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Perfect Filet Mignon
Filet Mignon is not my favorite cut of meat. If you ask me, it's uninteresting. Tender yes. Flavorful no. Which is why chefs always serve it with a sauce. Steak houses don't. They serve it plain, like they do the chewier but vastly more flavorful "sirloin strip," "shell," or whatever they call what is actually a cut of "short loin" and is sometimes, outside New York, called a "New York strip steak." (A Porterhouse or T-bone offers meat from both sides of the bone – a slice of filet and one of "sirloin strip.")
Anyway, I am in the minority. Americans love their very tender filet, and many of my radio listeners like to roast a whole filet when they have guests. It's fairly easy, everyone more or less likes it (except vegetarians and me), and it's expensive, so that translates to company food.
That said, cooking teacher and author Janeen Sarlin has come up with a foolproof method of cooking a whole filet mignon. The recipe comes from her book The New Meat Lover's Cookbook.
Roast Filet Mignon
Makes 8 generous servings
1 whole 6 to 7 pound filet mignon trimmed of fat
and tendon (1/2 a filet mignon will work equally
well when cooked for the same amount of time)
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons good brandy (optional)
Fold the thin tail of the filet under and tie-up the filet using cotton kitchen twine at 2 to 3-inch intervals.
Rub 2 tablespoons of ground black pepper into the filet. (Alternately, you could substitute 1 tablespoon of dried tarragon or any other dried herb you prefer for 1 tablespoon pepper.)
Let the filet stand at room temperature for 1/2 hour before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
Place the filet in a roasting pan (a jelly roll pan works well). At this point, drizzle a tablespoon of brandy over the filet, if you desire.
Place the pan in the center of the oven and reduce the heat to 450 degrees.
Cook the filet for 25 to 30 minutes, depending on size but never more than 30 minutes.
Remove the filet and wrap it snugly in a sheet of parchment paper (Janeen calls it a butcher's or pharmacist's wrap.)
Stack 10 sheets of newspaper on the counter and place the parchment-wrapped filet on top of the pile of newspaper.
Wrap all of the layers of newspaper around the filet tucking it tightly underneath.
Let it sit for at least 1/2 an hour and up to a full day!
Whenever you decide to unwrap it, it will be still warm and perfectly done.
If you prefer it to be served hot, drizzle a heated sauce over it before serving or warm it very briefly in the oven.
By the way, you can learn more of Janeen's tricks at:
www.sarlincookingwithclass.com
