Recipe: Filet Mignon

[ellyssian]

• 4 filet mignon steaks
• 4 slices of bacon
• 1 tb butter
• 1 tb olive oil
• fresh ground pepper
• sea salt
• Béarnaise sauce

Pull steak out of fridge 1 hour before cooking ~ steaks are high fallutin' things, and deserve to be pampered, so let them stretch out and relax a bit before you cook them:



Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Wrap bacon around steaks, using toothpicks to hold bacon, and season with freshly ground pepper:



Heat oil & butter in pan. Because I used a cast iron pan with raised ridges, I used a pump sprayer to douse each side with olive oil and I smeared the butter on to the steak directly. The pan was made for this, to grill steaks. However, I won't be disappointed in you if you use a flat cast iron pan. If you use a non-stick pan, I will shake my head in dismay and possibly cluck my tongue in your general direction and mourn the loss of an otherwise competent chef. What, me, opinionated? =)

Cook steaks 2 minutes each side.

Season with salt.

Bake 5 minutes. I used a meat thermometer to verify the internal temperature. Mind you, the steak continues to cook a little after you pull it out of the oven:



Let the steak settle for 5 minutes. Again, it's a pampered meat: give it some room and it will reward you. Rush it to the table, and it's just not the same.

Drizzle Béarnaise sauce over each steak as it is served:



(Off-topic for the steak, but do you see that mutant clove? Rachel requested that one... also, she asked that the Béarnaise be left off the asparagus, poor kid...)

Comments

[darkbay.livejournal.com]

Wait wait wait!

I have a Le Crueset grill pan, and every time I try to cook steaks in it I set the smoke alarm off.

Do you finish the steaks in the oven? If so, what temp?

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Yes ~ I don't have pictures of it, but right below the first picture, you pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees, and right before the second to last picture it lists the time! =)

Doing the steaks 2 minutes a side in the grill pan, 2 steaks at a time, I was expecting lots of smoke, but didn't get any. I did some not-so-well-formed burgers on the same pan (and they sank into the curves between the ridges, defeating the purpose and getting stuck a bit) and some kielbasa, and those needed open windows in a snow storm to keep the smoke alarm from getting cranky (hence the rant about proper venting that slipped into the rant about proper lighting the other day!).

My outdoor grill has a side burner on it; I look forward to using that and the grill pan to sear, and then toss it on the grill itself to finish cooking and smoke things a bit.

[darkbay.livejournal.com]

KK--I got it, I got it! I will try this and let you know. I lost my outdoor grill in the break-up :-/ So all I have is my grill pan.

I feel your smoke pain, brother. I've been setting them off like mad and scaring the hell out of my dog. Now, lately, when I cook, he runs and hides. Poor puppy.

God that sounds good. You're making me hungry again! LOL

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Let me know how it goes! =)

[tygerz.livejournal.com]

why would you a. overcook filet mignon like that & b. add anything to filet mignon beyond salt & pepper... seriously, you should use a less perfect meat if you're going to add junk to it

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Ouch.

First off, it was rare. Anything more would be sacrilege, anything less would still have hooves and walk around mooing.

Second, Béarnaise sauce is not junk. It is, in fact, Béarnaise sauce. And that means it makes a perfect cut of meat even more so.

[tygerz.livejournal.com]

good meat doesn't need sauces and should bleed when you cut it... just sayin'

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

I must admit, raw meat has little to no attraction to me, except for how it may suit as an ingredient. As for the sauces, well, more Béarnaise for me, then! =)

I'm curious, though, have you ever tried it?