Sunday, March 22, 2009

My cooking life will never be the same

My sister Patty, who is a great cook, sent me a link to a cooking website where the issue of over cooked pan seared steaks was discussed. The issue is this: when you pan cook a filet mignon or a strip steak, you tend to overcook the first 1/8 of an inch or so of the meat. While the center of the filet/steak might be a wonderful medium-rare, the outside of the meat has a grey, medium-well feel to it. This website solved the problem this way:

Pre-heat your oven to 275F. Take the filet/steak out of its wrapper, and pat dry with a paper towel and then liberally apply salt and pepper to the meat. Place the meat onto a roasting pan, and put the pan into the oven. Cook the meat for 20-25 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the meat is 90-95F.

Once the meat is between 90-95F, remove the pan from the oven and cook the meat as follows:

4 T chilled butter
4 filet mignon steaks
1/3 cup chopped shallots
2/3 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
1 T drained capers
1 T dijon mustard
1/3 cup chopped parsley (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt 1 T butter in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the steaks to the skillet and cook to desired
doneness. When done, transfer the steaks to a warm
platter and tent with foil.

Melt 1 T butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the shallots and saute for one minute. Add the wine,
capers and mustard. Simmer until slightly thickened,
about 2 minutes. Stir in the parsley, and reduce heat
to medium low. Whisk in the remaining 2 T butter, and
season the sauce with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce
over the steaks and serve.

I cooked the filets for about 2 minutes a side. I used an instant read thermometer to check the temperature of the meat. I cooked the filets until the internal temperature of the meat reached about 130F. I am happy to report that the filets were a perfect medium rare throughout. There was no grey crust on the meat. Yep, my cooking life will never be the same!


4 comments:

Lisa said...

I'm making these this week using Patty's suggested method. I'll let you know how it goes.

L.

Paul's Blog said...

The key to success is a good thermometer. I used a remote sensing thermometer for the oven cooking and an instant-read thermometer for the searing.

Lisa said...

The other question is whether I want to use a $40 Cab, since it's all I have in the house. Hmmmm...

L.

Paul's Blog said...

L,
You can use that $40 bottle of Cabernet, but I would recommend a cheap bottle of Australian Merlot or Shiraz. Certainly, you will go out to a store between now and Friday night?

PK