steaks in batches and rest them together on a warm platter tented loosely with foil. Build one generous batch of sauce using all the fond in the pan. It scales well and the sauce stays glossy for several minutes off the heat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 220g)