Sauce Au Poivre Vert

Sauce Au Poivre Vert

Green Peppercorn Sauce

Steak au Poivre is probably the most popular preparation for this sauce, but it has so many other great uses as well. Escallops of veal, veal chops, sautéed chicken breast, duck breast and even for fish filets it is a wonderfully flavored addition to any of these protein sources. Rabbit au Poivre is also a great way to enjoy both the entree and the sauce, perfection indeed.

?Au Poivre? is the term for peppercorn in French and ?Vert? means green, thus the green peppercorn. The image at the left depicts the green, white and black peppercorns and is provided under license from Rainer Zenz1. Green peppercorns can be purchased at specialty gourmet shops or from various online sources. The cans of packed green peppercorns listed in the recipe provided are 3.5 ounces each, so 7 ounces of peppercorns is utilized. The source linked provides a 3.5 oz can of packed peppercorns.

According to the book Food Lover?s Companion, by Sharon Tyler Herbst, and found on page 429, green peppercorns are the soft, under ripe berry that is usually preserved in brine. It has a fresh flavor that?s less pungent than the berry in its other forms. Green peppercorns packed in brine are available in cans or jars. They should be refrigerated once opened and can be kept for 1 month. Water-packed green peppercorns must also be refrigerated but will only keep for about a week.

This sauce was used for menu items at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana. Once prepared this sauce was held in the steam table contained in a bain-marie on the sauté line station to keep warm during service. Variations of this sauce can include using a brown sauce instead of the cream based version in this recipe and several are depicted in the image on the right. Clockwise from the top left are Canard au Poivre Vert (Duck breast), Veal Chop au Poivre, Steak au Poivre, and Escalope du Veau au Poivre (Veal scallops).

Click on images for a larger view.

Yield: 5 quarts sauce

Ingredients


5
Quarts
Heavy cream


½
Cup
Shallots, finely diced


2
Cans
Green peppercorns (7 ounces total)


1
Cup
Brandy


2
Cups
Oyster liquor (optional for seafood dishes)


1
Cup
Veal stock


To taste
Salt and white pepper






Procedure Steps


1.
Reduce the heavy cream to sauce consistency in large saucepot. Use a wire whip to whisk while reducing to prevent boiling over.


2.
In another saucepot sweat the shallots in a little oil, then add 2/3 of the green peppercorns and crush some of them with the backside of a large spoon. Stirring well to sauté just a bit, then flame with the brandy and continue to crush the peppercorns and reducing it a bit. Pour the reduced and thickened heavy cream through a fine strainer as you add it to the peppercorns.


3.
Add the oyster liquor (for seafood preparations) and veal stock and then allow the sauce to reduce a bit to thicken over medium-low heat.


4.
Using a burr-mixer blend the sauce until smooth and most of the peppercorns are puréed. Or transfer the sauce to a blender with the center cap removed and blend until smooth.


5.
Strain through a fine sieve and season to taste with the salt and white pepper. Add the remaining 1/3 of the peppercorns to the sauce for garnish and stir.



Reference to peppercorn image:

1As the holder of copyright, Rainer Zenz has published or publishes the work (peppercorns image) under the following license: You have permission to copy, distribute and / or modify this document under the terms of the license GNU Free Documentation Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; no Invariant Sections, no text of front cover and without text back cover.