Steak au Poivre

Steak au Poivre, originally uploaded by qwrrty.

Ellen brought home steaks last night, so we made steak au poivre. It was my first ever attempt at a flambé, and boy do I wish I had a picture of that.

Crush a big handful of peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. Roll the steaks in them so they're thoroughly coated. Melt a big hunk of butter in a saucepan on medium-high heat and sauté the steaks on both sides until nicely browned.

Pour in a few tablespoons of brandy or cognac, take the pan off the flame and light (preferably with a long-handled match, because we like you to stay out of the emergency room). Call the children in to the kitchen to admire and envy that Daddy gets to play with fire. Once the flames die down, remove the steaks to a plate, return the pan to the heat, add some cream and stock and cook down until it's nice and thick. Pour the sauce over the steaks and try not to swallow whole.

We served them with oven-roasted potatoes and holy smokes, they were good. Ellen ate them even though they were still pinkish-red inside, which is saying a lot.

hey ma! I caught another one!

This morning at about 10:25am, eastbound on Mass. Ave. in Cambridge approaching Porter Square.  Guy behind me honks and yells, then roars past me on the left, waving and screaming at me to get out of the road.  Of course, we're approaching a red light, so he swerves in front of me and comes to a stop anyway, but he's still yelling out his window at me.  The conversation went something like this, though I regret that I can't recall his exact words due to his near-total incoherency:

Him: "Are you crazy?  What the hell are you doing riding in the road?"
Me: "Sir, cyclists are permitted to use the roads."
Him: "What are you talking about?  Everyone knows bikes don't belong in the road!"
Me: "I'm sorry, sir, but the law disagrees with you."
Him: "Bikes don't belong in the middle of the road!  Whaddya think, you can go faster than me?"
Me: "Look, man---"
Him: "Oh, no, I'm not your man, okay?  I'm not your buddy, get it?"
Me: "Okay, sir.  I apologize for upsetting you.  But Massachusetts state law does permit me to take the travel lane."
Him: "Massachusetts state law?!?  What are you talking about?  Everybody knows you shouldn't ride in the street!"
Me: "I am sorry, sir, but if it upsets you then you should take it up with your congressman."

He could not seem to figure out a response to this.  As the light turned green I called at him that I hoped he had a more pleasant day.  About a block further on he pulled into a parking space, and yelled as I passed, "Someone's gonna hit you!"

Oh well.  It's been a while since I've been to the RMV, I guess it was about time.