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Bifteck Saute BercyBifteck Saute Bercy
April 3, 2019 | Updated March 14, 2023 | Laura
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✽ Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I | Julia Child ✽
Julia Child Recipes 18-20 | 508 recipes to go!
✽ Pan-broiled Steak, with Shallot and White Wine Sauce [Bifteck Sauté Bercy], p. 294
✽ Shallot Butter with White Wine [Beurre Bercy], p. 103
✽ Mushrooms Sautéed with Shallots, Garlic, and Herbs [Champignons Sautés à la Bordelaise], p. 513
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✽ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.
✽ You can buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I which contains these recipes here. (affiliate link)
The purpose of this Julia Child section of my blog is to document my journey of learning how to cook. To show my successes, my failures, and what I learned along the way.
Since I didn't create these recipes (if only!), I do not post exact amounts of ingredients or word-for-word instructions. If any of these recipes spark your interest, I highly recommend you buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (affiliate link). It's a great investment and learning tool and contains hundreds of classic recipes.
What you will find on my blog is:
✽ Butter Count & Cost Total
✽ How the Recipe Tasted
✽ Answers to Questions about Recipe
✽ Fun Facts about Recipe or an Ingredient Used
✽ The Recipe Process
✽ Step-by-Step and Final Photos of Recipe
I hope that you enjoy reading my thoughts, learn something new, and leave inspired to try a new recipe. Bon appétit!
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Butter Count & Cost: Bifteck Saute Bercy & Mushrooms
✽ Butter Count: +23 TB
✽ Cost: $27.25 [~$5.45 per serving]
- Pan-broiled Steak, with Shallot and White Wine Sauce= $22.55 [4-6 servings]
- Shallot Butter with White Wine= $1.68
- Mushrooms Sautéed with Shallots, Garlic, and Herbs= $3.02
Check out the total Julia Child butter count & cost here!
→ Looking for a different Julia Child recipe? Here's a list of all of the completed and pending Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipes!
This was my first Julia meal that I felt defeated.
Welcome to the blog of my second steak recipe! This was just one of those meals that nothing seemed to go right, everything cooked too fast, and nothing went as planned. Despite all of this, the meal was still pretty tasty. I won’t let it get me down!
However, because of all this, I feel like I didn’t get as good of pictures as I would like. They are very “I just want to eat this meal already” pictures.
Bifteck Saute Bercy: Questions
✽ How do you know when the steak is done cooking?
Of course, the easiest way to know when the steak is cooked is by using a meat thermometer. Rare is 120°F, medium-rare is 130°F, medium is 140°F, medium-well is 150°F, and well done is 160°F+.
However, when cooking steak, I like to look for clues to know when to stop cooking. The steak is a perfect medium-rare when red juice begins to pearl on the surface of the steak. Also, a medium-rare steak will be slightly resistant and spring when pressed.
✽ What cut of meat should I use for this steak recipe?
There are lots of good cuts that would be great for this recipe such as T-bone, Porterhouse, or sirloin. As for thickness, grab a piece of meat that is is 3/4 to 1 inch thick.
✽ What is bercy?
Bercy is a savory sauce made from white stock or white wine. Usually shallots, lemon juice, butter, and/or parsley are also added.
You can take this recipe to the next level by beating in flavored butter rather thna plain butter. I chose to beat in shallot butter with white wine for extra flavor!
Looking for more Julia Child steak recipes to read about?
→ Check out all of the meat recipes that I've completed so far!
Fun Facts about Shallots
*Find these facts plus lots more on Wikipedia and Soft Schools.*
✽ What genus does the shallot belong to?
The shallot is in the genus, Allium. Also in this genus is garlic, scallions, leeks, and chives.
✽ How does shallot grow?
Shallots grow in clusters of bulbs just like garlic.
✽ What do shallots taste like?
Shallots taste very similar to onions but are usually milder and less pungent.
How to Make Shallot Butter with White Wine
✽ Step 1: Boil Wine with Flavorings
Making this butter is super simple! By beating flavored butter into the steak sauce rather than plain butter, you get even more delicious flavor.
First, dry white wine is boiled down with shallots, beef stock, and seasonings.
✽ Step 2: Cream Butter
The butter is then creamed. I let the butter get to room temperature then I beat it with a fork until creamy. The butter is slowly beaten into the wine flavoring. Lastly, parsley and seasonings are stirred in.
This recipe also has the optional step of adding beef marrow. I really wish I could have found some at the stores around us, but there was none. I'll have my eye out for beef marrow from now on.
How to Make Pan-broiled Steak with Shallot and White Wine Sauce
✽ Step 1: Saute the Steak & Cook Shallots
This steak is cooked exactly the same way as the first steak recipe was- pan-broiled.
Then shallots are cooked slowly in butter.
✽ Step 2: Boil Down Wine for Sauce
With this recipe, you are also taking those delicious coagulated juices from the bottom of the pan and mixing them with a white wine to make a delicious reduction.
✽ Step 3: Beat in Butter
The shallot butter with white wine is then added and some parsley.
So, this recipe also has an optional bone marrow addition which I’m really sad to say I didn’t use. Like previously mentioned, I couldn’t find bone marrow the way that I needed it at the grocery stores so no bone marrow here. However, I have made a side note in my book that I must use poached bone marrow before I can complete the challenge.
How to Make Mushrooms Sautéed with Shallots, Garlic, and Herbs
✽ Step 1: Saute Mushrooms
Lastly, I made sautéed mushrooms. Personally, I always think a steak should be served with mushrooms. They go so well together!
First, the quartered mushrooms are sauteed in oil and butter until slightly browned.
✽ Step 2: Add Shallots & Bread Crumbs
The minced shallots, garlic, and breadcrumbs are combined with the mushrooms and cooked just for a few minutes.
✽ Step 3: Add Seasonings
Right before serving the mushrooms, add seasonings and fresh herbs.
I will admit I cooked the mushrooms too long. I had the heat up too high and the bread crumbs that get mixed into the mushrooms browned too much. It was still edible, but I would like to try this recipe again on another day because I think it sounds amazing. Mushrooms with shallots, garlic, and herbs? Yes, please!
Just some Julia notes about successfully sautéed mushrooms before I go- “the mushrooms must be dry, the butter very hot, and the mushrooms must not be crowded in the pan.”
Apparently if you crowd the mushrooms, you steam them rather than fry them. Their juices will escape, and they will not brown. So, whatever you do, DON’T CROWD THE MUSHROOMS. See how brown my butter got? Sad day. I’ll do better next time.
Edit: These pictures are.. not great. I apologize. When making these early recipes I was working in an extrememly tiny kitchen that had pratically zero counter space and very poor lighting. My only saving grace was that somebody once had one of those pull-out cutting boards installed. What a life saver.
I was also in pharmacy school, getting minimal sleep, working for free, completely broke, didn't know the first thing about taking photos, and knew practically nothing about French cooking (or cooking in general for that matter).
I've debated taking these old posts down but decided to keep them up because they are all a part of my journey. These photos and my written struggles remind me how far I've come! I can make a pretty decent steak now with no problems!
You don't need fancy equipment or the finest ingredients to enjoy cooking and make good food. As one of my favorite cartoon characters, Ms. Frizzle, says, "Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!"
*This blog, Laura the Gastronaut, and this post were/are not endorsed or supported by Julia Child or The Julia Child Foundation.
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Category: Julia Child, Meat, Sauces, Vegetables Cuisine: French
Keywords: julia child sauteed mushrooms recipe, steak bercy recipe, julia child steak recipe, white wine sauce for steak, french shallot butter
✽ Did you make this recipe too?
→ Let me know by leaving a comment below and sharing on Instagram. Tag @laurathegastronaut and hashtag it #laurathegastronaut.
More Steak Recipes:
✽ Bifteck Saute au Beurre (a very simple but extrememly delicious pan broiled steak)
✽ Steak au Poivre (an amazing steak covered in peppercorns)
✽ Tournedos Rossini (an very fancy steak made with foie gras, truffles, and Madeira sauce)
→ Check out all of the completed Julia Child meat recipes!
✽ You can find this recipe and all the other Julia Child recipes I make in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I (affiliate link).
→ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.
✽ Check out my Julia Child Recipe Checklist to see a list of all my completed and pending recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking!
Bon appétit!
May 3, 2019 by Laura Ehlers
*This Bifteck Saute Bercy blog post may contain some Amazon affiliate links. These link to products that I personally use and recommend. If you purchase anything using my links, it will not cost you anything. It will though give laurathegastronaut.com some financial support which helps me keep this blog running. Thank you for reading my blogs and your continued support.