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"OTCC - Dinner at the TKit House! Steak au Poivre and Lime Mousse"
Posted by thndrkttn on 05-14-12 at 07:55 PM
LAST EDITED ON 05-15-12 AT 05:55 AM (EST)

I’m sorry I’m late. We had a huge party last weekend and the two weekends prior were spent preparing for it. So, onto the OTCC 2012 Month of May Recipe.

If you were to be a guest at our house for dinner, this is likely what you would be served. DH was in charge of the Steak au Poivre and I made the mousse.


Steak au Poivre

4 tenderloin steaks (or whatever cut suits your fancy), 6-8oz. each and no more than 1 1/2 inches thick
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons whole peppercorns
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/3 cup Cognac, plus 1 teaspoon
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour prior to cooking. Sprinkle all sides with salt.

Coarsely crush the peppercorns with a mortar and pestle, the bottom of a cast iron skillet, or using a mallet and pie pan. Spread the peppercorns evenly onto a plate. Press the fillets, on both sides, into the pepper until it coats the surface. Set aside.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. As soon as the butter and oil begin to turn golden and smoke, gently place the steaks in the pan. For medium-rare, cook for 4 minutes on each side. Once done, remove the steaks to a plate, tent with foil and set aside. Pour off the excess fat but do not wipe or scrape the pan clean.

Off of the heat, add 1/3 cup Cognac to the pan. BE CAREFUL!!! This could cause flames to come up so the slower, the better. Return the pan to medium heat and add the cream. Bring the mixture to a boil and whisk until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Add the teaspoon of Cognac and season, to taste, with salt. Add the steaks back to the pan, spoon the sauce over, and serve.

To the cream, DH added sautéed green onions and fresh cut mushrooms deglazed with the cognac. He also used rib-eyes and used less peppercorns on mine. We paired the steaks with baby red potatoes with olive oil, celtic sea salt, fresh rosemary and finished it off with some steamed asparagus.

Steak Prep:

Steak Prep:

Steak initial cooking:

Mushrooms and onions cooking:

Sauce:

Dinner:


When I was in eighth grade, for a church fundraiser, my mom and her friend auctioned off a gourmet dinner party for four. This is the dessert that they made. I remember it very vividly as I was the one who had to squeeze all the lime juice and zest the rinds.

Lime Mousse courtesy of the Silver Palate Cookbook

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
5 eggs
1 cup sugar
¾ cup fresh lime juice (6 or 7 limes)
Grated zest of 5 limes
2 cups heavy cream, chilled

Melt the butter in the top of a double boiler over simmering water.

Beat the eggs and sugar in a bowl until light and foamy. Add the mixture to the melted butter. Cook gently, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes a custard, about 8 minutes. Do not overcook or the eggs will scramble.

Remove the custard from the heat and stir in the lime juice and grated zest. Cool to room temperature.

This step is unorthodox but crucial. Using an electric mixer, whip the chilled cream until very stiff, almost, but not quite, to the point where it would become butter.

Stir the lime custard into the whipped cream until just incorporated. Pour into 8 individual serving glasses or a serving bowl. Chill for at least 4 hours.

I used a microblade to zest the rinds and that is fantastic for zesting. The flavor was a bit stronger than I remember so I would use either less lime juice or more whipped cream folded in. As always, I would highly suggest freezing the bowl and beaters that you are going to use prior to whipping the cream.

Enjoy!

Table of contents
Messages in this discussion
"RE: OTCC - Dinner at the TKit House! Steak au Poivre and Lime Mousse"
Posted by qwertypie on 05-15-12 at 01:18 AM
This looks fantastic! I can't wait to try it.
"RE: OTCC - Dinner at the TKit House! Steak au Poivre and Lime Mousse"
Posted by Tummy on 05-15-12 at 10:14 AM
*stomachgrowl!

I love your pics. They have been missed around these parts.

I'll make the mousse for Mom - she loves key lime pie (me not so much) so she'll do a happy dance for this.

"RE: OTCC - Dinner at the TKit House! Steak au Poivre and Lime Mousse"
Posted by samboohoo on 05-15-12 at 10:15 AM
*drool*


Samboobree, brought to life by Arkie


"RE: OTCC - Dinner at the TKit House! Steak au Poivre and Lime Mousse"
Posted by suzzee on 05-15-12 at 11:19 AM
I'm like Pavlov's Dog. You had me at the mushroom mixture


You say gamer dork like it's a bad thing.


"RE: OTCC - Dinner at the TKit House! Steak au Poivre and Lime Mousse"
Posted by bullzeye on 05-17-12 at 07:33 AM
Oh my - that sauce looks fantastic! And since I am always looking for a new sauce au poivre, I am definitely bookmarking this one!
"RE: OTCC - Dinner at the TKit House! Steak au Poivre and Lime Mousse"
Posted by Silvergirl1 on 05-22-12 at 12:59 PM

That looks so good! The pictures are great as usual.



Have to start cooking from these recipes, as I am in a rut.

"Mousse Report"
Posted by Karchita on 05-24-12 at 04:47 PM
It's good to have you back, Tkitty! I have missed you, your recipes, and your gorgeous photos.

The steak concoction definitely tempted me. And that is saying a lot from one who generally doesn't eat beef. If fooner had actually dragged his azz to Casa de Karchita last weekend, who knows what would have happened.

So I made the lime mousse and it was the yummiest, not too sweet and not too tart and very, very limey. I loved it! I made a half batch because dear Mr. Karchita is generally good for one portion of any dessert that I make, and while I am sure I would have enjoyed eating 7 portions of this delightful mousse, I decided that wasn't a good idea.

Making a half of this recipe is complicated by dividing five eggs by two, but I managed. I subbed Light Cool Whip for the real whipped cream, also out of waistline considerations.

I would have liked more precise instructions (Silver Palate's fault, not yours) on how long to beat the eggs. I went for about 2 minutes at med-high speed, until fairly white and densely foamy, but I have no idea if that was too much or too little.

I also had no idea how long to cook the custard. I figured custard shouldn't have foam, but the foam never disappeared (but then maybe I beat the eggs too long). So I cooked it until it was starting to change color to a darker yellow in the bottom of the pan, which seemed custard-like to me, but it turns out that was too long as my mousse was a bit grainy. I thought at first it was the lime zest, but on closer inspection, it was actually both the zest and bits of cooked egg.

Next time I would use a finer grater for the lime zest as well.

The flavor was wonderful, however, and I love most anything with lime or lemon, so I would like to try again and see if I can work the kinks out. If you have any advice, I would much appreciate it.

I have had the Silver Palate cookbook for decades and have never made this recipe, but that is why I like OTCC. Thanks!

"RE: Mousse Report"
Posted by thndrkttn on 05-24-12 at 06:53 PM
Thanks for making it and I glad you enjoyed! It is very limey in a not-so-sickysweet kind of way.

It says in the recipe (listed above) that you should cook the custard about 8 minutes and that worked for me.

DH wants to me to try it with orange. Meh. I think lemon would be nice. I wonder if lemon-lime would work...

Get yourself one of those microplane graters. They work so well.

"RE: Mousse Report"
Posted by Karchita on 05-24-12 at 08:07 PM
LAST EDITED ON 05-24-12 AT 08:48 PM (EST)

Thanks for the tips, tkit.

I had set the timer for eight minutes, but since it was a half batch, I thought it may need less time and sure enough, at about six minutes it started to show that darker yellow at the bottom of the pan, so I took it off the double boiler and shut off the timer. Then I thought that maybe the yellow was the custard forming, so I put it back on for a little while, maybe another minute. That was my mistake. I guess I would have done better with some idea of what signs to look for instead of just a time, which can vary. I am still not sure how to look at it and know it's done because obviously it should be taken off the heat before it starts to turn yellow. It never looked like a custard to me; it was pretty runny even when overcooked.

I have a Microplane and love it, but it's the size for making zest strips like you've used for your garnish or for curly strips of chocolate or parmesan. I also have a quality mini box grater that works extremely well for citrus zest, but it has several sizes and I just used the wrong one. When it wears out, I'll probably replace it with a smaller Microplane. They really are terrific.

I think orange might be good, but I'd probably add a bit of orange extract to ramp up the flavor a bit and lessen the sugar. I think lemon or lemon-lime would both be great variations. I noticed Silver Palate suggested a lemon version. Many delicious possibilities!

"RE: Mousse Report"
Posted by thndrkttn on 05-25-12 at 08:02 AM
Ah. I asked I asked DH this morning about halving the recipe and how long to cook the custard because, let's be honest here, he's the true chef in the household. He said if it were to be halved, you wouldn't cut the cooking time in half but do shorten it by a little. He figured 6-7 minutes.

The curls in the photo were made with a regular grater, like you would use to grate cheddar or mozz. The microplane we have is very, very fine. It's finer than what one would use to grate parmesean cheese.

I am going up to my parent's place at the end of June and I think I will try out out the lemon-lime version since we are having a ton of peeps over for 4th of July. I promise to report back my findings, especially since I will have to double the recipe then.

"RE: Mousse Report"
Posted by foonermints on 05-25-12 at 05:08 PM
»If fooner had actually dragged his azz to Casa de Karchita last weekend, who knows what would have happened.«

I see everything, you know.


Handcrafted by RollDdice

"RE: Mousse Report"
Posted by Karchita on 05-25-12 at 08:15 PM
*giggle*

Took you long enough.


"Ha"
Posted by Tummy on 05-25-12 at 10:40 AM
I hadn't made the steak yet as I was hesitant about buying a bottle of Cognac for one meal for just me. But upon cleaning the liquor cabinet out yesterday I found a bottle in the back corner. Yay!

Monday here I come - ready for steak and lime.

"RE: OTCC - Dinner at the TKit House! Steak au Poivre and Lime Mousse"
Posted by Tummy on 06-03-12 at 06:45 PM
Made the whole shebang Friday night.

My sil, my mother and I had a girls weekend. So Friday night at my mom's I fixed dinner. Made the steaks, baked potato and a salad with the lime mousse. My mother is a huge lime dessert freak and although I definitely need practice with the custard she loved it.

Everyone loved the sauce - which is super easy. And baked potatoes covered in the sauce is amazing.

I think I would whip the cream before starting the custard and chill next time, as I was stirring the custard with one hand and beating the cream with the other. And I am not that talented. I cooked the custard for 7 minutes on med/low (my mom has an electric stove which I hate) and I think it was over cooked. But it was still good and I'm not even a big lime girl. Except in margaritas and squeezed over carne asada tacos.

I made a ginger ale, oriental apple vodka drink. And the whole dinner was amazing.

Thanks T-Kit!