Green beans au poivre

An elegant side dish to serve alongside a steak or roast chicken for a dinner party. It’s giving collected and wholesome yet tasteful and clever.

The peppercorn sauce comes from a French steak recipe called “au poivre” which means “with pepper”. Steak au poivre is a pepper crusted steak with a creamy peppercorn sauce and here I have just used the peppercorn sauce to coat sauteed green beans. Instead of just relying on black peppercorn for au poivre sauce, I added pink peppercorns too.

Enjoy straight away as it’s warm. This dish is essential for the people who live for the sauce (me).

Ingredients:

200g green beans, ends removed

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp unsalted butter

3 tbsp creme fraiche

30 ml cognac or… whiskey (not classic but I won’t tell)

1 shallot, diced

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin

1 tbsp pink peppercorns, ground

1 tbsp black peppercorns, ground

few thyme sprigs

Pinch of salt

Method:

Grind black and pink peppercorns in a mortar and pestle until they are all broken down and no whole peppercorns remain.

In a fry pan over high heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil and saute green beans for a few minutes on all sides. Set the green beans aside.

In the same fry pan over medium-low heat, add butter, shallots, garlic and fry for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Once the butter has melted and has begun to sizzle, add peppercorns, thyme and a pinch of salt. Fry for a few minutes longer, or until the garlic and shallots have turned a light golden color. Add cognac and allow the alcohol to evaporate, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat then add creme fraiche. Whisk until creamy and incorporated. Do not place back on the heat, as this may cause the sauce to separate. Serve straight away.

Note: If it does separate, add a few drops of ice cold water at a time, off the heat, and whisk vigorously until it’s emulsified again.