How to Get the Best Filet Mignon Possible
Written By: Anonymous on Mon, Sep 8th 2008
It's Saturday night at Joe's Magnificent Steak House, and there are 20 active tickets being worked on at the moment. Everything is under control until suddenly two larger groups come in, one of eight and one of six. They are all seated and begin to read their menu. They order their drinks and talk about this and that and little Bobby's baseball game on one table and Britney's dance recital on the other. The waiter returns and each table orders the Filet Mignon... all fourteen individuals. One table orders the Filet: bloody, three medium rare, two mediums, medium well, and well done. The other: rare, medium rare, medium well, and three well done. The order comes back to the kitchen, and the grill cook rolls his eyes and gets going on the order of fourteen steaks in every which way, mumbling obscenities at all of the steaks that are over medium. Being in charge of the red meat in a kitchen is probably one of the most difficult kitchen posts. Everything moves so fast, and there are so many different ways to cook one piece of meat. Filet Mignon, and other such tender cuts of meat, can be eaten raw. A steak tartar, or a carpaccio made from tenderloin cuts can be heavenly. This tenderness is what weighs so heavily in our pockets when we dine out. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Filet Mignon is most tender at a raw/semi-raw stage (medium rare), which is why a well done filet mignon baffles or angers many a cook. To some of us, it just doesn't make sense to pay for tenderness and not ask for it. Ask any cook or chef, and they'd rather order a stew or some other type of meat dish than pay a lot of money for a well done Filet Mignon. Why is the Filet Mignon so expensive? A steer or a heifer weighs in at around 800 to 1,200 pounds, and BOTH tenderloins (the cut of meat from which the famed fillet comes from) weigh in at about eight to twelve pounds. The tenderloin, not to be confused with the short loin, sits between the sirloin and top sirloin, and because the muscle is non-weight bearing (it receives very little exercise) it is very tender. The largest cut from the tenderloin is the Chateau Briand, which usually weighs fourteen to sixteen ounces, is traditionally a serving for two; Fillet Mignon is a serving for one person and in comparison is about half a of the Chateau Briand (six to eight ounces). Tournedos, or "Petit Filet" weigh about three to four ounces. Traditional methods of preparation usually involve a quick sear, and a few minutes in the oven. While the meat is cooking, aromatics are cooked in the same pan that the meat was seared in, and then the pan is usually deglazed with some red wine and beef stock (or demi-glace). Having eaten Filet Mignon in many of its temperatures, I can attest that medium rare is the way to go; however, just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, taste is in the mind of the diner. We are all entitled to our different tastes and opinion, but once in a while, it's nice to be a little adventurous and step out of the comfort zone for a moment and taste all of the possibilities.
