Beef fillet steaks with peppercorn sauce

Recipe for beef fillet steaks with peppercorn sauce and hasselback potatoes.

Course Main course

Cuisine Danish

Nøgleord Beef fillet, Hasselback, New Year's Eve menu, New Year's food, Peppercorn sauce, weekend food

Total Time 1 20

Servings people

Calories 889kcal

25 g butter
1 small shallot, finely chopped
75 ml cognac
2-3 tbsp green peppercorns in brine, drained also sold as Madagascar peppercorns
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
200 ml beef stock
200 ml cream whipping cream (38% fat)
Salt and pepper

Wash the potatoes thoroughly and leave the skins on.
Cut slits across the potatoes so you get lots of thin slices, but don't cut too deep or the potatoes will be cut right through. You should cut about 3/4 of the way through the potato.
*Tip: lay the potato between the handles of 2 wooden spoons and cut until the knife hits the handles – that way you get nice deep cuts without slicing all the way through the potato.
Place the potatoes in an ovenproof dish, brush them with a little oil or spray with cooking spray, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Bake the potatoes in a preheated conventional oven (top and bottom heat) at 200/210°C for about 60 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender inside.
The time depends on the size of the potatoes.

Crush the peppercorns with the flat of a knife blade, then chop them.
I prefer them not too coarse, but chop them as you like.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan and sweat the shallot in it until soft and translucent.
Pour in the cognac, bring it to the boil, and flambé it by setting it alight. Gently shake the pan while it flames, until the flame dies out.
Take care with open flames in the kitchen, and remember to move the pan out from under the extractor hood!
You can also simply let the cognac reduce without flambéing it. It should reduce almost completely, until there is hardly any left in the pan.
Add the crushed peppercorns and Dijon mustard and stir together in the pan.
Then pour in the stock and let it boil over a fairly high heat for about 5 minutes.
Add the cream and let the sauce reduce over a medium heat until it has the consistency you want.
Let it simmer for at least 5 minutes, stirring now and then.
The sauce thickens further as it cools slightly.
Season the sauce with freshly ground pepper and salt if needed.
You can also add extra crushed green peppercorns if you like.

Season the steaks with salt and pepper on both sides.
Ideally, let them sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before frying. Remember to cover them with a cloth or a mesh food cover, though.
Melt the butter in a frying pan until it foams up well, and add a little oil too if you like.
The heat should be a little above medium, so the steaks fry rather than stew. The butter may brown, but take care it doesn't burn.
Lay the steaks in the pan together with any sprigs of rosemary, thyme and/or garlic cloves, and give the steaks a good crisp crust on one side over a fairly high heat.
Add a few green peppercorns too, if you have any left over.
After about 3 minutes, turn the steaks and fry them for a further 3 minutes on the other side. Turn down to medium heat if needed so the butter doesn't burn.
I cook them until they reach a core temperature of about 50-52°C, then let them rest on a plate for 10 minutes. That makes them a lovely pink, which is how we prefer them.
Remove the steaks from the pan and let them rest on a chopping board for about 10 minutes.
Don't turn the steaks before the 3 minutes are up – that is how you get a beautifully crisp crust.

Serve the beef fillet steaks with hasselback potatoes and peppercorn sauce.
Sprinkle with a little parsley if you like, and serve with a hearty salad, boiled peas, or steamed or pan-fried vegetables.