Fillet Mignon with Rice and Toast

Tonights selection was a simple Fillet Mignon with Rice and Toast. I chose a 2009 Beaujolais Nouveu (Because that is what I had "lying" around).

Ever since I found a local meat market I have had a lot of steak lying around, I mean why not? Meat market prices are much better than grocery store. I have found the local market provides better opportunities, last night a friend came over, we watched a Zombie movie and ate beer brats, grilled wonderfully on my indoor grill. I find it important in my area to support local business, especially since the local business' offer local product, it is one way that I support the great state of Mississippi.

But back to my meal.

I struggled from the beginning with this meal. First, I could not get the steak to thaw, that is my own fault, I should have moved it to the refrigerator last night, not this morning before church. Because of this error I had to settle for water thawing the meat. I don't like to do this, I prefer the meat to go from frozen to cold then naturally to room temperature. I was stuck though, I eat like an old person, 5:00 and lot's of fiber.

Once the meat was finally thawed, I ground black pepper (at the medium setting) and sea salt (at the medium setting) on both sides of the steak and set it out with the hopes it would quickly reach room temp. I had been waiting an hour and thought I would just go ahead, it was still cold but I was hungry. I preheated the oven to 375 and began to work on my side items.

The side item became it's own issue. I had planned on cooking some nice bacon grease soaked green beans, then I realized, I was sick of green beans. I chose to go with a boxed rice side. The issue there was slightly embarrassing. I found my boxes had been compromised, in the future all boxes will be placed in plastic bags before going into my cupboard.

This is where my wonderful girlfriend saved the day. I had some left over white rice from my celebration of Chinese New Year last week (okay it wasn't MY rice, it was delivery, but it met all the rules, it was a week old). Since my relationship with this wonderful woman started, strange vegetables had been finding their way into my freezer, for example, peas. Let me explain something, I am not anti-pea. I think they are great filler and they taste fine to me, though I seldom choose them. I chose them today.

I heated some vegetable oil in a pot, due to it being the end of the weekend most of my dishes were dirty and I didn't want to pull down my wok. I added light soy sauce and the peas, brace yourself folks this is going to sound bland I was a little angry and not thinking straight. Once the peas were not frozen anymore I used this neat Chinese sauce called oyster sauce. I let it set for a moment then added my carton (yes it was a Chinese take out carton) of rice. Once I had tossed it appropriately I set my sight on the steak.

I began to heat some extra virgin olive oil in my steel skillet. I chose steel over iron because it worked last time and I wanted to do everything the same with the steak, except the seasoning. I often use a Greek Seasoning this time, as I wrote above, I stuck with course ground sea salt and black pepper. I used a water drop to make sure my oil was heated and went to work on the steak. I started with the presentation side down letting the steak cook for 3 minutes. I flipped the steak, now with the presentation side up, and let it cook for another 3. Once time had elapsed I put the pan in the oven for 6 minutes.

Take into account, I never move the steak save to flip it. I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled the skillet out of the oven and the steak looked wonderful. I immediately transported it to a plate and covered it with foil. I added some rice to my plate while the steak finished settling; I have to admit I had poured my wine much earlier. I used the excuse that the wine needed to breathe, I will stick with that excuse.

I saw there would be an empty place on my plate, I needed to fill it and then I realized I had no bread, and yes I know, rice is a grain. I toasted a piece of rye bread, when it was done I buttered it and placed it on the plate. By this time, the steak had sat long enough and I was ready to serve.

I made sure to take a good long look at my dinner, I even took a few pictures. I thought it looked pretty good. I cut into my steak and once again, I thought it looked pretty good.

It was slightly sinewy, I blame my thawing procedure, but over all I was happy with the consistency. The color was where I liked it so there was one more thing to check, the taste.

The first thing I noticed was the simplicity of letting the meat speak for itself. The salt and pepper brought out the taste of the Fillet instead of masking it or hijacking it. The fillet melted in my mouth and brought much joy in the end. The over all basic taste of the rice was light. It was far from overpowering, some might even call it bland, I didn't think so personally but to each their own. How much simpler can you get than adding a peace of rye toast. The most powerful taste on the plate was the steak, and I liked it that way.

I feel like my worst decision was the wine. Let's face it, it was what I had lying around. I love the taste of this Beaujolais Nouveu but it didn't enhance the flavor of the steak as a moderate Cabernet would have. Over all though it must have been fine because:

Rib Eye with a Red Wine Reduction.

No, my name is not Julia and I am working through no cookbook, but I have become interested in updating my culinary proclivities. Over the last few months I have started working on what I believe to be core meals, meals that one cooks for a holiday. Since then I have come across my local butcher shop. The steak is better than the grocery store and consistently cheaper. Lets cut to the chase, Tonight I attempted a 3/4 inch pan seared boneless rib eye with a red wine reduction.

I pulled my steak out of the refrigerator fully thawed an hour before cooking using vedgtable oil and Greek Seasoning to flavor the meat. My goal was to keep it simple and let the meat speak for itself. I used an online Alten Brown method for cooking, heating my cast iron skillet to 500 degrees and searing the rib eye for 30 seconds on each side and then cooking it for 2 minutes on each side in the oven. After I finished cooking the steak I placed it under aluminum foil to continue cooking on a plate.

I used the skimmings left in the hot pan as a base with some butter to caramelize onions. After they turned a good color (due to the left over meat and my well seasoned cast iron this was very dark). I used a Cabernet Sauvignon that had been lying around the house to about 1/16 inch up the skillet and let it reduce for two minutes. After the reduction I poured about a half cup of beef stock into the skillet. Once again I was trying to keep it simple and let the basic ingredients speak for themselves. I had always heard that the stock was necessary to relax the tannins in the wine. After having reduced for a few minutes I poured the reduction into a bowl.

By this time the steak was done sitting, I placed it on a plate, added a small dollop of butter, and used a few spoonfuls of reduction and poured a glass of wine. Before sitting down I couldn't help but to taste my reduction. I liked it, it had fruity overtones but was balanced by the stock. My steak, however, was overdone, it was on the well side of medium, I generally shoot for a medium-rare. I will have to adjust cooking time for the thinner steaks that I generally buy, however, the steak was still delicious for medium-well.

There were a few things I will change in the future when cooking this way. I thought far enough ahead to wrap my smoke detector with a plastic grocery bag. Next time I will open all my windows and doors before cooking so I can better attend to my meat, I assume my neighbors thought my apartment was on fire. As soon as the steak hit the iron skillet the smoke just poured into the sky. I will also adjust my cooking time accordingly for a thinner steak.

I will be moving to a Fillet next, which I know, is not seared the same way. I get it don't hassle me, however, the reduction will be made the same way using a different wine and less beef stock. I might just let you know how it went.