Filet with Bourbon Blue Cheese Sauce
2 (8-ounce) filets
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 large tomato, cut into wedges
1 scallion, cut on the bias
1/4 red onion, cut into wedges
For the bourbon blue cheese sauce:
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons butter
4 ounces bourbon
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
5 ounces smoked or regular blue cheese
Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Season the filets with salt and pepper.
In a screaming-hot cast iron pan, add a touch of vegetable oil, sear the filets for five minutes on one side then flip them over. Add a nice little fleck of butter on each filet, reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and then finish roasting for six additional minutes. Pull the filets out of the oven and remove them from the hot pan. Let them rest for 10 minutes for the perfect mid-rare.
To make the bourbon blue cheese sauce, sweat the garlic, butter, bourbon, red chili flakes and salt in a small saucepan. Once the sauce has reduced by half, remove it from the heat and add the cream and blue cheese. Mix together with a large spoon until incorporated and it starts to thicken up. Right before you serve the sauce over the steaks, make sure to toss in the tomato, scallion and red onion. Serves 2.
— From "The Butcher Babe Cookbook: Comfort Food Hacked by a Classically Trained Chef" by Loreal Gavin (Page Street Publishing, $22.99)
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