Vegan Mofo #5: Steak au Poivre...

Steak au Poivre is a pretty typical French dish, and one that can be found in most traditional French restaurants. I saw it on a lot of menus when we were walking around Paris and I found the concept intriguing because I’ve never tried it before as a meat eater. I thought it might be a fun, and relatively simple recipe to veganize. The internet says the dish comes from the 19th Century, and became popular In restaurants in Normandy where men would take their women in the hopes that the peppers aphrodisiac properties would work their magic. I don’t know how true that is, but it’s a cool story.

For my veganized version I decided to go with some homemade Seitan Steaks. I used Skye Michael Conroy’s Filet Mignon recipe from his book “The Gentle Chef Cook Book” because traditional Steak au Poivre used cuts of filet mignon, though I think any seitan steak would work just as well, and you could probably even use steamed tempeh for a gluten-free version, or perhaps even large portobello mushrooms for a gluten and soy free version, though obviously taste and cooking times would be different. I also decided to use a blend of peppercorns rather then just regular black pepper, and I did so because I wanted a richer more unique flavor, but any old peppercorns would do just as well I think.

Overall I think the dish turned out quite well. I was pretty nervous about the flambe because I’ve never had to do that before, and being so close to a large open flame kind of freaks me out, but I had some help with that and because the alcohol content is so small the flame didn’t get all that big. The ‘whoosh’ was kind of fun! My only complaint - okay I have two - is 1) A large dose of pepper can be quite overpowering, I ground the peppercorns by hand and I think it might be easier to grind them coarsely in a grinder, also use less then suggested if you don’t want as much heat. 2) As with before I found the texture of the seitan a bit soft for my liking, I said the same thing the last time I made the Filet Mignon and I thought that a longer cooking time would firm it up a bit but it did not. I realize traditional Filet is quite soft, because it’s served rare but I guess that just isn’t my thing. Flavor wise the seitan is great, and I recommend the recipe if you like Filet. My husband loved the dish, and so I would make it again with a few changes. Anyway, without further adieu, here is Steak au Poivre, enjoy!

Steak au Poivre 

4 Seitan Steaks (Homemade or Store bought)
6 Tbsp Black or Mixed Peppercorns Crushed
2 Tbsp Non-Dairy Butter
3 Tbsp Cognac
1/4 C White Wine
½ C Cashew Cream (for a thicker sauce) or ½ C Non-Dairy Milk of Choice for a slightly thinner Sauce.
Olive Oil as needed.
Sea Salt to taste

Instructions

- If your seitan steaks are a bit dry rub them in enough Olive Oil to coat. Spread the crushed peppercorns on a plate and place the seitan down on top, pressing each side into the crushed pepper, use your fingers if needed to press the pepper into the steak so it sticks.

- Melt the non-dairy butter in a large pan over medium high heat. When melted add the steaks and let them sizzle. Let brown on each side for 4-5 minutes or until they’ve reached your desired brown/doneness level.

- Once your steaks are cooked to your liking add the cognac to the pan.  Using a long match, or barbeque lighter quickly (and carefully) light dish on fire. You want to make sure you light the dish as soon after adding the cognac as possible, leaving the cognac in the pan too long will result in the steak having a bitter or alcohol taste. Also please make sure you are not sticking the flame into the pan and lighting the actual food, what you want to do is light the alcohol fumes on fire. Stand a little bit back so you don’t get engulfed, and make sure you have a lid ready to throw over the pan incase things go awry.

- Once the alcohol has burned off and the flame has gone out on it’s own (it will happen quicker then you think!) Remove the steaks from the pan with a spatula and place on individual serving plates.

- Now add the wine to the pan and boil stirring for one minute to deglaze the pan.  Then add the cream and stir to combine, simmering one to two minutes or until the cream has warmed through and the sauce is combined. Taste, and add some sea salt to season, and extra black pepper If you desire.

- Spoon the Sauce over your steak, and serve with a side of steamed asparagus, and a mound of mashed potatoes, plus a glass of wine, you deserve if after your flambe experience!

For anyone interested I lightly steamed my asparagus so that they were tender crunchy, then I drizzled them in Lime Olive Oil, and tossed them with Sea Salt and Course Ground Lemon Pepper. The Mashed Potatoes were made with Unsweetened almond milk, Earth Balance, Sea Salt, Garlic Powder and a little of the leftover crushed peppercorns. I used 4 Medium Sized Russet Potatoes, and FYI the Cognac sauce tastes just as good over the potatoes as it did over the steaks. Actually the sauce was probably my favorite part of the whole Steak au Poivre experience!

Cream of Leek Soup with Pink Peppercorns...

Believe it or not I came up with this recipe on the plane from Brussels to Chicago. It was partially inspired by a side dish of curried leeks I ate while in Luxembourg City. I was thinking about that dish on the plane ride home, and thinking how happy I was that spring was finally upon us. Leeks seemed to be a pretty popular meal item most places we went in Europe, which was fine by me since I love them so. You might think that after weeks of eating them I might be bored of them, but that wasn’t the case at all, in fact I only wanted more, and for whatever reason I kept thinking curry, coconut leek soup. This idea just wouldn’t leave my brain the entire plane ride home, and somewhere over the Atlantic I came up with the idea of adding fancy pink peppercorns and tarragon into the mix. Sounds crazy I know, but damn if it wasn’t delicious! This made a nice sized pot of soup, but my husband devoured most of it in one sitting. I wouldn’t be surprised if you did as well.

Cream of Leek Soup with Pink Peppercorns 

3 Medium-Large sized Leeks
6 Cloves Garlic Minced
1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 tsp Curry Powder
1 tsp Tarragon
1 15oz Can Coconut Milk
2 C Vegan Chicken Broth
½-1 tsp Pink Peppercorns crushed
Green Onions or Chives to Garnish
Sea Salt to taste

- Thoroughly wash the leeks and slice thinly.

- Melt the coconut oil in a pot over medium heat. Add sliced leeks, garlic, and curry powder and saute for 6-10 minutes until leeks are bright green, soft and fragrant.

- Add the Vegan Chicken broth and simmer for about 10 minutes.

- Carefully remove leek and broth mixture form the pot, place in a high-speed blender and blend on high until completely smooth.

- Return the soup to the pot, and add in the coconut milk, tarragon and ½-1 tsp of Sea Salt - or to taste. Stir until the coconut milk is completely blended into the soup, then let simmer for about 5 minutes.

- Turn off the heat and stir in the pink pepper corns and green onions or chives. Saving a little of each to garnish each bowl. Serve and enjoy.

Cashew Salad with Tamarind Dressing...

Over the past week and a half I’ve been kept very busy, and so I’m afraid I’ve been a bit neglectful here. There are always articles in the back of my mind begging to be written, always recipes I’m eager to test out, it just so happens that these past few days I haven’t had much time to sit down and do any of it. My birthday was on the 1^st of the month, and my husband and I spent the week celebrating as we always do for one another’s birthdays. Movies, dinners out, hanging with friends, going for evening strolls and the like. On the actual day we went out of town for a bit of hiking and then spent the afternoon-early evening exploring Galena, IL, a lovely old historical town. Full of kooky shops and lovely scenic views perfect for photographing. Then of course there was work, and then we had a BBQ for the 4^th and then yesterday we spent the entire day at the zoo. An activity I felt extremely conflicted about (more about this In a post to come) though I had a good time. On top of all of that craziness I’ve just recently purchased a stack of new (to me) cookbooks that I’m rather eager to try out, so suffice to say I haven’t been creating many recipes of my own over the past week and a half. Hopefully by the start of next week I’ll be back on track, but in the meantime I did make this delicious Cashew Salad with Tamarind Dressing from a book called Easy Vegan: Simple Recipes for Healthy Eating. So far everything I’ve made from this book has indeed been easy, and so far everything has been tasty as well.

What I really love about this salad is it’s mixture of flavors and textures. You have the wonderful roasted cashews paired with nappa cabbage, and carrot, crisp green onions, and cucumber and the pleasantly sweet mango. The recipe actually calls for dried mango but since I didn’t have any I just used fresh, and I think it worked out beautifully. The dressing was a wonderful blend of sweet and tangy with an interesting yet hard to describe accent from the Szechuan peppercorns. Some would argue that the Szechuan peppercorns aren’t necessary, that it’s just a fancy hard to find ingredient for no reason, but I’m willing to argue that these peppercorns do add a subtle layer to the salad that would be otherwise missed if one were to just use regular black peppercorns. Of course if you don’t care either way about pepper or could care less about subtlety you can always opt out or use regular pepper instead and I’m confident the salad would be wonderful anyway.

So definitely check out this book, for this as well as many other great recipes. I don’t normally buy, like, or even give a second glance to books with titles like "easy...." or "Simple...." that are compilations of recipes with no ‘known’ author, but this book surprised me. It’s definitely worth your pennies.

Black Pepper Is The Spice Of Life...

What would life be without flavor? Utterly dull I should think. It is my opinion that no kitchen in the world should be without a generous selection of fresh herbs and dried spices. My own spice cabinet is overflowing with spicy abundance from all corners of the globe, and while the extensiveness of my collection may incur a little light ribbing from friends and family from time to time, it has never yet been said that my food lacks flavor. Flavor is very important in my kitchen, as there is nothing I hate more then bland, boring, tasteless food. Eating should be enjoyable. It should be something done with pleasure. To me mealtime should be something you look forward to, a time to share good food and good conversation around a table with friends and family. Maybe that’s a bit ‘old world’ of me, but that’s how I was raised. Very rarely in my house growing up was it acceptable for us to eat anywhere but the kitchen table. When mom called for dinner you came and sat at the table, and if you weren’t hungry you usually came and sat down anyway. The t.v. was never on and while some might consider that a hardship I think of it as a blessing. There is nothing more disturbing, more distracting nor nothing kills the mood faster then a t.v. blaring in the background. Meal time to me is something that should be looked forward to with happy and excited anticipation. It shouldn’t be a chore, and it shouldn’t be a solitary activity in which you mindlessly shovel food into your face while sitting in front of the television. How can you truly appreciate what you’re eating when you’re not even paying attention to it? How can you cherish the taste, the texture, the flavor? To me food is always better when you have someone to share it with.

It’s with that passion I have for spice, combined with a request from a reader that I embark on a new series that I hope to make a weekly (or every other week) occurrence. The Spice of Life, will be similar to my Spotlight Food posts, only I’ll be featuring a different spice each week. Detailing for you that particular spices history, medicinal benefit (if any) and culinary uses. For my first post, I thought I’d choose a universally renown yet simple spice, common enough that you can find it for sale in any grocery store to which you venture.

Black Pepper

I know, you’re probably thinking black pepper? Bleh! It’s the most common spice available, and in our culture common tends to mean boring. Very often I think black pepper is overlooked. Probably the only time you yourself ever think of using it is as an afterthought, but let me assure you black pepper is the most important spice, in the history of food.

History/Cultivation

Pepper or peppercorns come from the pepper plant (Piper nigrum) which is a flowering vine in the Piperaceeae family, native to India. Peppercorns are technically considered to be a fruit, and to make what we know as pepper, the berries of the plant are picked and dried (resulting in peppercorns) and then ground into the powder we commonly use. Interestingly Black, Green, and White pepper (like bell peppers) are all the same plant. The difference in color and taste is due to different harvesting times, and drying techniques. Green peppercorns are picked while unripe, black peppercorns are picked when half ripe, and white peppercorns are picked when very ripe and then soaked in brine to remove their dark outer shell. Pink peppercorns on the other hand are from a completely different plant species (Schinus molle)

Pepper has been used in India since at least 2000 BCE, and possibly even earlier. Today India is still the top pepper producer in the world, with it’s Malabar Coast being it’s top producing region, seconded by Indonesia.

Historically pepper was a highly prized trade good, so much so that it was often referred to as ‘Black Gold’ In ancient times it was used not only as a seasoning but as currency, and a sacrificial offering to the gods. It was used to pay rent, taxes, ransoms, and given as a precious gift. It was so cherished not only for if’s flavor but also for it’s ability to mask a food’s lack of freshness. Which was especially important in a time when methods of preserving food were inadequate and inefficient.

Black Pepper believe it or not changed the course of history! It’s importance was the catalyst that started most of the spice trade, leading to the development of many major merchant towns in Europe, The Middle East and across the world. During the Middle Ages the price of pepper was exorbitant, and Italy held a monopoly over the trade, it was because of this that led the Portugese to find a new sea route to India - by sailing around Africa - during the age of discovery, consequently also leading to the Portugese colonial occupation of India as well as the subsequent European discovery and colonization of The Americas. No matter what your opinion of black pepper as a seasoning you have to admit that’s pretty amazing! Interestingly it was once these trade routes opened up, and pepper supplies began flooding Europe that the price of pepper declined. Once an item exclusively for the rich, pepper now began it’s journey to becoming an everyday seasoning, easily available to those of more common means. Today pepper accounts for one-fifth of the worlds spice trade.

Health Benefits

Medicinally black pepper has demonstrated antioxidant and antibacterial effects, but mostly it’s known to improve digestion and intestinal health. Black Pepper stimulates the tastebuds in such a way that a message is sent to the stomach to create more hydrochloric acid secretion which is important in improving digestion. When the bodies production of hydrochloric acid is insufficient food may sit in the stomach for a long time creating heartburn or indigestion or pass into the intestines where it could be used by unfriendly gut bacteria to create gas, irritation, diarrhea or constipation. Consumption of black pepper has the ability to reduce or relieve these effects.

Black pepper also promotes sweating, urination and the outer layer of the peppercorn stimulates the breakdown of fat cells in the body.

Preparation

You can literally use Pepper on almost anything, and you really should. I highly recommend good quality whole peppercorns that you can grind yourself in a pepper mill. Honestly nothing beats the freshness and the flavor, but already ground pepper has it’s time and place as well. The best thing to do with pepper is to add it at the end of cooking, as it loses much of it’s flavor and aroma if cooked for too long. Pepper is great for bringing out the flavor of simply steamed, or sauteed vegetables. It’s a wonderful way of spicing up dips and it’s wonderful in fresh homemade salads, and pasta dishes. I don’t think I’ve ever made a salad dressing without tossing in a bit of fresh cracked black pepper. However as I experiment more and more with my spice collection I have to say I really love the flavor and aroma of white pepper. It’s a bit different then black pepper and if you’ve never tried it before I highly recommend it. Subsequently even though pink peppercorns are not of the same species I do recommend them as well. They lend a beautiful fruity flavor with just a touch of spice that’s incredibley pleasing to the palate, and hard to come by otherwise.

May your life be rich in spice! Happy and health eating to you!

Note - An interesting little fact about Black Pepper, is that black peppercorns were found stuffed in the nostrils of Ramesses II, placed there as part of the mummification ritual that took place shortly after his death in 1213 BCE.