Steak au Poivre

A celebratory French dish that likely originated in Paris in the 1920s, steak au poivre might be associated with white-tablecloth dining, but it is a recipe that you can easily make at home for a fraction of the price. It begins with a piece of beef that is crusted in crushed peppercorns, then topped with a silky, peppery Cognac pan sauce. In this version, using one large, well-marbled rib-eye steak instead of two individual filets means it’s more affordable, more flavorful and simpler to cook. (Preparing one perfect steak is easier than two.) Season generously, sear on the stovetop, then finish in the oven for even cooking. Let it rest while you prepare your pan sauce. Slice your steak into generous slabs and fan it out over your sauce, a move that makes the meat look more plentiful and the finished dish more lavish than if you drizzled the sauce on top.

A nice cut of steak is pan-fried, and its juices, along with cognac, cream, and black pepper turn into a pan sauce of your 10 p.m. Parisian dinner dreams.

Creamy, hearty soup filled with potatoes and topped with pepper-crusted tender steak and fried shallots.

This classic French beef stew is the ultimate comfort food. Slow-cooked in a wine-based broth, the meat becomes meltingly tender and enveloped in a richly flavored sauce—perfect for chilly nights.

Coq au vin is a hearty French stew of chicken braised in red wine with mushrooms and crisp pancetta.

This playful take on steak au poivre features chicken thighs that are pan-fried until golden then simmered in a peppery pan sauce until tender and juicy. The caramelized browned bits left on the bottom of the skillet from searing the chicken add deeper flavor to the sauce. Though Cognac is often used in classic au poivre, there is no booze in this version. Instead, a kick of lemon juice brightens the rich, velvety sauce. Serve the chicken over egg noodles or with crusty bread to sop up all that sauce. Tuck any leftovers into sandwich rolls with lettuce and tomato, or chop and toss with pasta and grated Parmesan for a quick lunch.

Bourbon adds a wonderful complexity to budget-friendly boneless beef chuck in this warmly comforting dish. Caramelized tomato paste, maple syrup, thyme and bay leaves provide balance while still highlighting the savory notes. Soy sauce does double duty, adding both salt and flavor. By marinating the meat in acidic lemon juice and cooking it low and slow, this inexpensive cut becomes very tender, proving you don’t need a fancy cut of beef to make an elegant, full-flavored main dish. Leftover braising liquid would make a wonderful base for a French onion soup.

Deliciously sweet and rich, this has echoes of a beef demiglace sauce, but takes less time to make. The sauce (before the final thickening step) can be made a day or two in advance and refrigerated. This is not an inexpensive sauce to make, so for me, it's a special-occasion sauce, but well worth it. Adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine.