Ingredients:
2 tablespoons whole, black peppercorns, roughly ground
2 filet mignon steaks (½ – ¾ pound each, about 2½” thick) – other thick (at least 1” thick) steaks work well, too
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoon olive oil for frying, and 4 tablespoons for the peppercorn marinade
1 cup heavy cream
⅓ cup Cognac or brandy
1 tablespoon salt
Preparation:
Pat steaks dry and allow to come to room temperature while you prepare the peppercorns.
Place the ground peppercorns in a medium skillet with the 4 tablespoons of oil and heat it over medium-low temperature about five minutes, until you can smell the peppercorns infusing their essential oils into the olive oil.
Remove this mixture to a measuring cup or small bowl, add the tablespoon salt and mix well. Wipe the skillet out well with a paper towel.
Coat both sides of the steaks with the peppercorn mixture.
In the skillet, heat the butter and the other tablespoon of olive oil over moderate-high heat until hot, just until it starts smoking, then sear the steaks for 4 minutes (3 – 3½ minutes for thinner steaks) on each side for medium rare. Transfer steaks to serving plates.
Pour off excess fat from the skillet and add the cream and Cognac. Boil the mixture, scraping up browned bits, until the sauce thickens and coats back of spoon, about 1 minute. Season the sauce with salt and spoon over steaks.
Serve with pommes frites, a nice salad and crusty bread.
