Steakhouse Steak from Barefoot Contessa

Scoutie's Note:

Wow, what a wonderful special occasion entree! I love many of Ina Garten's recipes. You can use grey sea salt if desired or even Kosher salt, but cut back if using Kosher salt. Also Maytag cheese can be used instead of the Roquefort. We served this with a side of sauteed mushrooms, roasted asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. Yummmmy!!! Total cooking and prep time is 70 minutes.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• 2 (10 ounce) filet mignon
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon fleur de sel
• 1 tablespoon coarsely cracked black peppercorns
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (optional)

Roquefort cheese chive sauce recipe follows

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 ounces french Roquefort cheese, crumbled (4 ounces with rind)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Heat a large, well-seasoned cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot, 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and brush them lightly with vegetable oil. Combine the fleur de sel and cracked pepper on a plate and roll the steaks in the mixture, pressing lightly to evenly coat all sides.
4. When the skillet is ready, add the steaks and sear them evenly on all sides for about 2 minutes per side, for a total of 10 minutes.
5. Top each steak with a tablespoon of butter, if using, and place the skillet in the oven. Cook the steaks until they reach 120 degrees F for rare or 125 degrees F for medium-rare on an instant-read thermometer. (To test the steaks, insert the thermometer sideways to be sure you're actually testing the middle of the steak.)
6. Remove the steaks to a serving platter, cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Serve hot with Roquefort Chive Sauce on the side.
7. Roquefort chive sauce:.
8. Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has become thick and creamy, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the cheese, salt, pepper and chives and whisk rapidly until the cheese melts.

Reviews

[Petite Mommy]

Excellent dish--the steak goes wonderfully with the cheese sauce. It's a savory dish that is very impressive. My only advice is to ensure that your steaks are exactly the same size otherwise you'll have steaks at different stages of doneness. I bought packaged steaks from the supermarket that looked identical but the difference in weight made all the difference--one was perfect and was slightly less than our usual medium-rare.

[Karen=^..^=]

This recipe is the most perfect way to cook Filet Mignon. I saw it on Ina's show and knew this was the way to prepare the filets I was already planning on making for dinner. I used a sea salt/black peppercorn grinder for my coating. I didn't make the cheese sauce, I just wanted to make perfect steaks, and with this recipe I did! Thanks for posting this here, so it's easy for me to find.