# NY Eve dinner: Steak Oscar or Steak Au Poivre? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 30, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351 "2022-12-30T18:50:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/21 "2022-12-30T21:07:30Z")
Interesting. I’ve never had it with allspice. Mixed peppercorns yes (black, white, and pink — which is not an actual Piper genus peppercorn), and I usually just use some Kampot or Tellicherry black peppercorns. I would be curious to see what some allspice in there tastes like, as I do love allspice. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/22 "2022-12-30T21:15:29Z")
I voted Oscar simply because I love crab and asparagus. But after reading the thread, I would lean to Au Poivre too, because that gravy is also awesome and less effort to prepare. I’m getting lazy in my old age. I’ll be making a ginger garlic chicken stir fry because that’s what I have on hand. Aspenglow, that sauce sounds magical! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/23 "2022-12-30T21:40:27Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > 🤦‍♀️ > > I should have known! Thanks! You win the thread. That does sound easy & delicious. Except for the fact it contains mustard. I’ve got to work up a suitable substitute for that one inedible ingredient. If anyone has suggestions I’m all ears. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/24 "2022-12-30T21:44:20Z")
Thanks. 🙂 It’s a funny thing, I generally am opposed to mustard in sauces, too. But this is a tiny bit and it doesn’t “mustard up” the sauce at all. It adds a sconch of flavor that’s nearly unidentifiable but ups its game. If I were leaving it out, though, I’d probably go with a pinch of rosemary. However you handle it, I hope you enjoy the sauce! > [@carnut](#): > > Aspenglow, that sauce sounds magical! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/25 "2022-12-30T21:50:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Interesting. I’ve never had it with allspice. Mixed peppercorns yes (black, white, and pink — which is not an actual Piper genus peppercorn), and I usually just use some Kampot or Tellicherry black peppercorns. I would be curious to see what some allspice in there tastes like, as I do love allspice. In another recipe thread someone posted the first known recipe for Beef Stroganoff, which has no mushrooms but does have mustard and allspice. I made it and I was really pleasantly surprised with how well the allspice paired with the beef. I’ve since added allspice to other beef-based dishes with great results. I’ll report back on how the Au Poivre was with the addition of allspice corns. > **[Elena Molokhovets' Beef Strogonoff Authentic Recipe | TasteAtlas](https://www.tasteatlas.com/beef-stroganoff/recipe/elena-molokhovets-beef-strogonoff)** > > This is the first known recipe for the dish, published in A Gift to Young Housewives by Elena Molokhovets. Traditionally, beef Stroganoff is served with fried potato straws but goes equally well with egg noodles, rice, or mashed potatoes ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/26 "2022-12-31T01:12:42Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > It’s a funny thing, I generally am opposed to mustard in sauces, too. But this is a tiny bit and it doesn’t “mustard up” the sauce at all. It adds a sconch of flavor that’s nearly unidentifiable but ups its game. I also generally do not like mustard, but followed it in a recipe, and found it did not actually taste like mustard. Perhaps it helped that it was mustard powder. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/27 "2022-12-31T01:31:25Z")
Why don’t you each order a different one, and then share? ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/28 "2022-12-31T01:35:07Z")
I’d go with the Oscar, because I’m not a big fan of so much pepper…if It were a cheap cut of meat, maybe, but if it’s a good flavorful cut why do I want to blow out my taste buds on boring pepper? And I have a sentimental memory of Veal Oscar. That combination of flavors just does it for me. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/29 "2022-12-31T01:54:02Z")
Interesting, a Russian friend of my Grandmother’s taught me a way different way - cheat by buying the thin sliced beef known as minute steaks, lay them out on a baking sheet, top with paper thin sliced onion, cracked pepper and sprinkle with vodka, leave on a shelf in the fridge [our out in the garage during the winter where it is refrig temp] for 4-8 hours, Butter and beef fat in a heavy skillet, dump all the ingredients from the baking sheet in and fry up, when thoroughly cooked, dump in a cup of stock, let simmer for a few minutes [mainly while making a butter flour paste] add the lump of beurre manie and stir in well, let cook gently and when the sauce has thickened, plate on wide egg noodles or spaetzel if I am lazy about it, and dollop on sour cream. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/30 "2022-12-31T01:54:34Z")
Because they are cooking them at home =) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/31 "2022-12-31T03:13:32Z")
Clearly, the only real solution is to have both, on consecutive evenings, and rate them according to experience. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/32 "2022-12-31T04:58:32Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > but if it’s a good flavorful cut why do I want to blow out my taste buds on boring pepper Well, I would say first because pepper is not boring. One of my favorite pasta dishes (which seems to have become perhaps trendy in the last five years) is cacio e pepe, which is basically just pasta flavored with butter, pepper, and Parmesan and/or pecorino. It is delightful. These sorts of dishes are exactly the ones to showcase stuff like Kampot, Malabar, Tellicherry, Sarawak, etc. peppercorns. I would also say that traditionally, steak au poivre is made with filet, which, while tender, is not a particularly flavorful cut as far as beef goes, so the pepper sauce goes well with it for that reason. (Of course, you can always justify the opposite: filet is delicate so why flavor it aggressively or why not use a strongly flavored cut of beef like ribeye which can stand up to a strongly flavored sauce. Personally, I agree with the conventional wisdom on this.) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/33 "2022-12-31T14:00:26Z")
Sounds good! I might try this sometime. Why the vodka? I’m guessing it acts like a solvent or marinade, transferring the flavors of the onion and cracked pepper into the meat. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/34 "2022-12-31T16:43:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Personally, I agree with the conventional wisdom on this.) De gustibus… I just am a little bored with black pepper. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/35 "2022-12-31T16:47:13Z")
Yeah, but there’s pepper as an afterthought and pepper at center stage like au poivre and cacio e pepe. There’s not really that many dishes where pepper is just that up front. The only other one I could think of is this black pepper beef dish a (now defuct) Sichuanese place used to do around here. The chef Frenchified it with a bit of butter, and that mix of butter, oyster sauce, copious amounts of black pepper, garlic, and ginger just made it sing. I think for me it’s butter/dairy + black pepper that makes all three of these dishes incredible. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/36 "2022-12-31T16:50:44Z")
For a while it seemed like very third dish I was served had cracked black pepper. I just burned out on it. Literally! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/37 "2022-12-31T16:56:01Z")
Ah. I don’t dine out all that much – at least not at places where you’d put cracked black pepper on something – so, yeah, I can definitely see getting burnt out on the flavor if you’re encountering it everywhere. The same happened with me and bacon about ten years or so back where everything was bacon this and bacon that. I’ll cook with bacon in a few dishes these days, but I will never get bacon on any kind of sandwich, for instance, except for a BLT. And no bacon crumbles. No bacon jam. No chocolate covered bacon. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2022, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/38 "2022-12-31T20:29:09Z")
LOL. You get me! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2023, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/39 "2023-01-01T01:55:55Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > 🤦‍♀️ > > I should have known! > > So easy: > > 2 TB butter, divided > 2-3 medium shallots, thinly sliced > 3 TB brandy or cognac, your preferred > 2 cups beef broth > 1 tsp Dijon mustard > > Melt one TB butter in a flame-resistant pan. Add shallots and sauté over medium heat until well wilted and slightly browned. > > Turn off heat under pan. Add brandy, swirl and flambé . When flames die down, add beef broth, return to a simmer until mixture is reduced by half. Add mustard and stir to combine well. > > Over low heat, add remaining TB of butter and swirl to thicken the sauce. Pour over your prepared steaks and try not to moan while eating. > > Should serve for 2 steaks. Thanks, i tried this Well, i didn’t have any beef broth, nor Dijon mustard. So i used duck broth, some mustard powder, and a splash of lemon juice. I think it would have been better with beef broth. But we enjoyed it. Happy New Year ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2023, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351/40 "2023-01-01T03:53:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I think it would have been better with beef broth. But we enjoyed it. Happy New Year Happy New Year to you, too! I agree, it would be better with beef broth. My take on the recipe is that it’s an effort to recreate the flavor profile of French onion soup. Duck broth wouldn’t lend itself well to that, I wouldn’t think. I hope you cut the mustard addition down to about a quarter teaspoon. The dry measure would be too much, IMHO. But kudos to you for being more adventurous than me! And I’m glad you enjoyed it all the same. Now, @solost – how did your Steak au Poivre come out? Did you make the “right” choice? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-eve-dinner-steak-oscar-or-steak-au-poivre/977351.md?page=3)