For the Guys: The one romantic dinner any man worth his salt should learn how to cook is Filet au Poivre! A moan worthy, delicious dish that takes less time to prepare than starting the braai. So man-up boys! It’s time to cook for your person, and join a growing fraternity of gentleman grazers. We must become ‘Brothers in Charms’ and treat our dates with delicious deboneire dining.

Alvi's Drift wine Brut Nature Cap Classique pairing Foodie SA Derick van Biljon Recipe  Pepper Steak Filet au Ppoivre

Valentines. Y2K. It’s just after sunset in Sandton Johannesburg, when my friend asked me “Are you hungry?” “I’m always hungry” I said. “Would you like some steak?” The answer was yes.
I watch her closely from across the counter. She moves around her kitchen with the grace of a ballet dancer. Bare feet, wearing a coral summer dress, short blond hair styled like she didn’t care, a faint smile ever present. Her movements are confident and easy. Her rhythm enchanting. She’s done this before – I realize, enjoying her choreographed grace as she gets her tools ready. She’s aware of her audience, but the conversation never stops… I’m enthralled. “Do you ever cook for your dates?” she asks while a whole cut of beef filet appears from a well stocked fridge. “No” I say, knowing it’s not the answer she was after. I ignore the references to a date, it’s complicated… “Why do you ask?” “A gentleman should really be able to cook something special for the one he loves” She states without pause. The implication is lost on me, but in my defence, she was wielding a rather large chef’s knife at the time. “I can braai…” “Not the same thing” she cuts me off, the knife indicating that there is no further debate. With well observe stokes she glides through the meat blocking two large square steaks as thick as they are wide. Patting them dry with a paper towel, she utters three words that changes my life for ever “Want to learn?”

For the next 20 minutes, she teaches me how to prepare Fillet au Poivre. Rolling the steaks in freshly cracked black pepper. Too much salt but “…you need it on filet” The importance of a searing hot pan… “To seal the meat and get a good crust” Brandy goes in. Flame. Delight that I’m surprised. She puts the meat aside and pours a pint of cream into the pan.
“Stir this” she commands… I obey.
While she sets the table, I watch the sauce thicken and change to a warm nutty colour. It’s aroma fuels my appetite. The seasoning and meat drippings in the pan is the only flavouring. I am about to dip my finger in for a taste… “Don’t let it boil over” She sings as a flower in a glass is set, a bottle of champagne from a wine cooler, a salad (she must have made that earlier), a single candle and Edith Piaf at the touch of a button. The scene is set. Her plan complete. We sit.

She raises her glass and say “Eat everything”
I did.

Filet au Poivre aka Pepper Steak

..has only four ingredients: meat, seasoning, brandy and cream. It is dead easy to prepare and virtually fool proof (you need to be a complete flake to bugger it up!) It will be The Go-To meal for any special occasion you need to ‘show up’ for.

It’s a required skill gentlemen, because sometimes a braai just won’t cut it. It all happens in a flash, the flavour from the meat, pepper and brandy (used to lift all that grilled deliciousness from the pan) is everything you need to make a rich, creamy, eye-poppingly good sauce. It is sensational, and by far my most favourite way of preparing filet.

In 4 easy steps you can treat your person with something truly spectacular, delicious, satisfying and really quite impressive. Instead of booking a table at another restaurant, give it your personal effort. It won’t go unnoticed!

Step 1: Get yourself to a butcher

I won’t carry on about the different cuts of beef, a simple on-line search will provide you with everything you need to know. The best advise I can offer, is to find a good butcher were the block-man knows his stuff, and the suppliers take pride in their produce. Give yourself the best chance of success and find pasture raised and finished, free range matured beef (or the best you can find). Ask the butcher to block ‘New York’ cuts, as thick as they are wide, and as uniform as he can get them. This insures that each piece cooks in the same time frame, and that you get good caramelization (that tasty grilled crust) without over cooking the meat.

When sourcing meat I always look for the Three C’s:

CUT: My Personal Butcher never gives me anything under 3 cm thick. Check if
it’s been properly dressed – has the membrane and gristle been removed? Are the cuts even and
straight? Is it properly packed? If all this looks correct, it means the block-man cares about his
work, and the butcher cares about his product.
COLOUR: Well raised and matured meat has a deeper red hue, like a Pinot Noir. If its bright red
or pink, it probably wont stand up to the task. Look for thin pale bands running through the flesh.
This is the marbling: fatty strata that lends flavour and juice.
CONSTITUTION: Give it a feel and a sniff. Quality beef will give under pressure, resist, and then
bouncing back. Check for excessive fluids in the packaging or container, well matured beef won’t
expend much moisture. You might want to sniff – good beef doesn’t smell sterile or salty in any
way, the best aged beef has a pleasant sweet nutty aroma.

Step 2: Prepare

I always allow my filet some time to settle, usually overnight (but a few hours can make all the difference) Remove the fillet from the packaging (or portion the blocks if you got the whole strip) and use a paper towel to blot up any residual moisture. Rest on a clean towel and set in the fridge uncovered for at least three hours. 30 min before cooking, cover them with good olive oil, and roll the blocks in freshly crushed black pepper. Get fresh black pepper, the stuff you had in your cupboard since the World Cup probably won’t taste any good. I mill a large quantity in a side plate and roll only the sides of each block in the pepper. This way you get better contact with the pan on the top and bottom , achieving a much better crust. It’s called Pepper Steak for a reason, so don’t be modest – trust the process.

Now leave them to rest on a clean towel and get everything ready for the final showdown.

Step 3: Get Cooking!

Get your ducks in a row. First, set the oven to 180ºc. Get the cream, brandy and a lighter at hand. When the oven is near on speed, heat up your pan. Add just enough oil to cover the base. It should be hot! Smoking. While it’s heating up, salt the filet well on each side. I love using crushed salt crystals, it’s clean and tastes better than fine table salt – you can be quite liberal, this is the only salt going into the dish and you are not only seasoning the meat, but also the sauce.

Grill each side, top and bottom, at high heat for about 3.5 min. You want a very good colour, these cuts are thick so you need to get them well grilled. Don’t crowd the pan with to many cuts at a time, and don’t turn them over more than once. Don’t press them down or poke them, just check if the crust is good and flip them over. In this case, there is no need to manhandle the meat.

I usually only grill the top and bottom sides of each portion. If you get that crust right, you’ll have
more than enough flavour for the steak. The meat will definitely not be cooked in the centre (that’s
why we heated up the oven) so now it’s time to finish these puppies.

Step 4: The Sauce

Once you have the perfect crust on each side, add all the brandy to the pan and allowed to flame. If you work on gas you can tilt the pan and let the alcohol ignite. Otherwise use the lighter or a match, but be quick about it, the alcohol will evaporate pretty fast. WARNING: there can potentially be a big flame, so remove the pan from your stove top and flame it away from extraction fans or any flags and caps on the ceiling. When the flames dies down, return to the hob and remove the steak to an oven-proof dish or pan.

Pop them in the oven for about 10 min while you make the pepper sauce. Reduce the heat to medium low and add all the cream to the pan. Watch it closely at first, cream tends to boil over. All the beautiful flavour from the meat drippings and pepper is now deglazed in your sauce. Keep stirring it until a gentle simmer, then leave to cook. The colour will become a tawny brown and the cream will thicken naturally. It should only take about 3 min, but once you draw your finger through the sauce covering the back of the spoon, and the separation remains clear, the sauce is ready.

Test for seasoning, add more salt or pepper if required. Then add the Dejon mustard, it acts to cut some of the richness and ads a top note zing in the flavour.

Cover the pan and remove from the heat. Don’t forget about the steak in the oven (rather remove them now and re-heat when you are ready to plate)

Dinner is ready Champ! Victory is yours!

Now, you can’t serve your date meat and sauce only, so think about a side. It can be potato wedges, a bought salad or steamed vegetables. I’m sure you can manage to wrestle that up. I suggest Tender Stem Broccoli blanched for two minutes in salted boiling water, and then dumped in ice-water to stop the cooking process, preserving the crunch and flavour. Chunks of bell pepper and good rosa-tomatoes, roasted in a hot dry pan just to char, will be delicious, and literally takes 3 min to prepare.

The Drink

You got the best fillet in the land, and cooked the most beautiful dinner for your date. So what to drink? Meat means red wine doesn’t it? Well yes, but there are better options for Valentine’s… BUBBLES!

Spumante, unfortunately will not cut it Old Sport. It has to be a bottle of premium-sparkling. And it must preferably be a Cap Classique (aka. MCC). So how does one pair this dish? If the Filet was your mate, and you were his wingman, who would you choose to go on a blind date with him?

Alvi’s Dritft Brut Nature is the the perfect marriage to your Filet au Poivre. This Chardonnay Pinot Noir bombshell has a bone-dry sense of humour and a charming, gold-leaf tan. Her figure is curvy yes, but her personality is lively and effervescent. Her bubbles are FINE, and her curly blond crown a delicate light mousse. Her perfume is seductively appealing; baked brioche and lemon cream, with hints of walnut and nougat. Her lips are chalky dry, but her kiss is full and soft with notes of almond and stone fruit, ending with the lingering, lemony-cream memory of her gloss.

With each sip, Alvi’s Drift Brut Nature will revitalise the pallet and prepare you for the next bite of saucy, meaty goodness… The grounded umami sweetness in the aged meat. The salty unctuous punch of the grill. The richness of the cream. The zingy nuttiness of the pepper, and the fragrant fruit of the bandy – All set to seduce your senses for the sparkle that is to follow. Her fine moussey fizz, lifting the fatty saltiness, oxidizing the taste buds to turbo charge the flavours in your mouth, leaving her buttery nougat to chase down the remaining peppery bite of the sauce. A vicious circle. A relentless tease. A progressive burn edging ever closer to a glorious, inevitable flush of satisfaction. Bon Appétit!

Recipe – Filet au Poivre

Serves: 2
Prep time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Oven: 180ºc
You will require one 25 cm, heavy base skillet or pan. Grilling tongs. One oven proof dish, a spoon, a lighter and some guts.
Ingredients:
● 2 x 250 g New York Cut beef fillet pieces from Kalahari Wild
● Fresh black or mixed pepper corns
● Maldon salt flakes
● 30 ml Good olive oil
● 30 ml Canola oil for grilling
● A double shot brandy
● 500 ml fresh cream
● 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºc
  2. Coat the filet in olive oil and roll liberally in freshly cracked black pepper, allow to rest for 30
    min.
  3. Heat the pan with the canola oil on high heat until smoking hot
  4. Just before cooking, season the fillets liberally with salt
  5. Grill each side of the fillet for about 3.5 min or until a good dark crust is achieved
  6. Add the brandy and allow to flame. Remove the meat to an oven proof dish when the flames
    die out.
  7. Pop the meat into the oven and finish cooking for 10 min.
  8. Pour the cream into the pan and simmer on medium low heat until thick
  9. Test for seasoning and add the Dijon mustard.

Serve up on heated plates with a side of your choice. I suggest blanched and shocked tender stem broccoli with charred peppers and sweet rosa-tomatoes.

Enjoy with Alvi’s Drift Brut Nature Cap Classique sparkling wine.

TIP: This recipe can be successfully used for other beef cuts such a rump, sirloin or even ox liver (adapt grilling time accordingly) Also great for venison, pork and ostrich.

Kalahari Wild is my Personal Butcher and here’s why…
Dry Aged Meat is a buzz word in carnivorous circles these days and there are only a select few
suppliers in South Africa with the artistry and necessary care to perfect this age old practice.
Traditionally a method to preserve fresh meat for a longer period of time, modern chefs and foodies
has cottoned-on to the fact that dry aging meat greatly improves flavour, tenderness and texture.
You see, usually when we buy matured beef from a supermarket or butchery, the animals were
young feed-lot specimens, reared and finished with the bottom line in mind, and where the
“maturation” happens in chill rooms by simply hanging the slabs for a rather short period of time.
Dry aging requires much more skill, control, time and attention to detail. It calls for a careful
maintenance of a balanced environment, allowing the natural working of enzymes and micro
organisms to break down the muscle tissue. Apply this to the right animal: reared, finished,
processed and stored in the correct manner, and what you get is something all together magical!
Since the turn of the last century, Jacques van der Merwe’s family has been perfecting the practice
of dry aging of meat, and today his family-run-business boasts some of the best agricultural product
to be found anywhere in Southern Africa, maybe even the continent.
Responsibly sourced from farmers who pride themselves on sustainable animal husbandry –
Rearing free-range cattle on diverse pastures. Benefiting from natural nutrients and a longer life of
physical activity. Free from antibiotics and growth hormones, and implementing mindful slaughtering
practices… I think you get the picture
The quality is immediately evident. The right colour, feel and texture. The natural marbling is
unmistakable. It is by no means a stretch of the imagination for this farm raised boerseun to state,
confidently and having eaten at the very best kitchens in the land, that Kalahari Wild sells the best
beef I have ever tasted in my life.
Visit their website and find out how to order www.kalahariwild.co.za

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