Steak Au Poivre with Jalapeño Reduction Sauce

The most entertaining cooking class I ever took was with Tim Love, the award winning Texas chef. He said, "If you put anything you on piece of meat beyond salt and pepper, you are hiding bad quality meat. Now let's talk about how we can make average meat taste great." That is why I'm not a big fan of most steak houses - you either overpay for good meat, or you're paying someone to flavor up a not so great piece of meat. That is why I prefer to have my steak at home. There are 3 steps to a great steak: 1) cut, 2) temperature, and 3) timing. Some of the best cuts I've found are from Snake River Farms, but when I source steaks locally, I don't mind using a little "Tim Love" and dress them up with my Jalapeño Balsamic reduction sauce. This particular recipes is for Steak Au Poivre, the traditional French dish that involves coating the surface of the meat with cracked pepper and is often accompanied by a pan sauce consisting of reduced cognac and heavy cream. For my version, I prefer to finish the steak with my Jalapeño Balsamic Reduction Sauce (see recipe). This sweet and spicy sauce is the perfect balance for the coarse black pepper crust of this dish.

At least 45 minutes prior to cooking, remove steaks from the refrigerator.  Liberally season the steaks with paprika, garlic powder, salt and cracked pepper.  Turn steaks over every 15 minutes and hand press peppercorns into the meat.

Just prior to cooking, lightly brush/spray both sides of the steaks with olive oil.

Using a medium to high flame grill, cook steaks to taste.  Only turn each steak once (approximately 4 minutes each side for medium rare, 6 minutes each side for medium).

Remove and drizzle with Jalapeño Balsamic Reduction sauce and serve.