Pan-Roasted Filet Mignon

with a roasted garlic and peppercorn crust and a Cabernet demi-glace

Two temperatures, one crust, and the steakhouse can keep its reservation.

Pan-Roasted Filet Mignon, plated, in the MackFoodie kitchen

Serves: 2, one filet each
Active: 30 min
Total: 45 min with the garlic already roasted, about 90 min from scratch
Season: Year-round

Chef secret

Season in layers. The steak and the crust each have to taste right on their own, because the crust's salt is for the whole batch, not for one steak. And the 110°F stop is the whole trick: it gives the crust its own window in the oven without the steak paying for it.

Ingredients

The filets
2 filet mignon steaks, about 8 oz each and 2 inches thick
Kosher salt
1 Tbsp neutral high-heat oil
4 Tbsp roasted garlic and peppercorn crust, from the batch below

Method

Roast the garlic and make the crust first, both below. The crust keeps, so do it the day before if you like.
Start the demi-glace, below, and keep it warm.
Heat the oven to 450°F. Pat the steaks bone dry and season them with kosher salt.
Heat the oil in a heavy oven-safe skillet over medium-high until it shimmers. Sear the steaks about 2 minutes a side until deeply browned, then roll them to sear the edges.
Move the skillet to the oven. Cook until a thermometer pushed in from the side reads 110°F in the center.
Pull the skillet, spread 2 Tbsp of the crust over the top of each filet, and send it straight back to the 450°F oven crust side up.
Roast until the crust is browned and crisp and the center reads 125 to 130°F. If the steak hits temperature before the crust colors, take it out. Never keep cooking a steak for the sake of the topping.
Lift the filets out of the hot skillet and rest them uncovered for 5 to 8 minutes. They climb a few degrees as they sit.
Take the sauce off the heat and whisk in the cold butter. Taste, season, loosen with a splash of water if it has tightened.
Spoon the sauce beside or under the filets and leave the crust exposed.

Roasted Garlic

makes 2 bulbs, enough for one batch of crust · keeps 3 days in the fridge, in their skins

2 whole garlic bulbs
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt, split between the two bulbs

Heat the oven to 375°F. Cut the tops off both bulbs so every clove shows.
Set them cut side up on a sheet of foil big enough to wrap both. Drizzle 1 Tbsp of oil over each and sprinkle the salt over both.
Wrap tightly so the steam stays in. Roast 30 to 35 minutes, until the cloves are tan and soft all the way through. Go longer if they are not.
Open the foil and let them cool enough to handle.

Roasted Garlic and Peppercorn Crust

makes about 1 cup, enough for 8 filets at 2 Tbsp each · keeps 5 days in a sealed jar in the fridge

All the roasted garlic, squeezed from both bulbs
3 Tbsp cracked white peppercorns
½ Tbsp cracked black peppercorns
1 tsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbsp finely chopped thyme

Squeeze the garlic into a blender or food processor and add everything else.
Purée until the garlic is smooth, then stop. The peppercorns should still have texture in the crust. Do not take it past that.

Cabernet Demi-Glace

makes about ½ cup, for two · keeps make it the day you serve it

1 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp finely minced shallot
½ cup dry Cabernet Sauvignon, one you would drink
½ cup prepared beef demi-glace, made up per the label if it is a concentrate
1 Tbsp cold unsalted butter
Kosher salt
Water, to loosen

Warm the oil in a small saucepan over medium and soften the shallot without browning it.
Add the Cabernet and simmer until it is down to about 2 Tbsp.
Stir in the demi-glace and simmer gently until it coats a spoon. Keep warm, and mount the butter only at the table end of the main method.

Tools and pantry

ThermoMaven P2 WiFi Wireless Meat Thermometer, two probes the 110°F stop and the final pull are the recipe. Guess either and it is a different dinner
Offcuts Kitchen 100 percent Grass-Fed Beef Demi-Glace, 8 oz the fewest ingredients of any demi-glace I found. Make it up per the label before it goes in
Vitamix Ascent X2 SmartPrep Kitchen System blender and food processor in one, built for abuse. It kills two birds with one stone

Amazon links are affiliate links. They never change what you pay.

Made with

Filet Mignon

What to pour

Cabernet Sauvignon.

See the full pairing guide

← All recipes