Thanksgiving Dinner: The Main Course

We tend to be a little unconventional when it comes the Thanksgiving dinner. Sure, I have made a whole turkey with all the traditional side dishes. However, when it is just me and Deirdre, cooking a turkey, even a small one, yields a lot of leftovers and we end up throwing a lot of it away. So tonight I am cooking up two beef filets.

Here is the recipe:

Filet Mignon with Shallot Pepper Cream Sauce
· 1/4 cup coarsely crushed black peppercorns
· 4 (6 ounce) beef tenderloin filets, 1 1/2 inches thick
· salt to taste
· 1 tablespoon butter
· 1 teaspoon olive oil
· 1-2 shallots, finely chopped
· 1/2 cup beef broth
· 1 cup heavy cream

Preheat an oven to 275F. Place the peppercorns into a shallow bowl. Sprinkle the beef tenderloin filets with salt on both sides, and coat both sides with crushed peppercorns. Place the filets on a cutting board or dish and cover with foil. Let the filets sit at room temperature for 45-60 minutes.

After the filets have warmed, place them in a pan and put the pan in the pre-heated oven. Cook the filets until they have reached an internal temperature of 95F (12-15 minutes). Once the filets have reached an internal temperature of 95F, take the filets out of the oven.

Melt the butter with the olive oil over high heat in a heavy skillet (not nonstick) until the foam disappears from the butter. Gently place the steaks in the pan, and cook until they start to become firm and are reddish-pink and juicy in the center, about 3 1/2 minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 130 degrees F (54 degrees C).

Remove the steaks to platter, and cover tightly with foil. Cook the shallots in the pan for 1-2 minutes, then pour the beef broth into the skillet, and use a whisk to stir the broth and scrape up any dissolved brown flavor bits from the skillet. Whisk in the cream, and simmer the sauce until it is reduced and thickened, 6 to 7 minutes.

Place the steaks back in the skillet, turn to coat with sauce, and serve with the remaining sauce.

Cook's Notes: This was an easy and incredibly easy dish to make. It has an incredibly sophisticated taste but it could not be easier to make. We will serve this meal with a bottle of Educated Guess Cabernet.

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours!