Best Sauces For Filet Mignon Food

BEST SAUCES FOR FILET MIGNON

Steps:

• A seared filet mignon is, without a doubt the most tender of the steaks. It's cut from the beef tenderloin. A muscle that runs along the back of the cow, which does very little work (relative to the rest of the cow), and that is what makes it so tender. It is also among the most lean cuts of beef, with very little inter-muscular fat or connective tissue. That lack of fat means two very important things. First, a more mild flavor; delicious, but nothing that's going to blow your socks off. And second, a proclivity to feel a bit dry while eating. Fortunately, both of those issues can be greatly improved with the addition of a filet mignon sauce aka, a steak sauce. Now, if you must, you can break out the A1. But you'd be committing a terrible sin. However wonderful, that alpha-numeric sauce may be, if you're going to pay the big bucks for a prime piece of filet mignon, learn how to cook it perfectly, then I'd really suggest that you take a bit of extra time, to come up with an equally perfect sauce. Below are some of my favorite steak sauces, which work particularly well with filet. Some are very simple. Some a bit more complex. Take note, that one thing almost all of my filet mignon sauces have in common, is a good amount of fat. As I mentioned above, since filet is so lean, it benefits from a bit of fat, like butter or cream. Leave the more acidic/tangy steak sauces for the fatty cuts, like ribeye. Best Sauces for Filet Mignon Peppercorn (Au Poivre) Sauce Perhaps the most traditional sauce for a filet and a stable for French cooking. I like to use very coarsely crushed black peppercorns, cooked with a bit of shallot and cognac, and then finished with some cream. Béarnaise Sauce Another French sauce, béarnaise has shallots and tarragon as its main flavor components, which are then turned into a thick creamy sauce with the addition of egg yolk and butter. If I don't have the time to make the real deal, I "cheat" a bit by making a simple tarragon butter. Rosemary Butter Sauce Maitre 'd butters got very popular in the 80's. They are a simple combination of butter and "something". In this case, I finely chop some rosemary and mix it with the butter. Slathering some on a just-cooked filet mignon, letting it melt all over as the steak rests, is a terrific way to add flavor. Blue Cheese Sauce or Crust There are a few different ways to add blue cheese to a filet. The salty, tangy, fatti-ness of the cheese matches perfectly with the lean meat flavors. I usually mix a bit of butter and blue cheese together and allow it to melt onto the steak after cooking, but making a sauce with some cream, or adding some bread crumbs and making a topping during the last few minutes of cooking are also great options. Bordelaise - Red Wine Sauce Red wine & filet mignon go wonderfully well together. So a sauce with a good Bordeaux (cabernet and/or merlot grapes) at its heart is a perfect match. For this sauce, reduce a cabernet based wine with some good beef stock and shallots. Finish with some fresh butter to thicken. Awesome!

FILET MIGNON WITH RED WINE SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
• Generously season the steaks with salt and pepper and drizzle with the 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Grill to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the steaks to a cutting board. Tent with foil and let stand 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add the garlic and oregano and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in the wine. Simmer until the sauce reduces by half, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Strain the sauce into a small bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids in the strainer and return the sauce to the saucepan and bring back to a slow simmer. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into small 1/2-inch chunks and whisk in the sauce a little at a time. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• Place filets on each of 6 dinner plates. Drizzle the sauce over the filets and serve.

PERFECT FILET MIGNON WITH BEARNAISE SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the steaks: Liberally season both sides of the steak with salt and pepper to taste. Place on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. If letting stand for more than 1 hour, keep in refrigerator, then remove and let stand for 30 minutes.
• For the bearnaise: Boil vinegar, wine, and shallots, with 1/3 of the fresh tarragon, pepper, and salt over medium heat until liquid is about 2 tablespoons or 1/4 cup including shallots and herbs. Strain mixture and let cool.
• Whisk the egg yolks in the same saucepan over very low heat until thickened. Add 1 tablespoon of cold butter and thicken the egg yolks. Beat in 1 additional tablespoon of cold butter and add the rest of the tarragon.
• Blend everything in a blender. Add in the 3/4 cups of melt butter drop by drop until the bearnaise sauce is thickened.
• Preheat the oven to 250º F. Insert an internal thermometer with probe and place steaks on pan in oven. Cook until internal temperature reaches between 125º and 127º, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven.
• Heat a cast-iron skillet over high heat for 5 minutes while steaks rest. Pat steaks dry. Carefully place steaks in skillet and sear on one side for 30 seconds. Add remaining butter and flip steak, searing other side for 30 seconds. Remove from skillet and serve with bearnaise sauce.

FILET MIGNON WITH EASY PAN SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack in the center.
• Pat filets dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat a 12-inch cast iron pan over high heat until very hot. Carefully pour in oil and coat bottom of pan by swirling or spreading with a spatula.
• Place filets in pan and cook undisturbed for three minutes to sear. Flip once and cook two minutes more.
• Transfer pan to oven and cook just until meat reads 125°F on an instant read thermometer inserted into the center. Depending on thickness this will take from 2 to more than 5 minutes, so check early and often. The filet will continue to cook off the heat, so pulling it out of the pan at 125°F (or even a little before, if you like), will yield a beautiful, true medium-rare (130°) finished product
• Transfer filets to a cutting board to rest while you make the pan sauce.
• If pan contains any cooking oil, pour it off, but it probably won't.
• Back on the stovetop, add 1 tablespoon butter to hot pan and carefully swirl to melt. (You can be slow to turn the heat on under the burner, since the pan will be very hot. When you do - sometime after you add the shallot and herbs - turn it to medium.) Add shallot, rosemary, and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until shallot softens, about two minutes.
• Add wine and mustard and stir to incorporate any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, until liquid is reduced by about half.
• Off the heat, swirl in remaining butter, along with any juices that have accumulated while the meat rests. Taste for salt and pepper.
• Serve filets whole or sliced, as you like, with pan sauce spooned overtop. You can leave herbs in the pan or, if you like, pick off a few of the rosemary and thyme leaves and serve with the sauce.

FILET MIGNON WITH COGNAC SAUCE

Steps:

• Trim fat from steaks. Place steaks in shallow dish. Pour 2 tablespoons of the cognac over steaks. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 15 minutes, turning once. Drain steaks, discarding cognac in dish. Sprinkle steaks with pepper.
• Place steaks on rack of uncovered grill directly over medium coals. Grill for 11-15 minutes for medium-rare or 14-18 minutes for medium, turning once.
• Meanwhile, for sauce: In small saucepan, cook mushrooms and shallot in hot butter for 3 - 4 minutes or until tender. Stir in beef broth and remaining cognac. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes. In small bowl, stir together half-and-half, mustard, and flour. Stir into broth mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Serve sauce over steaks.

HORSERADISH SAUCE FOR FILET MIGNON

Steps:

• Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk vigorously for 1 minute, or until the mixture is smooth and well blended.
• Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes about 2 1/3 cups.

FILET MIGNON WITH MERLOT SAUCE

Steps:

• Boil wine, chicken broth and beef broth in heavy large saucepan over high heat until mixture is reduced to 2 cups, about 1 hour. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• Mix butter and flour in small bowl. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle steaks with salt and cracked pepper. Sauté steaks until medium-rare, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer to plate. Add shallots, garlic and thyme to skillet; stir 30 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups reduced wine mixture to skillet (reserve remainder for another use). Bring mixture to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Add butter mixture and whisk until smooth. Boil sauce until thick enough to coat spoon, about 2 minutes. Serve steaks with sauce.