Description:

Filet mignon with a savory blue cheese sauce

Source:

Cooking New American from the Editors of Fine Cooking Mag.

Serves/Makes:2

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp (15 ml) vegetable oil
• 2 slices filet mignon (5 oz (140 grm). to 6 oz (168 grm). each)
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) unsalted butter
• 2 shallots, minced
• 3/4 cup (175 ml) full-bodied red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
• 3/4 cup (175 ml) homemade or low-salt canned chicken stock
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) fresh rosemary, chopped
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) crumbled blue cheese
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) pine nuts, toasted in a dry skillet and chopped

Preparation

• Lightly pound filets to about 3/4 inch thick.
• Seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper.
• In a medium, nonreactive skillet, heat the oil over high heat.
• When the oil is hot, sear the meat on both sides until well browned, about 3 minutes per side for medium rare.
• Transfer the meat to a platter and tent it with foil to keep warm.
• Pour the excess oil out of the pan, making sure to hold back the cooked-on juices and browned bits.
• Reduce the heat to medium high and add the butter.
• When the butter is melted, add the shallots, sauteing until softened, about 1 minute.
• Add the wine and cook at a vigorous simmer, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon and reducing until the liquid is very syrupy.
• Add the stock and rosemary; continue boiling until the liquid is reduced by half.
• Remove from the heat.
• Stir in the blue cheese, along with any juices that have run off the meat; the cheese should melt just slightly.
• Spoon the sauce over the meat, garnish with the chopped pine nuts and serve.

Comments

This recipe is from the cookbook Cooking New American: How to Cook the Food You Love to Eat, edited by Joanne McAllister Smart, copyright 2004 by The Taunton Press, Inc.

A beautiful cookbook with each recipe more tastey than the last--the kind of food you experience in all the trendy new-cuisine restaurants, fresh and full of flavor. The book is loaded with colorful photos of the presentation of each dish and each page is tabbed with the name of special cooking terms and techniques used in the recipe.