NEW YORK STEAK WITH MADAGASCAR PEPPER AND PORT WINE

Recipe courtesy Wolfgang Puck, Modern French Cooking for the American Kitchen, Houghton Mifflin, 1981

2 tablespoons whole white peppercorns
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
6 entrecôtes, 8 ounces each
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons almond or safflower oil
1 cup port or dry sherry
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brown veal stock
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons pink peppercorns, soaked overnight in port
2 tablespoons green Madagascar peppercorns

With the back of a heavy saucepan, crush the white and black peppercorns.

Remove all fat from the entrecôtes. Season with salt and crushed peppercorns.

Heat a large heavy saucepan. Pour in oil, and over high heat, cook the entrecotes 4 minutes on each side (for medium rare). Transfer meat to a warm platter and reserve.

Pour out oil from the pan, deglaze with port, and reduce. Add cream and veal stock and continue to reduce until sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Whisk in butter, 1 small piece at a time. Season, to taste, with salt.

Place 1 entrecôte on each warmed serving plate. Ladle sauce over steaks and divide remaining peppercorns equally over each portion.

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 20 hours 0 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes