Individual Tenderloin Steak Recipe (Filet Mignon)

(1 tenderloin steak per person)

We can cut the tenderloin into 1-1/2 to 2 inch thick pieces. You will have anywhere from 4 to 6 steaks that resemble thick hockey pucks. Depending upon size, there may be an odd tail piece. This is good for stir-fry or sautéing with peppers and onions. You will also notice ground meat wrapped for the freezer. This is from the trimmings.

Freezing and defrosting:

Follow the same procedure for freezing and defrosting as described in the Tenderloin for Roasting recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 tenderloin steak per person
• Enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet – approximately 1 tablespoon per steak
• Salt and pepper (optional)

Utensils:

• A skillet – preferably cast iron. (Try to avoid Teflon skillets – the oil simply doesn’t get hot enough.)
• A cookie sheet or pizza pan

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Remove the filets from the refrigerator and take off the cellophane.
3. Pour the oil into the skillet and heat it on medium-high. You’ll know the oil is ready when you take a drop of water, toss it in the pan, and it skips across.
4. Place the steaks in the hot skillet and sear them on each side. That is, you want a crust to form on each side.This will take about 2 minutes per side.
5. Remove the seared steaks and place them on the pizza pan or cookie sheet and bake them uncovered for 5 minutes at 350 degrees.
6. Take them out of the oven and allow them to rest on a platter for 5 minutes.

Mister Brisket’s Comments:

This country is blessed with the finest beef in the world. There is absolutely no need for a sauce to mask or adulterate the flavor of a great piece of beef tenderloin. The French sauce their filets, Chateau-briand, etc., to cover, at best, a very mediocre piece of meat. However, if you want a sauce and “bedding,” here are easy recipes. You can use either one or both.

Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) of canned beef broth
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon of potato starch
• 1/4 cup of Madeira wine

Utensils:

• Saucepan
• Wooden spoon

Directions:

1. Dump the 8 ounces of beef broth in the saucepan and heat it to boiling.
2. Take the tablespoon of tomato paste and place it in the boiling beef broth. Allow it to dissolve.
3. Stir the 1 tablespoon of potato starch into the 1/4 cup of wine until it dissolves. Do not add the potato starch directly into the broth mixture. If you do, you will have achieved my late mother-in-law’s lump-style, down-home Rumanian gravy. Potato starch must always be dissolved before adding it to another liquid.
4. Pour the dissolved potato starch mixture into the boiling broth mixture. Continue the boiling until the mixture has thickened and the alcohol from the wine has evaporated. When you can’t smell the alcohol any more, you know it has evaporated.
5. At this point, you want to reduce your heat just to keep the sauce warm.

Bedding Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick of butter or margarine
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 8 ounces of regular, fresh mushrooms – the ordinary white kind that are harvested in Pennsylvania coal mines with the dirt still on them.
• 1 large (softball size) Spanish onion

Utensils:

• 1 cast iron skillet
• 1 wooden spoon

Directions:

1. Wash the dirt and assorted gunk from the mushrooms with cold water until they are thoroughly clean.
2. Slice the mushrooms sideways so that they look like a bunch of umbrellas.
3. Slice the onion so that you have nice little circles.
4. Place the butter and olive oil in the skillet and heat them at medium-high temperature until they are bubbling.
5. Reduce the heat to medium, and add the onion to the skillet. Smoosh them around with the wooden spoon until they are transparent and soft in texture. This takes about 10 minutes.
6. Add the mushrooms to the onions and sauté them until they are one-third of their original size. This takes from 7-10 minutes.

Serving:

Place a portion of the sautéed mushrooms and onions* on each plate and set a piece of tenderloin steak on the mushrooms and onions. Pour the sauce* over each tenderloin portion and serve.

*The sauce and bedding can also be used for the whole roasted beef tenderloin recipe, separately or together.

Leftovers:

Serve cold on toasted garlic bread with hot mustard or horseradish sauce.