This fiery steak from Zinc is perfect for a rainy day. Enjoy!
Season steak with salt and cover both sides with black pepper. Use a meat tenderizer to pound in the peppercorns. Be sure not to pound too hard.
In a sauté pan over medium heat, add canola oil. When the oil begins to smoke slightly, add the steak. Cook evenly on both sides until the peppercorns on the steak have caramelized. This ensures that the peppercorns are cooked and with not have the “heat” of raw black pepper.
At this point your steak should be rare to medium rare. Remove the steak from the pan and reserve. You can cover the steak with aluminum foil and it will gently cook up a temperature in 5 minutes.
Brandy cream sauce
Remove half of the oil from the pan and put back over medium heat then add minced shallots and cognac.
Cognac will flame up. Be careful! Pull pan away from the fire, add cognac and return to flame. The alcohol will burn off then add demi-glaze and heavy cream.
Reduce heat to a simmer and stir sauce until well incorporated. Season to taste with salt. Pour sauce over steak. Eat.