New York Strip Steak au Poivrade

     Sauce Poivrade is a very nice French classic sauce for beef or game.  Sauce poivrade is made with a rich demi glace.  Cider vinegar and black pepper are the key flavors of this sauce.  There are three classic versions of poivrade sauce.  One version is strictly for wild game.  Another version is for lighter flavored meats and the poivrade in this recipe is meant to be served with beef.
     Poivrade is not the same as Au Poive.  Au Poive is a different preparation and is not quite as refined as poivrade.  Au poive usually has red wine or cognac in the recipe.  Poivrade
 
     Meat Stock Recipe:
     Place 4 pounds of veal bones, lamb bones, beef bones, pork bones and meat scraps into a large roasting pan.
     Add 4 ounces of tomato paste.
     Add 12 ounces of a mirepoix of rustic un-peeled chopped carrot, celery and onion.
     Bake the mixture in a 350 degree oven, till the bones and vegetables caramelize to a dark brown color.  (Do not roast the mixture till it turns black!) 
     Stir the mixture occasionally, so it roasts evenly.
     After roasting, place the bones and mirepoix in a stock pot.
     Deglaze the roasting pan with water, while scraping the fond (suc) that is stuck to the pan with a spoon.
     Add the pan jus to the stock pot.
     Cover the bones with water.
     Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat.
     Reduce the temperature to medium low heat.
     Add 1 handful of parsley stalks.
     Simmer the stock for at least 4 hours.
     Add water occasionally to cover the bones.
     Strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve.
     Discard the bones and vegetables.
     Skim the grease off of the top of the meat stock.
     Let the meat stock set, till the sediment settles to the bottom of the container. 
     Carefully pour the the clean meat stock into a second container and leave the sediment in the first container. 
 
     Glace Viande Recipe:  (Meat Glaze)
     Place 4 cups of meat stock into a sauce pot over medium high heat.
     Add a small bouquet garni of bay leaf, thyme, chervil and marjoram. 
     Reduce the meat stock by half.
     At this point, the meat stock should be thick enough to glaze a spoon.  If it is not rich enough, reduce the meat stock, till it can glaze a spoon.
     Strain the glace viande through a fine mesh sieve.
     This is a very rich glace viande that can be frozen in portions for later use. 
     Set the glace viande aside.      
     
     Classic Sauce Espagnole Recipe:
     Place 4 pounds of veal bones, lamb bones, beef bones, pork bones and meat scraps into a roasting pan.
     Add 4 ounces of tomato paste.
     Add 12 ounces of a rustic un-peeled mirepoix of carrot, celery and onion.
     Roast the mixture in a 350 degree oven, till the bones and vegetables caramelize to a deep brown color.  Stir so the tomato paste caramelizes too.  (pincer)
     Place the bones and mirepoix into a stock pot.
     Deglaze the roast pan with water and add the jus to the stock pot.
     Cover the bones with water.
     Bring the stock to a boil over high heat.
     Reduce the temperature to medium low heat and simmer for 4 hours.
     Add water occasionally to cover the bones.
     By now the meat stock should be a rich brown color.
     Skim the grease off of the top of the simmering meat stock.
     Make a brown roux with equal parts of unsalted butter and flour while constantly stirring over medium high heat.  (You will need about 3/4 cup of brown roux.  1 part brown roux to about 20 parts liquid is about the proportion.)
     Keep stirring as the roux changes color from blonde to tannish red color and then to a brown color.
     Add enough of the brown roux to the meat stock pot to thicken the broth to a very thin sauce consistency.
     Add about 1 ounce of tomato paste.
     Simmer the thickened meat stock for about 20 minutes.
     Strain the thickened meat stock through a fine mesh strainer into a second pot.
     Discard the bones, meat scraps and vegetables.
     Add about 1/2 cup of sherry wine per quart of thickened meat sauce.
     Add 1 bouquet garni of bay leaf, chervil and thyme.
     Add 1 small handful of mushroom trimmings.
     Add 2 chopped shallots.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Simmer and reduce the sauce espagnole, till it becomes a medium thin sauce consistency.
     Strain the espagnole sauce through a fine mesh strainer and set it aside.

     Note:  If you prefer a Classic Demi Glace then take these steps:  Reduce a perfect sauce espagnole to perfection!  That means reduce a perfect sauce espagnole to a perfect glace consistency.  A perfect sauce espagnole reduced to perfection is a true authentic classic demi glace!   
     Standard demi glace is made by mixing half glace viande and half sauce espagnole!
 
     Steak Preparation:
     Trim an aged 10 to 12 ounce New York Strip Steak of all fat and gristle, so the steak is very lean.
     Season the steak with sea salt only.
 
     Poivrade Sauce Recipe:
     Heat a sauce pot over medium heat.
     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add 1 tablespoon of  finely chopped onion.
     Add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped carrots.
     Add 1 small handful of chopped mushrooms.
     Stir and saute, till the mushrooms, onions and carrots become lightly caramelized.
     Add 1 clove of chopped garlic.
     Add 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar.
     Add 1 pinch of sea salt.
     Slowly simmer the vinegar over medium low heat for 3 or 4 minutes.
     Add 1/2 of a cup of sauce espagnole.     
     Add 1/2 cup of glace viande.  (1/2 espagnole and 1/2 glace viande is regular standard demi glace!)    
     Simmer the sauce slowly over low heat for at least thirty minutes.
     After 30 minutes of simmering the sauce, add a few generous pinches of crushed black peppercorns.
     Simmer the poivrade for five minutes.
     Stir in 2 unsalted butter pats to finish the poivrade sauce.
     Strain the poivrade sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl and keep it warm.  (Do not make a poivrade sauce too far ahead of time, because the black pepper will change its character, if it is simmered or kept warm for too long.  Add the black pepper late in the recipe!)
     Adding shaved black truffle to the finished poivrade sauce is a traditional way of serving poivrade.  Use black truffles to finish the sauce, if you have access to them.
 
     NY Strip Steak au Poivrade Recipe:
     Heat a saute pan over medium/medium high heat.
     Add 1 small splash of blended olive oil.
     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add the NY strip steak.
     Flip the steak often so it cooks evenly.
     Cook the steak to the desired temperature.  (Cooking a strip steak rare to medium rare is best for this recipe.)
     Set the steak aside and allow it to rest for 1 minute.
     Set the steak on a plate.
     Pour the poivrade sauce over the steak.
 
     Accompaniments:
     Serve with sauteed small portabella mushroom halves and julienne zucchini sauteed with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and oregano.
     Parsnip scallion creme potato duplexed with buttered mashed plain sweet potato piped onto the plate with a star tipped pastry bag adds a nice touch.
 
     Parsnip Scallion Mashed Potato Recipe:
     Boil 1 peeled Russet potato in water over high heat.
     Heat a saute pan over medium heat.
     Add 1/4 cup of peeled parsnip slices.
     Add just enough water to cover the parsnips.
     Allow the water evaporate in the parsnip pan.
     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter.
     Reduce the temperature to medium low/low heat.
     Gently saute the parsnips, till golden highlights appear and the parsnips become tender.
     Drain the water off of the soft cooked potato.
     Add the braised parsnips to the soft potato.
     Add 2 tablespoons of cream.
     Add 4 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add sea salt and white pepper.
     Mash and whisk the parsnip potatoes, till they become creamy and smooth.
     Stir in 2 or 3 thin sliced green tops of scallion.
     Spoon the parsnip scallion creme potato into an un-tipped pastry bag and keep it warm on a stove top.
 
     Mashed Sweet Potato Recipe:
     Boil 1 sweet potato till it becomes tender. 
     Cool the potato enough so that it can be handled. 
     Use the back of a paring knife to peel off the skin. 
     Place the potato in a sauce pot over low heat.
     Add 2 pats of unsalted butter. 
     Add 1 pinch of sea salt and white pepper.
     Add 2 teaspoons of brown sugar.
     Thoroughly mash the sweet potato.
     Load the potato into a star tipped pastry bag.
 
     Duplex Potato Technique:
     To duplex a pastry bag, flatten the star tipped pastry bag, with the buttered mashed sweet potato inside, on a counter top.
     Carefully slide a second, un tipped pastry bag with the parsnip scallion mashed potato inside the mashed sweet potato bag.
     Squeeze the two pastry bags as one through the shared star tip, so both kinds of potato are piped through the star tip at the same time.
     This technique of duplexing is great for two complimentary potatoes of different color.
 
     This New York Steak au Poivrade is a classic entree in every sense of the word!  Peppery delicious!  The duplex potatoes are amazingly beautiful to look at as well as taste.  This potato was our menu potato at the last 3 Star Michelin rated French restaurant that I cooked in as a professional chef.  Customers loved this duplex potato combination.
     The last time I had a New York strip steak poivrade was at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris Casino in Las Vegas.  The only difference between this recipe's strip steak poivrade and the one at The Eiffel Tower Restaurant is the spectacular view of the Las Vegas Strip and the Bellagio Fountains.
     A good French Bordeaux is perfect for this elegant French entree.  If I may suggest, a Danish Bleu Cheese Souffle and a glass of champagne for the perfect appetizer before a poivrade steak.  I posted the Danish Bleu Souffle recipe a few months ago too.  I like fine French cuisine!  ...  Shawna