Anne Morgan For a quick French supper, Delia Smith’s steak au poivre presses crushed black peppercorns into 2 sirloin or rump steaks, for 2 people. You sear them in a dry, very hot pan, then finish them with a splash of red wine. The steaks sit in their oil and pepper for several hours, and the rest takes about 30 minutes.
The Complete Cookery Course prints it in the chapter on spices, in the first edition of 1983 and again in 1992. The later edition adds a crushed garlic clove to the oil. On her website, though, it is called Classic Steak au Poivre.
Restaurants often serve it “swimming in a sickly cream and brandy sauce”, Delia writes, and she does not want that. For her, the peppercorns and the steak need only a glass of wine to rinse the pan. So a steak au poivre with Cognac and cream, sold under her name, is not her recipe.
Pepper this coarse gives a hot, crunchy crust, and the wine turns the pan juices into a short, glossy sauce. For other cuts and timings, see how to cook steak her way.
Delia Smith’s Steak au Poivre
Course: DinnerCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy2
servings10
minutes20
minutes530
kcalSirloin or rump steaks in garlic oil and crushed black pepper, seared in a dry pan and finished with red wine boiled to a syrup.
Ingredients
- For the steaks:
2 entrecôte (sirloin) or rump steaks, 175-225g (6-8oz) each
2 heaped teaspoons whole black peppercorns
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
150ml (5fl oz) red wine
Directions
- Crush: Crush the peppercorns very coarsely with a pestle and mortar, or press them with the back of a tablespoon on a flat surface.
- Coat: Pour the oil into a shallow dish and stir in the garlic. Turn each steak in the oil, then press the crushed pepper onto both sides.
- Rest: Cover the dish and leave the steaks in a cool place for several hours, turning them over once.
- Heat: Heat a thick-based frying pan with no fat in it until it is very hot.
- Sear: Sear the steaks quickly on both sides, then turn the heat down.
- Cook: Finish them the way you like them. A medium-rare entrecôte needs about 6 minutes, turned several times.
- Wine: One minute before the end, pour in the wine and let it bubble until it is reduced and syrupy.
- Serve: Sprinkle a little salt over the steaks and serve them at once, with the wine spooned over.
Notes
- She serves it with gratin dauphinois, or jacket potatoes and a green salad.
- The 1983 edition has no garlic, so leave it out for her first version.
- The calories are for one steak with its wine sauce, with no potatoes or salad.
FAQs
Does Delia put cream or brandy in steak au poivre?
No, not in her pan-fried one. She finishes the pan with red wine alone, because she thinks the pepper and the steak need nothing more.
Cream only appears in her braised versions. The Winter Collection one gets 2 rounded tablespoons of crème fraîche, and the version for one person gets a dessertspoon of cream.
What is her braised steak au poivre in red wine?
It is her winter version in the Winter Collection, for 4, made with 900g braising steak cut into 5cm pieces. She says steak is expensive, and braising makes it easier for a party with every bit as much flavour.
Crush a level dessertspoon of black peppercorns, mix them with a level dessertspoon of plain flour and press the meat into it. Brown it about 4 pieces at a time in hot dripping or oil. Then cook 2 large chopped onions for 3-4 minutes, and 2 crushed garlic cloves for 1 minute more.
Stir in the leftover flour, add 425ml red wine bit by bit, then the meat, 2 bay leaves and a thyme sprig. Cover it and cook it in the oven at 150°C, fan 130°C, gas mark 2, for 2 hours. Stir in the crème fraîche just before serving, with buttered jacket potatoes.
Can I make steak au poivre for one?
Yes, her One is Fun has a braised version for one person, using 175-200g braising steak. After frying a small onion for 5 minutes, press the steak into ¾ teaspoon of crushed peppercorns mixed with a heaped teaspoon of flour.
Brown the steak in a small lidded casserole on the hob. Then add the onion, a small crushed garlic clove, salt and 110ml red wine or dry cider. Simmer it as gently as you can, covered, for 1¼-1½ hours.
Then boil the sauce for 1-2 minutes until syrupy and stir in a dessertspoon of cream. Creamy mashed potatoes go well with it, she says.
What is her braised steak with green peppercorn sauce?
This one is also in the Complete Cookery Course, for 2, with 350-450g braising steak in two slices or in cubes. Sear it in hot dripping, brown a sliced onion and pour 110ml dry white wine or cider into the pan juices.
Put it all in a covered casserole with thyme and garlic. Then braise it in a low oven, gas mark 2 or 150°C (130°C fan), for 2 hours.
After that, blend the juices and garlic with a teaspoon of tomato purée, a heaped teaspoon of plain flour and 2 teaspoons of green peppercorns. Heat the sauce with one more teaspoon of peppercorns and pour it over the meat.
How long does the steak take to cook?
About 6 minutes after searing gives a medium-rare sirloin, Delia says, if you keep turning it. A thicker or thinner steak needs a little longer or less, so check the middle with a small knife.
Add the wine for the last minute only, so it reduces without boiling dry.
