Name: Peppercorn Strip Steaks with Cognac Cream Sauce
Ingredients: 2 cloves garlic , smashed and minced; Salt; Olive oil; ¼ cup black peppercorns , cracked; 4 ea . (24 ounces ) boneless strip steaks , trimmed of excess fat; ¼ cup cognac; 3 tbsp heavy cream; ¼ cup (4 tbsp) unsalted butter , cut into small pieces

Why it works: Garlic and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,665 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Peppercorn Strip Steaks with Cognac Cream Sauce

Time4 minutes per side

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic , smashed and minced
Salt
Olive oil
¼ cup black peppercorns , cracked
4 ea . (24 ounces ) boneless strip steaks , trimmed of excess fat
¼ cup cognac
3 tbsp heavy cream
¼ cup (4 tbsp) unsalted butter , cut into small pieces

Directions

Prepare the steaks

Sprinkle garlic with salt.
Rub garlic with the side of the knife repeatedly until it forms a thick paste.
Rub steaks with oil.
Season both sides of the steaks with salt.
Press peppercorns into both sides of the meat.
Let the steaks sit until room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Cook the steaks

Heat a stainless steel skillet large enough to hold the steaks over high heat.
Pour some oil into the pan, then add the steaks.
Cook the steaks 4 minutes per side for medium rare.
Remove the steaks and keep them warm.

Make the cognac cream sauce

Pour out excess fat but do not scrape the pan.
Deglaze the pan with cognac.
Turn off the heat and ignite the cognac with a firestick.
Shake the pan until the flames die.
Bring the sauce to a boil.
Cook until reduced by half.
Whisk in heavy cream and garlic.
Whisk in butter.
Once the butter has melted completely, spoon the sauce over the steaks.
Serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

282Calories

1 gProtein

30 gFat

3 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Cognac	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Garlic + olivetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Clove + olivetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,866 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Olive + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,887 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Strip steaks: Provide the main protein, whose fat and muscle cook to a tender, juicy medium rare.
Black peppercorns: Add a sharp, aromatic crust that flavours the beef surface.
Cognac: Deglazes the pan, lifting browned bits and adding a rich, aromatic flavour to the sauce.
Heavy cream: Adds fat and body, giving the sauce a smooth, silky texture.
Unsalted butter: Enriches the sauce with fat, adding richness and a glossy finish.
Garlic: Adds pungent aroma that mellows and spreads through the sauce and steak.

The step that matters

Do not scrape the pan after removing the fat. The browned bits stuck to the pan carry concentrated meat flavour. Deglazing with cognac dissolves them into the sauce, so leaving them in place builds the sauce's savoury depth.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, olive, cream, butter):

Capersfits better
Parsleyfits better
Thymefits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, olive, cream, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Peppercorn Strip Steaks with Cognac Cream Sauce