FILET DINNER

Dinner
Written By Estelle Gooden

Filet Dinner

Restaurant style filet mignon with herb butter, oven roasted asparagus, poppyseed salad, and seasoned baked potatoes.


Ever love a meal so much from a restaurant and then have the urge to recreate it at home and it comes out nothing like you hoped?  Yeah, me too.  For the longest time, my most favorite meal was the Capital Grille’s Restaurant Style Filet with various sides.  After years of trial and error and quite a few ruined filets, I finally got it right.  Follow this step by step recipe for the perfect filet dinner, you’ll end up with a perfectly cooked & seasoned filet mignon!  This meal can be made with any combination of sides.  I have found that the sides listed have become crowd favorites.


Filet Mignon

Ingredients

  • ¼ c Grapeseed oil*

  • 6, 6 oz Filet Mignon

  • 2 tsp seasoned salt

  • 2 tsp garlic powder

  • 1 tsp pepper

  • Cast Iron pan**

Filet Prep

  1. Preheat oven to 500°F

  2. Let steaks sit out for at least 30- 60 minutes to get to room temperature

  3. Season the topside of the steaks with ½ of the seasoned salt, garlic powder, and pepper

  4. Flip steaks and season the other side with the remainder of the seasonings

  5. Heat the cast iron pan with the grapeseed oil in it over high heat (when the oil is almost smoking, the oil is hot enough)

  6. Add the filets in the pan and sear 3 minutes on the first side, flip and sear for 1 minute on the other

  7. Put the cast iron pan in the oven for 4 minutes- Rare, 5 minutes- Medium Rare, 6 minutes- Medium.

  8. Remove steaks from the oven and have them rest on a plate topped with Herb Butter and covered with aluminum foil for 5 minutes.

  9. Serve!

NOTES:

*Grapeseed Oil has a higher burn temperature than EVOO and other oils which makes it great for browning the steaks and in a hot oven.  Substitutes for Grapeseed Oil can be Canola, avocado or Vegetable Oil

**In order to brown & cook the steaks correctly, you need to use a cast iron pan.



Herb Butter

Herb Butter, the easiest way to infuse loads of flavor into any cut of steak!

Ingredients

  • 1 stick salted butter (room temperature)

  • 2 medium garlic cloves, minced

  • Fresh Chives, cut up*

  • 1 tbs Fresh Parsley, chopped

  • 1 tbs Fresh Basil, chopped

  • 2 tsp grated parmesan cheese

  • Ground Pepper, to taste

Herb Butter Prep

  1. Add softened butter, minced garlic, chives, parsley, and basil, pepper, and parmesan cheese  into a medium sized bowl.  Mix with spatula until combined.  Lay out plastic wrap and form butter into a log and wrap.  Place back in fridge for roughly 2 hours to firm up.**

NOTES:

*When cutting up chives, use scissors and cut directly into your bowl.  This helps avoid having to pick up little pieces of chives off your cutting board!

**Herb butter can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or placed in your freezer and kept for 3-4 months (if it lasts that long!)


Asparagus

Asparagus, at first, can seem overwhelming and daunting.  Don’t mess it up, it’s expensive!  Heck yes it is, and worth every penny when cooked as described below.  You’ll be impressing guests left and right with this perfectly cooked, yet still bright side.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ lb Asparagus

  • ¼ c EVOO

  • 1 tbs seasoned salt (I prefer Lawry’s)

  • 1 tsp black pepper

Asparagus Prep

  1. Trim about 1 ½- 2 inches stem end off

  2. Rinse with cold water thoroughly in colander

  3. Pat dry with paper towel (this allows EVOO to adhere to Asparagus)

  4. Line a sheet pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray

  5. Line up asparagus on tray, single layer

  6. Drizzle EVOO, seasoned salt & pepper and use hands to gently combine

  7. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on counter for up to 6 hours

  8. (If making this with Filets) Cook for 5 minutes at 500°F, while steaks are resting. (If making any other time) Cook for 10-15  minutes at 350°F

  9. Serve!


Poppyseed Salad

Poppyseed Salad is a refreshing and visually pleasing addition to any dinner table.  It can be totally be modified to fit any preferences, but this combination has proven to please even the pickiest guests!

Ingredients

  • 1 head of Red Leaf Lettuce (any lettuce will do)

  • ½ c Toasted Sliced Almonds

  • ½ c Strawberries, washed & sliced

  • ½ c Blueberries, washed

  • 3-4 scallions, cut up*

  •  Crumbled Goat Cheese

  • Poppyseed Salad Dressing (any sweet store bought dressing is fine)

Salad Prep

  1. Clean & dry lettuce, chop into smaller pieces and put in salad bowl

  2. When ready to serve, toss lettuce with dressing 

  3. Add strawberries, blueberries, scallions, and toasted almonds into salad bowl and toss

  4. Top with goat cheese

  5. Serve!

NOTE: Use scissors to cut the scallions over the bowl, this makes clean up easier!


How to toast sliced almonds

  1. In a pan, over medium heat, add almonds and move them around until golden brown (3-5 minutes)

  2. Remove from pan and let cool in separate bowl, until it’s time to assemble the salad.



Baked Potatoes

Baked Potatoes, so easy and low effort!  With just a little extra time your dinner guests will enjoy a perfectly baked potato and a flavorful potato skin!

Ingredients

  • 6 baking potatoes (Idaho)

  • Aluminum foil

  • ⅛ c EVOO

  • Sea Salt & Pepper to taste

Potato Prep

  1. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil

  2. Rinse & scrub each potato and pat dry

  3. Poke each potato with a fork a few times

  4. Place potatoes on individual aluminum foils

  5. Distribute EVOO evenly to each potato & add sea salt & pepper to taste

  6. Rub each potato to coat completely

  7. Wrap potatoes in foil and leave on sheet pan for up to 5 hours

  8. Bake for 1 hour at 350/400°F

  9. Serve!

Enjoy!

Estelle Gooden
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