Creamy Peppercorn Sauce Recipe For Steak and Beef (2024)

FAQs

What is peppercorn sauce made of? ›

Ingredients. Primary ingredients are typically peppercorns and heavy cream. Additional ingredients may include butter, wine, brandy, such as cognac, shallots, garlic and additional seasonings, such as bay leaf, star anise, tarragon and salt. Some versions may incorporate liquor, such as whiskey.

If you would like an even thicker sauce, mix 2 teaspoons cornstarch with 2 tablespoons water and add to sauce, whisking continuously. Cook for 1 minute more. Add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Taste and add season with more kosher salt and crushed black pepper as needed.

What can I substitute if I don't consume alcohol? If you still want to make this peppercorn sauce but can't or don't want to use alcohol such as brandy or cognac, you can substitute the alcohol with 1/3 cup beef stock or water.

A: The main difference between pepper sauce and peppercorn sauce lies in their key ingredients. Pepper sauce is crafted from chili peppers whereas peppercorn sauce is made from peppercorns specifically black, green, or other varieties.

Flank steak is our cut of choice for pepper steak—it's marbled with fat, full of beefy flavor, and easy to cut into thin, tender slices. That being said, flank isn't your only option. Skirt steak will give you a very similar result, or if you're looking for a cheaper choice, sirloin is another great option.

The famous old sauce beloved of steak aficionados, usually termed simply peppercorn sauce, or pepper sauce (not to be confused with North America's ubiquitous 'hot sauce'), and the classic dish called Steak au Poivre are not exactly the same thing. One is all about the sauce, the other about the steak.

Add more liquid

If it is half-broken, add half as much again as the amount of oil that was used to break it in the first place. If it is completely broken, add equal volumes of oil and liquid. Start with a little bit and keep adding until the sauce comes back together into an emulsion. This may take a few iterations.

How do I make my sauce thicker and creamier? ›

The most readily available sauce-thickener is flour. For a too-thin sauce, try adding a slurry (equal parts flour and water, whisked together) or beurre manie (equal parts softened butter and flour, kneaded together to form a paste)—both are ideal thickeners for rich and creamy sauces, such as steak sauce recipes.

When whole, green Tabasco peppers are soaked in vinegar and salt, the result is a tangy, spicy topping with a Scoville heat unit level of 550-900.

To make the sauce:

Put the roasting tin directly on a medium heat. Add the shallots and whisky and scrape up any sticky meat juices from the bottom of the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the shallots begin to soften and the whisky almost disappears but leaves a glaze on the bottom of the pan.

1. All-purpose flour: You can thicken sauces with all-purpose wheat flour. For every tablespoon of cornstarch, use three tablespoons of flour. Combine raw flour with cold water in a small bowl to form a paste, then add it into the sauce as it's simmering.

Black peppercorns, which are the most common, are picked before the berry is just ripe. They therefore have the strongest flavour of the peppercorn varieties – slightly hot with a tiny bit of sweetness. White peppercorns are a lot less strong and pungent than black peppercorns.

Black peppercorns have a distinct spiciness. Unlike chile peppers that get their heat from capsaicin, peppercorns get their spiciness from a derivative called peperine. Peperine stimulates your taste buds, therefore enhancing the flavors of food.

For black pepper, peppercorn berries are picked while still green, allowed to ferment, and are sun-dried until they shrivel and turn a brownish-black color (1, 2). Botanically, black pepper is a member of the Piperaceae (pepper family).