Paul and I were flown down to Ft Lauderdale for a week during the holiday to be the guest chef's (lol) at my mom's for Christmas dinner. It turned out great, although there was a bit of an issue with my gratin atop the filet. There is a specific amount of time allowed to cook it, however the fillet was bigger than we thought and it kinda of fizzled out.
You can find beautiful beef tenderloin at Costco. The cleaned filet is more expensive, but it's easier if you don't have to butcher your own loin. - Most fillet mignon is cut into 6 oz or 8 oz servings, remember there are 16oz to a pound or that you can get 2 beautiful 8oz fillets per pound.
I only needed to convince Paul to watch one episode of Hell's Kitchen to get him hooked. He was dying to plate the dinner but even more eager to channel Gordon Ramsey and was waiting for the perfect time to kick the trash can and yell. Fortunately for me, that time never came.
Christmas Dinner Menu consisted of:
Shrimp Cocktail
Cheese Plate
Filet Mignon with Mushroom Gratin
Celery Root and Potato Puree
Haricot Verde with Crispy Lemon Crumbs
Apple, Pear, Cranberry Crisp with Tahitian Vanilla Gelato and Eggnog Sauce
Filet Mignon with Mushroom Gratin
mise en place
6 8oz large Fillet Mignon
olive oil
2 shallots (sliced)
3 cloves garlic (smashed with peels on)
1/4 lb. chestnut mushrooms (quartered)
1/4 lb. Shitake Mushrooms (quartered)
1/8 lb. Oyster Mushrooms (quartered)
1/2 cup Cream (eyeball it)
2 Egg Yolk
Chives (eyeball it)
Salt & Pepper to taste
directions
mushroom gratin:
Heat Olive Oil in a large heavy skillet. Add the sliced shallots, and crushed garlic. Simmer for a minute or two and add the mushrooms. Sweat down a bit and remove the garlic. Pour the mixture into a bowl and set aside.
Add cream to a separate bowl and whisk until fluffy. Add egg yolks and whisk together. Add chives and mushroom mix and whisk until well mixed.
That’s it for the Gratin.
fillet mignon:
Heat olive oil in a hot heavy skillet. Season Fillet with salt and pepper on all sides. Add Fillet to hot oil and brown on all sides. Be careful not to cook the steak at this point or you’ll dry it out.
Spoon the Mushroom Gratin over the top of the Fillet and top with Parmesan. Place Fillet in a hot oven (450-500 degrees f) for 7 minutes.
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