Blackened Steak au Poivre

When I was first taking cooking classes in the late ’80s, I was the best student I’d ever been. I couldn’t get enough of food—tasting it, reading about it, discovering new combinations of flavors and ingredients. And I particularly loved learning new cooking techniques. The searing, deglazing, and reducing required to make a proper steak au poivre was one that I loved to practice. My favorite cut of steak for this recipe is a boneless rib-eye, but tenderloin and New York strip also work wel