Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (172 page)
MAKES
¹⁄
2
CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
PAN-SEARED THICK-CUT STRIP STEAKS
This relish also pairs well with grilled chicken.
¹⁄ | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
Pinch red pepper flakes | |
2 | tablespoons oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped |
1 | tablespoon capers, rinsed and chopped |
1 | tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil |
2 | teaspoons lemon juice |
1 | teaspoon honey |
2 | tablespoons chopped fresh parsley |
1 | tablespoon minced fresh mint |
Salt and pepper |
After transferring steaks to wire rack, pour off fat from now-empty skillet and return to high heat. Add broth and scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Add pepper flakes and boil until liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Add any meat juices to pan. Add tomatoes, capers, oil, lemon juice, and honey to pan and swirl vigorously to emulsify. Off heat, add parsley and mint. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve.
MAKES
¹⁄
2
CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
PAN-SEARED THICK-CUT STRIP STEAKS
Before flambéing, be sure to roll up long shirtsleeves, tie back long hair, and turn off the exhaust fan and any lit burners.
1 | small shallot, minced |
1 | poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, and chopped fine |
¹⁄ | teaspoon ground cumin |
¹⁄ | cup white tequila |
¹⁄ | cup low-sodium chicken broth |
1 | tablespoon lime juice |
3 | tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled |
1 | tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro |
Salt and pepper |
After transferring steaks to wire rack, pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from now-empty skillet. Return pan to high heat and add shallot and poblano; cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add cumin and continue to cook 30 seconds. Transfer pan contents to bowl. Off heat, add tequila, reserving 2 teaspoons, and let warm through, about 5 seconds. Wave lit match over pan until tequila ignites, then shake pan to distribute flames. When flames subside, add broth and 2 teaspoons lime juice. Reduce to ¹⁄
3
cup, about 6 minutes. Add remaining 2 teaspoons tequila, remaining 1 teaspoon lime juice, and any meat juices to pan. Remove from heat and whisk in cold butter, cilantro, and poblano and shallot; season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve.
MAKES
¹⁄
2
CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
PAN-SEARED THICK-CUT STRIP STEAKS
If red curry paste isn’t available, increase the chili-garlic sauce to 2¹⁄
2
teaspoons.
4 | tablespoons unsalted butter, softened |
1 | tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro |
2 | teaspoons Asian chili-garlic sauce |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons thinly sliced scallion, green part only |
¹⁄ | teaspoon red curry paste |
1 | small garlic clove, minced |
2 | teaspoons lime juice |
Salt |
Beat butter vigorously with spoon until soft and fluffy. Add cilantro, chili-garlic sauce, scallion, red curry paste, and garlic; beat to incorporate. Add lime juice a little at a time, beating vigorously between each addition until fully incorporated. Season with salt to taste. Top each cooked steak with portion of flavored butter and serve.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Our goal in developing a recipe for filet mignon was simple—to replicate the best restaurant filet at home, with a rich, brown crust and a tender interior, topped with a richly flavored pan sauce. To cook our filets perfectly, inside and out, we pan-seared evenly cut, well-dried filets in a 10-inch skillet, then transferred the meat to a hot oven. Finishing the steak in the oven prevented the fond (the richly flavored brown bits in the bottom of the pan) from burning and gave us time to start the sauce, which we made in minutes with Madeira, Dijon mustard, and anchovies (which added complexity without fishy flavor) while the steaks were in the oven.
See “GAUGING STEAK DONENESS” illustration that follows recipe.
SERVES 4
If you choose to serve the steaks with the Madeira sauce (recipe follows), have all the sauce ingredients ready before searing the steaks. Begin the sauce while the steaks are in the oven. To cook six steaks instead of four, switch to a 12-inch pan and use 8 teaspoons of olive oil.
4 | (7- to 8-ounce) center-cut filets mignons, 1¹⁄ |
6 | teaspoons olive oil |
Salt and pepper | |
1 | recipe |
1.
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position, place rimmed baking sheet on oven rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees. When oven reaches 450 degrees, heat 2 teaspoons oil in 10-inch skillet over high heat until just smoking.
2.
Meanwhile, rub each side of steaks with ¹⁄
2
teaspoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Place steaks in skillet and cook, without moving them, until well browned, about 3 minutes. Turn steaks with tongs and cook until well browned on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Off heat, use tongs to transfer steaks to hot baking sheet in oven.
3.
Roast until meat registers
115 to 120 degrees (for rare), 120 to 125 degrees (for medium-rare), or 130 to 135 degrees (for medium), 2 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare pan sauce, if using. Transfer steaks to large plate, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest about 5 minutes before serving.
Wrap 1 slice bacon around circumference of each filet, overlapping ends and securing to meat with toothpick. Hold filets two or three at a time on their sides briefly with tongs in skillet to crisp bacon slightly before transferring to oven.
MAKES
²⁄
3
CUP, ENOUGH FOR 1 RECIPE
PAN-SEARED FILETS MIGNONS
1 | shallot, minced |
1 | cup Madeira or sherry |
1 | tablespoon chopped fresh parsley |
1 | tablespoon chopped fresh thyme |
1 | tablespoon Dijon mustard |
1 | tablespoon lemon juice |
2 | anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced to paste (about 1 teaspoon) |
3 | tablespoons unsalted butter, softened |
Salt and pepper |
After transferring steaks to oven, set now-empty skillet over medium-low heat; add shallot and cook, stirring constantly, until softened, about 1 minute. Add Madeira, increase heat to high, and scrape bottom of skillet with wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits. Simmer until liquid is reduced to about ¹⁄
3
cup, 6 to 8 minutes. (If steaks are not yet out of oven, set skillet off heat and wait for steaks to come out of oven and rest for 2 minutes before proceeding.) Add accumulated meat juices from baking sheet and reduce liquid 1 minute longer. Off heat, whisk in parsley, thyme, mustard, lemon juice, and anchovies, then whisk in butter until butter has melted and sauce is slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste, spoon sauce over steaks, and serve.
To accurately determine whether your steak is cooked to your liking, hold the meat with tongs and insert an instant-read thermometer through the side of the steak and avoid any bones. Use this tip for gauging the temperature of other thinner cuts of meat, such as pork chops and chicken breasts.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Black peppercorns can give mild-tasting filet mignon a welcome flavor boost. But they can also create a punishing blast of heat. For a pepper-crusted filet mignon with a crust that wouldn’t overwhelm the meat, we mellowed the peppercorns’ heat by gently simmering them in olive oil. We then used a two-step process to create a well-browned and attractive pepper crust: First, we rubbed the raw steaks with a paste of the cooked cracked peppercorns, oil, and salt; then we pressed the paste into each steak using a sheet of plastic wrap to ensure it stayed put. The paste not only added flavor to the meat but also drew out the meat’s own beefy flavor.
SERVES 4
To crush the peppercorns, spread half of them on a cutting board, place a skillet on top, and, pressing down firmly with both hands, use a rocking motion to crush the peppercorns beneath the “heel” of the skillet. Repeat with the remaining peppercorns. While heating the peppercorns in oil tempers much of their pungent heat, this recipe is still pretty spicy. If you prefer a very mild pepper flavor, drain the cooled peppercorns in a fine-mesh strainer in step 1, toss them with 5 tablespoons of fresh oil, add the salt, and proceed. Serve with either Blue Cheese–Chive Butter or Port Cherry Reduction (recipes follow).
5 | tablespoons black peppercorns, crushed |
5 | tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil |
1 | tablespoon kosher salt |
4 | (7- to 8-ounce) center-cut filets mignons, 1¹⁄ |
1.
Heat peppercorns and 5 tablespoons oil in small saucepan over low heat until faint bubbles appear. Continue to cook at bare simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until pepper is fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. When mixture is room temperature, add salt and stir to combine. Rub steaks with oil and pepper mixture, thoroughly coating top and bottom of each steak with peppercorns. Cover steaks with plastic wrap and press gently to make sure peppercorns adhere; let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
2.
Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position, place baking sheet on oven rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees. When oven reaches 450 degrees, heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Place steaks in skillet and cook, without moving, until dark brown crust has formed, 3 to 4 minutes. Using tongs, turn steaks and cook until well browned on second side, about 3 minutes. Off heat, transfer steaks to hot baking sheet in oven. Roast until meat registers 115 to 120 degrees (for rare), 120 to 125 degrees (for medium-rare), or 130 to 135 degrees (for medium), 3 to 7 minutes. Transfer steaks to wire rack and let rest, tented loosely with aluminum foil, for 5 minutes before serving.