Fancy dinner at home

One of my favorite cuisines to experience while dining out is French food. My go-to dish is often Coq Au Vin, but John always gets Steak Au Poivre. In case you’re not familiar with this magical dish, it’s basically a tender cut of steak encrusted in freshly cracked peppercorns, seared beautifully and finished with a delectable pan sauce.

We made it for the first time this summer when we couldn’t dine in or out at restaurants and it was an immediate hit. Honestly, we were both surprised how easy it was to pull off and how well it ranked among the variations we enjoyed at restaurants. We’ve made it many times since then for ourselves and family and friends — this is a good meal for a celebration, a weekend or heck, a weeknight because it’s that quick. My favorite recipe is from NYT Cooking, shocker.

NYT Cooking’s Simple Steak Au Poivre

Notes for the chef:

• Obviously this is insanely good with a Filet Mignon cut of steak, but you could do any tenderloin cut. You’re going for something boneless, thicker and soft here.

• While we typically are making this for two people, I still make the full batch of pan sauce. Also, I don’t measure the amount of pepper that gets pressed into the steaks — I just make sure there’s enough to coat both sides.

• While we’re talking about the pan sauce, it turns out best if you use a homemade stock (preferably beef), whether you make it or can find some at the store. I recently made it with store bought chicken stock and it was okay, but I want the best for you so try to get the good stuff.

• In terms of side dishes, we gravitate toward Smashed Red Potatoes and Simple Roasted Asparagus whenever we make this.