The chicken is grilled after six hours of marinating. Add wild rice or noodles to the dish.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 30 mins |
| Servings: | 2 |
| Yield: | 2 servings |
Ingredients
- ½ cup demi-glace
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- 2 (8 ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, fully trimmed, pounded to 1/2 inch thick
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
- 3 tablespoons shallot, minced
- ¼ cup Cognac or brandy
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons sliced fresh chives
Instructions
- Season steaks generously on both sides with salt. Allow steaks to come to room temperature while you make the sauce.
- Stir together demi-glace (see Cook’s Note), mustard, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, and cayenne pepper in a bowl.
- Heat oil in a skillet over very high heat, swirling carefully to evenly cover surface. When oil reaches a smoking point, transfer steaks to oil; add a few chunks of butter. Sear meat on high heat until brown on each side, 2 to 3 minutes per side; keep them on the rare side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 125 degrees F (52 degrees C). Transfer steaks to a warm plate.
- Stir shallots into skillet; cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; pour in Cognac. Carefully ignite with a fireplace lighter. When alcohol burns off and flames go out, return skillet to high heat and bring to a boil; cook, stirring, a few minutes to reduce slightly. Add demi-glace mixture, cream, and any accumulated juices from the steak. Cook on high heat just until sauce starts to thicken, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer steaks back to pan and reduce heat to low. Gently simmer until meat is heated through and cooked to your desired level of doneness.
- Transfer to hot plates and serve with a generous spoonful or two of sauce. Sprinkle with chives.
- You can use top sirloin steaks instead of tenderloin steaks. You can substitute 2 cups of a rich, low-sodium or salt-free chicken broth for the 1/2 cup of demi-glace, but it will take longer to reduce.
- You don’t need to flame the cognac as the alcohol will evaporate as it cooks on the stove. But be careful — it can still flare up if the heat is high enough when you’re reducing the sauce.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 1050 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 44 g |
| Cholesterol | 247 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 71 g |
| Saturated Fat | 24 g |
| Sodium | 2593 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 55 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have made this several times now. Always impresses and the flames are theatrically amazing. Just be careful.
This was difficult but came out amazing. I recommend “Dusse'” cognac and merlot wine.
Great sauce and plenty of it! I used chicken broth instead of demi-glace. Fun to make, too!
This is a wonderful recipe. The sauce is amazing… ideal for pouring over the steak, and your starch of choice. It’s a really tasty recipe that’s not too hard to make, but feels more than a little bit fancy. If you make it, your significant other will likely be impressed. Highly recommended.
Awesome recipe cheff John
My best friend made this as a special treat for dinner and it was the best meal i have ever had. I am bringing home left overs to my boyfriend and he may leave me for her cooking after trying this dish.
I used the chicken broth substitute. Family loved it.
Made with tenderloin medallions and added mushrooms. One of the absolute best meals I’ve had in a long time.
wow! I can’t believe I was able to cook something so delicious. It tasted better than anything I’ve ever cooked before.
Made it for my lovely wife for Valentine’s day. We both enjoyed it very much! I forgot to get shallots, so I minced some onions. Also sub’d brandy for cognac. Outstanding even so!
Incredible, is the only word that comes to mind. We made the cheater demi glacé a couple days ago and made this tonight. The sauce is very complex, sweet, salty and a hint of spice. The steak was cooked perfectly. We did not get the full flambéed effect because the lighter was not cooperating but we got some little blue flames. I’m still thinking about the sauce though… really, really good!
Completely omitted the cogniac as my husband is highly allergic to alcohol and it came out fantastic. Used the chicken broth regular sodium content and added a pinch of flour to thicken. Took a while but it reduced down. He said it was the best gravy he’s ever had on steak. Kind of reminds me of a German gravy. That’s probably why he loved it so much because he’s German!
i have always had mushrooms in steak diane. i wondered if you forgot to put that in or if the original recipe did not include mushrooms.
Everyone loved this recipe. I had left over sauce so the next day I did bone in pork chops the same way. Awesome.
Delicious! I used a lower quality sirloin, chicken broth in lieu of Demi-glacé, and yogurt-with-1/2&1/2 for heavy cream and it was still terrific!
I had a old steak of some kind very cheap and used that. I scratched brandy for cheap marsala cooking wine and I still couldn’t mess it up!!! I am not a good cook either. Ask my friends. Its the whipping cream that makes it super delicious!
Awesome, many for the perfect Valentines dinner, Thanks Chef John, you rock!
I have made Steak Diane for years, and have tried countless recipes. I have never seen one without mushrooms, either finely minced or merely sliced. The mushrooms give an earthy taste that is the crowning point of the dish.
Followed the recipe exactly. Delicious
This is as good as it gets for a steak pan sauce. Its absolutely amazing, flavorful and rich. I add cracked peppercorns to the sauce as well and use just chicken stock because demi glaze is lengthy to prepare. It tastes great still. Chef Johns recipes are the only one’s I use from online instead of my own and are always perfect.
I managed to really goof it up. It’s such a good recipe that, even though I didn’t follow procedures properly, it was still a nice sauce. I’m looking forward to cooking it properly next time.