French Filet Mignon with Red Wine Shallot Sauce

Doesn't the filet mignon look marvelous? It was the most tender steak I've ever had in my life. Seriously!

I jumped at the chance when one of my advertisers, Foodie Blogroll, offered samples of filet mignon and sea bass from Certified Steak and Seafood Company. U.S.D.A. Certified Prime Angus Beef. The filet mignon is certified in the top 1% of beef, center cut, slow aged, hand cut, and hand matched. It's touted to cut like butter, and even just handling it before cooking, the filet mignon was the softest beef I've ever touched. My only other experience with online frozen beef was with Omaha Steaks and it wasn't even anywhere close to the same quality as Certified Steak and Seafood Company's filet mignon. Nowhere close.

I was trying to remember if I've ever ordered filet mignon, and all I could remember was the filet Chateaubriand at Club 33, the secret restaurant inside Disneyland, which was nowhere near as tender. But the red wine sauce did remind me of a lovely meal of steak with red wine and shallot sauce I enjoyed at Pierre Victoire Restaurant in London. So I decided that was the perfect preparation for this filet mignon.



French Filet Mignon with Red Wine Shallot Sauce
Inspired by the steak with red wine shallot sauce I ate at Pierre Victoire Restaurant in London.

For 1 serving, you'll need:
French fries, McDonald's, frozen, whatever you like
1 8-oz filet mignon
1/2 tsp Montreal steak seasoning or other coarse salt
1/2 cup shallots, finely diced
1 tblsp butter
1/2 cup red wine
Sprinkle of thyme
1 tsp flour

Optional: Add beef broth for a more savory sauce.

The filet mignon and sea bass steaks came frozen in a box with dry ice. I was only cooking one filet mignon for myself this night.



The raw filet mignon photo from Certified Steak and Seafood Company actually didn't look that different from my own version.



Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp of Montreal steak seasoning all over the filet mignon.



Ideally, I'd give it about 10 minutes or so to soak in the salt, but I was hungry. In a black steel or cast iron pan on medium-high heat, drizzle a bit of olive oil and let the filet mignon pan sear. I'm basically using my method of How to Fry the Perfect Steak, which can easily be adjusted for thickness of the steak.



Meanwhile, you can heat up your French fries. I stopped off at McDonald's and got a large order of fries to go earlier in the day and just re-heated them in my toaster oven. Whatever method works best for you.



Meanwhile, finely dice the shallots. I bought extra large shallots so I only had to dice two, but if you have normal-sized ones, you'll want about 1/2 cup's worth. Set aside.

In about 3 minutes, the filet mignon looked about halfway cooked so it was time to flip it.



Just one more minute and it was done. Remove from the pan and let the steak rest to redistribute the juices.



Turn the pan down to medium and add the diced shallots, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to get the nicely browned bits.



When the shallots have softened, add a tablespoon of butter.



And about 1/2 cup of red wine of your choice. Add some beef broth if you want it more savory and don't want too intense of a red wine flavor.



Then add in a quick sprinkle of thyme.



And about 1 tsp of flour to thicken the sauce.



After about 10 minutes, the filet mignon should have rested enough that you can plate it with the French fries.



The sauce should be done as well. You don't want it thick like gravy, just a bit like below, where if you spoon it aside, it won't immediately trickle in like water.



Pour the red wine shallot sauce over the steak. I like to dip my fries into the sauce as well.



And another shot of the inside of the filet mignon. It was sooo incredibly tender.



Enjoy!

Disclaimer:
This sponsorship is brought to you by Certified Steak & Seafood Company who we have partnered with for this promotion.




If you'd like to try it, the folks at Certified Steak and Seafood Company are offering $25 off your entire order if you use coupon code FBR125D. For more information, you can also visit their Facebook page, Twitter and/or Pinterest.



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