Pan Seared Filet Mignon

Pan Seared Filet Mignon

When is the last time you had a perfectly done filet mignon?  For me it’s been a while.  Who can afford to pick up this cut of meat anymore?  My luck was about to change. 

The food gods smiled down upon me when I found a great price on a whole beef tenderloin.  I proceeded to quickly educate myself on how to butcher this beautiful piece of meat to yield delectable filet mignon steaks.  This recipe centers around how to pan sear the steak to get it just the way you want it.  If you scroll to the bottom of this post you’ll find my video on how to butcher the tenderloin.  

Pan Seared Filet Mignon

Prep time: 1 min

Cook time: 7 min (rare)

Servings: 1

Ingredients

• 6 oz Filet Mignon Steak
• 2 tsp Vegetable Oil
• Coarse Grey Celtic Sea Salt
• Cracked Peppercorns

Video Tutorial: 

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F if you want the steak medium to well done.  There’s no need to use the oven if you want a rare steak. 
2. Brush the steak with vegetable oil and heavily season with salt and pepper.  Oiling the steak vs the pan will cut down on excessive smoke when frying.
3. Place the steak onto a hot cast iron skillet and don’t move it for 2-3 minutes since it needs to develop a golden brown crust before it will release easily from the pan.
4. Flip it and sear for another 2 or 3 minutes on the second side then sear the sides for 20-30 seconds per side.
5. Once the whole surface is seared you've got the perfect rare steak.
6. For medium rare place it into a 400 degree oven for 4 to 6 minutes, for medium well 6 to 8 minutes and for well-done 8-10 minutes.
7. Let the steak rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Notes:  When cooking a steak it’s best to start with a room temperature piece of meat.  But if you like your meat blood rare you might want to bend those rules a little and start with a chilled steak.

How to Butcher a Whole Beef Tenderloin: