Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 5 to 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 2 steaks

Cuisine: American
Course: Main

Serve With: Homemade Pommes Frites (French Fries)

Ingredients:

Filet Mignon Recipe:

• 2 beef filet mignon steak cuts
• Sea salt
• Fresh cracked pepper

Filet Mignon Sauce:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup Marsala wine
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

To finish:

• 1 small shallot, minced and set aside
• 1 tablespoon butter, set aside

Directions:

1. Mix sauce ingredients (except for shallot and butter) in a bowl and set aside.
2. To cook Filet Mignon: Preheat pan on high. Add 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Add steaks and lower heat to medium. Turn steaks after 3-5 minutes. To sear edges, set steaks on their side. Check doneness of the other side after 3-5 minutes. The steaks will continue to cook once you remove them — a term known as carry-over cooking.
3. Remove filet mignons, and using the same pan, add diced shallots to pan. Scrape the meat off the bottom of the pan. Add sauce mix and turn pan back to high. Cook until it has reduced by half. Next, finish the sauce and add 1 tablespoon of butter to the sauce. This will help thicken it a bit more and give the sauce a nice shine.
4. Serve with homemade french fries (pommes frites) and top the prime filet mignon steak with your homemade sauce.
   

Chef Jason's Notes: The beef tenderloin is a non weight-bearing muscle, which receives very little exercise. This makes it one of the most tender cuts of meat. There are only 4-6 pounds of beef tenderloin per steer. The USDA top three grades of beef are prime, choice and select. Only about 2-3 percent of the beef sold in the U.S. is prime, which also has the most marbling. When choosing your steaks, pay attention to the marbling (little flakes of fat within the muscle). When steaks are cooked at a high temperature, the marbling melts, creating a tender, juicy steak. As a result, the more marbling a steak has, the better it will taste. When I served this beef filet mignon for our neighbors, they said it was the best filet mignon they'd ever tasted and could have practically cut it with their finger.