{Recipe} Steakhouse Filet Mignon with Herb Butter

Like many cities, we have multiple grocery stores in our area.  I usually stick to the middle of the road grocery store when doing my shopping, except when it comes to buying fish. I just feel better about buying fish from a higher quality store.  Does it make a difference? I dunno. But I feel better about it.  So, where am I going with this? Recently I made a Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon (coming soon!) & while I was at the fish counter, my eye caught a sign for filet mignon.  I've never made filet before so I figured while I was picking up salmon, I could pick up some steaks too. We were going to eat WELL that week!

There are so many different ways to prepare a filet, but for my first time, I wanted to keep it simple.  Any time we go to a steak house, I always get a petit filet because it's so tender & so lean. Wanting to duplicate a steakhouse filet, I did a quick search & found this recipe claiming to be the BEST way to cook a steak.  Obviously I was intrigued. At home, the only way we ever had steak was grilling it.  The trick is to cook the meat primarily stove top in a cast iron skillet & then move it to the oven in the same skillet. After trying the steak, I'm going to say something that might be wildly unpopular, but steak should not be grilled. It just shouldn't.  I kept the recipe super simple & it was the way to go.  I mean, this is how a filet should be made; no crazy crusts, no crazy sauces. Just a little bit of herb butter & all the flavors of the meat.

A word of advice, it is really important to pay attention to cook times.  The meat will continue to cook a bit once removed from the heat, which J warned me about but I just didn't listen.  Make sure you remove the steak a minute or two before you think it's actually ready. Our meat was just a tiny bit well done, but it was still SO good.  I will definitely be making this again!

ABOUT

Serves: 2

Cook time: About 30 mins

How difficult was this for me? Not too bad! The butter was probably the hardest part!

INGREDIENTS

2 8 ounce filet's

4 tsp Kosher salt

4 tsp freshly cracked pepper (I reduced the amount on my filet)

1 stick of REAL butter, no substitutions, dived into halves

1 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tsp lemon zest

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

Now time to make the butter. This is the hardest part.  Using a piece of foil (if you don't have a butter holder) mold it around the stick of butter while leaving one long side open.  Then remove the stick.  I  You are going to melt the butter, then you need to put it in something to turn it back into a stick.

Take 1/2 stick of butter & soften in the microwave.  You only want to soften it, not completely melt it. I nuked it for about 20 seconds.  Mix as gently as you can with the garlic, parsley, thyme & lemon zest. 

Place mixture back into your tinfoil-butter-holder-container & fridge for 20-30 mins.

Generously season both sides of the filets with salt & pepper.

In a large skillet, melt remaining butter & mix with olive oil in a cast iron skillet until it is screaming hot.

Place the filets in the skillet & sear each side for 2-3 minutes until a nice brown crust is formed.

While the meat is searing, continue to spoon the residual butter from the skillet on top of the meat.

Once both sides are seared, remove the skillet from the stove & place in the center of the oven for about 6-8 mins.

While the steak is cooking, remove butter from fridge & slice a nice piece to place on top of the filet.

Your steak will be ready when the center is 135 degrees. If you're like me & you don't have a thermometer, gently push down on the center of the steak. When it is done, it will slowly bounce back up.  You can also just slice into it.  Remember, it will continue to cook for a minute or two after you remove from the oven.

Slop on the butter & enjoy!

Adapted from Whit's Amuse Bouche