Côte de Bœuf au Poivre

This côte de bœuf recipe comes from MaMou, a modern brasserie in New Orleans and one of our Best New Restaurants of 2023, where executive chef Thomas Branighan reimagines classic French dishes using the Creole influences picked up throughout his Southern Louisiana upbringing. This hearty bone-in ribeye steak recipe is one of the restaurant’s most showstopping main courses, served with a quick pan sauce punctuated with a symphony of peppercorns and the subtle kick of sweet pepper jelly. 

Using the reverse-searing technique—always a clever move for large cuts of beef—Branighan slow-roasts the steak until its core temperature reaches his desired doneness, then sears it quickly on the stovetop over high heat to develop a crust. This controlled method allows for a more precise cook time, lessening the risk of under- or over-cooking the rib of beef and ensuring a deeply caramelized crust. (It also means you don’t have to worry about leaving a piece of meat out at room temperature hours before you’re ready to cook.)

The creamy sauce is fortified with apple brandy and grounded by the intense savoriness of the restaurant’s housemade demi-glace. In place of the latter ingredient, we used condensed beef stock (a.k.a. Better Than Bouillon), a home cook-friendly shortcut that mimics Branighan’s prized demi. Our version is seasoned with three types of peppercorns (green, pink, and white), each adding its own unique character. White peppercorns are a stand-in for the Balinese variety, prized for its piquant flavor with notes of cinnamon and cardamom, used at MaMou. If you care to source Balinese peppercorns—sometimes called long pepper—replace the white pepper with 1 Tbsp. finely ground Balinese pepper.

Branighan serves his perfect côte de bœuf with a side dish of exceedingly silky pommes puree; a dairy-rich canvas that lets the peppery sauce shine. At home, classic mashed potatoes would be equally welcomed.

Note: If you can’t find a bone-in ribeye steak you can use a boneless prime rib steak in its place. Start checking the steak after 20 minutes in the oven as a boneless steak will cook faster.