Filet Essentials Pan Seared Beef Filet Recipes

FILET ESSENTIALS: PAN-SEARED BEEF FILET

Steps:

• PREP/PREPARE
• Gather your Ingredients (mise en place).
• Place a rack in the middle position, and preheat the oven to 425f (220c).
• Sprinkle the filet with salt and pepper.
• Add the oil and butter to an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.
• When the butter melts, and the foaming subsides, add the filet.
• Sear about two minutes per side.
• Place the skillet into the preheated oven, for 5 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for five minutes.
• PLATE/PRESENT
• Serve with some garlic mash potatoes, and maybe a veggie. Enjoy.
• Chef's Note: When I'm doing filets, I avoid putting cheese or other ingredients into my mash potatoes; just some baked garlic, salt, pepper and milk. I don't want the side dishes to overpower the taste of that wonderful filet.
• Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

PAN SEARED FILET MIGNON

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Start with 1 1/2 thick filets, about 8 oz each, and trimmed well. Remove any silver skin. If you have time, rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.
• Pat dry well with paper towels. Season all sides to taste. Just kosher salt and pepper will be fine. I use my homemade All-Purpose Seasoning -7:2:2. Season just before cooking or 1 hour before cooking to prevent the salt from pulling fluid out of the meat.
• In an oven-safe pan (I love my 10-inch cast iron), melt 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat or use oil. When hot, sear both sides of the filets for 2-3 minutes-sear, flip, sear, and final flip before going to the oven.
• Transfer to the preheated oven. Cook to your desired done temperature minus about 3-5 degrees. For me, medium-rare is always about 8-10 minutes to get an internal temp of about 135°- 140°. If you want rare, check the internal temperature when the meat goes into the oven.
• I suggest checking the internal temperature after 4-5 minutes in the oven to see where you are on the internal temperature. Time can vary due to the exact temperature of the meat to start, the exact temperature of the oven, the pan used, and the thickness of the meat. Rare may take only a few minutes in the oven so beware if you want rare. DO NOT COOK BY TIME ALONE. YOU MUST CHECK THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE. Times are provided to help planning only.
• Remove from pan and tent lightly with foil on a plate and let rest for 3-5 minutes before cutting. It needs to absorb fluids internally, and the temperature will rise a few more degrees during the rest.

PAN-SEARED FILET MIGNON

Steps:

• Sprinkle fillets with salt and pepper on both sides. Rub seasoning into meat with your fingers.
• Melt butter with olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add filets and cook 5-7 minutes on each side.
• Remove from heat, cover filets with foil and allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

SEARED FILET MIGNON

Steps:

• Season the Filet Mignons with salt and pepper. Combine the butter and oil in a large saute pan over high heat. When the pan is hot and foam has subsided, add the beef. Sear for three minutes per side for rare. Transfer to a warm platter.

BEEF ESSENTIALS: THE BEST SKILLET/OVEN-BAKED FILET

Steps:

• 1. PREP/PREPARE
• 2. For this recipe to work for you, you will need an instant-read thermometer. Better yet, a remote instant-read thermometer that you can stick into the filet, and watch the temperature from outside the oven. In addition, you will need an ovenproof, heavy-bottom pan. My recommendation would be cast iron. If you do not have any cast iron skillets, you should pick one or two up. They are not very expensive, and are so versatile.
• 3. Later in this recipe, I give you the proper temperatures to use based on the "doneness" of the filet. Understand that the steak will continue to cook after it is removed from the oven; this is a process known as "carryover cooking." While it is resting, the internal temperature will raise 4 - 5 degrees. Therefore, it is very important that you remove the steak from the oven when it is about 5 degrees lower than what you want.
• 4. Gather your Ingredients (mise en place).
• 5. Wrap the two strips of bacon around the filet, and secure with a toothpick, then coat with the grapeseed oil, and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, to taste.
• 6. Chef's Note: When we did these at one of the restaurants I worked at, we called the bacon a "girdle." We would use it to push the filet together, and into a uniform thickness.
• 7. Allow the filet to rest for thirty minutes.
• 8. Place a rack in the middle position, and preheat the oven to 425f (220c).
• 9. Add the skillet to a burner over high heat, and when it heats up, drop in the filet.
• 10. Chef's Tip: When adding the filet, you should hear a nice satisfying sizzle.
• 11. Sear for about 1 minute, and then flip and sear the other side.
• 12. Chef's Tip: It might take more than a minute, or it might take slightly less. The trick is to take a pair of tongs, grab the filet, and try to move it. If it is still sticking to the bottom of the skillet, it is not ready. If it releases, it is time to turn it.
• 13. Place the tablespoon of butter on top, and bake in the preheated oven.
• 14. This is where the instant-read thermometer come into play. Extra Rare - very red and cold 115f - 120f (46c - 49c) Rare - cold red center, soft 125 - 130f (52c - 55c) Medium Rare - warm red center, firmer 130f - 140f (55c - 60c) Medium - small amount of pink in the center 140f - 150f (60c - 65c) Medium Well - small amount of pink in the center 150f - 155f (65c - 68c) You will notice that I did not give a temperature for well-done... that is because I do not do "well-done." In fact, most of the restaurants that I have cooked in over the years, if a customer wanted their steak "burnt." we would instruct the waitstaff, to tell them, they could not return the steak.
• 15. When I worked at Diamond's Jims (a big steak house in Chicago), I cooked literally thousands of filets (usually 70 - 80 a night), and we used a slightly different method... we used time. We had two big ovens set to temp, and would prep and sear the steak, place it in the oven and set a timer. I knew exactly how much time was required to get the perfect steak. I could do that because we received our meat from the same butcher, and the filets were always of the same quality, the same thickness, and the temp of the grill, and the oven were precisely calibrated. The home chef usually does not have that kind of consistency, so a good instant-read thermometer is essential.
• 16. Here are some of the models that I own... I have more, but I could not fit them into the picture :-)
• 17. PREP/PREPARE
• 18. If you want to be decedent, when the filet comes out of the oven, place a knob of compound butter on top, and then serve with your favorite sides. Enjoy. FYI: A "knob" is more of an expression than an exact measurement.
• 19. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

STEAK-HOUSE SEARED BEEF TENDERLOIN FILETS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Season filets with kosher salt and pepper.
• Heat an oven-proof pan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
• Add oil and heat briefly.
• Sear filets in oil on one side for 4-5 minutes. Turn them over, place the pan in the oven, and roast to desired doneness. (For medium rare that would be approximately 7 minutes.).
• Allow filets to rest 5 minutes before serving.