Monday, January 30, 2012

All I Want for Valentines is Buffalo-Blue-Cheese-Crusted-Filet Mignon.


Clearly I was influenced by all the buffalo chicken wing Super Bowl recipes on TV recently. Because I had filets, blue cheese (is it okay that I spell it 'blue' because Wikipedia told me it was) and Panko bread crumbs. And this is what came out. Coincidentally I just secured my husband for another couple years. Until he meets the master-of-chocolate-super-hussie. Then I'm toast.

Buffalo Blue Cheese Crusted Filet Mignon
Serves 2. Unless you don't mind yourself makin' weird, 'private moment' faces in front of company. Then by all means double or triple it!

Ingredients:
2 best quality beef fillets, set out of the fridge for 30 minutes to knock the chill off
salt and pepper
olive oil/butter is optional for the steak fanatics

'Crust':
1/4 cup blue cheese
1 oz cream cheese
2 teaspoons white wine or vermouth
small pinch fresh cracked pepper
1 teaspoon (or more) Franks Red Hot Sauce
2 teaspoons chopped chives or green onions, plus extra for garnish
1 cup panko in a wide bowl for coating

How To:
Preheat the oven to 400.

Combine the blue cheese, cream cheese, wine or vermouth, pepper, hot sauce, and green onions together in a small bowl with a fork until well blended. Use your hands to pat them into 2 patties. Carefully press them - one side, then the other - firmly but gently into the panko crumbs. Do what it takes to make them adhere. Fight stubborn with stubborn - but not to the point that you obliterate your patties. Keep a cool head.

Place the patties on a small baking sheet lined with aluminum foil sprayed with nonstick spray. Set aside while you sear the filets.

Meanwhile, pat any extra moisture off the fillets with paper towels. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a small pan over medium heat (enough to get a good sear.) Add enough olive oil JUST to lightly coat the bottom. You can add a small bit of butter if you're a steak purist. Let the oil heat through 1 minute. Add the steaks (if the oil doesn't hiss a little, remove them immediately and wait until the oil heats up more.) Cook for about 3-4 minutes, until the first side has a nice dark crust on it and the steaks easily move when you try and pick them up. Flip to the other side and cook the same way - just until you get that crust. Remove and transfer to a small baking sheet and put in the preheated oven for 6 minutes (8 minutes for well done.) Remove, tint lightly with more foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, drizzle a small bit of olive oil over the top of the blue cheese patties. Put in the oven for 6-8 minutes (also at 400) until the tops are light golden and the patty has 'melted' a bit but not oozed completely lifelessly all over the damn place. See photo above for reference.

Use a spatula to carefully place on top of each fillet and serve. Garnish with additional green onions.

*Notice how many times I spelled 'fillet' differently? Wikipedia was no help on this one therefore I felt it my duty to cover it both ways. Or so I tell myself...

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Who knew this is all I wanted for Valentine's day too?? :)

StephenC said...

I could get in real trouble with blue bleu cheese and a steak. I concur that blue is fine. The Brits pronouce filet with the 't' at the end, hence fillet is probably more appropriate for them. But then the Brits seem to take pride in not being able to pronounce anything in a foreign language.

Austinarchitect said...

This dish looks fabulous, I think that it could easily be featured in any five-star restaurant.

lisa is cooking said...

This would make my Valentine very happy indeed! And, I'm kind of excited to see a buffalo blue cheese application on something other than wings.

Velva said...

This looks amazing! My husband would be in heaven. Awesome.

Velva