Sous Filet Mignon with Liver Compound Butter
Speed - 95%
Simplicity - 95%
Tastiness - 100%
97%
Perfect!
Perfect medium-rare! This is definitely the best cooked steak I've had.
Ingredients
Filet Mignon
- Filet Mignon
- Butter
- Salt
Liver Compound Butter
- 1 Stick Butter, unsalted softened
- 2 Tablespoons Liver Pate
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
Filet Mignon
- Season beef with salt.
- Put beef into sous vide bags with some butter.
- Cook the beef for 45 minutes at 130F.
- Submerge the steaks into an ice bath.
- Sear the steaks in a cast iron pan.
Liver Compound Butter
- Whisk softened butter until pale yellow.
- Whisk in the liver pate.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Roll in cling film and set in the freezer until ready to use.
If there's one reason to justify getting sous vide equipment for your kitchen, then this would definitely be it. These immersion circulators just take all the guess work out of cooking steaks, giving you consistent and precise doneness every single time.
I always like my steaks medium rare, so I'm setting my water bath to preheat to about 130F and set my cooking time to 45 minutes. Here's a quick temperature guide for cooking steak:
- Rare – 120F
- Medium Rare – 130F
- Medium – 135F
- Medium Well – 145F
- Well Done – 156F
As for the corresponding cooking times, you'll be safe with a window in between 45 minutes and four hours depending on the thickness of your steak. You really can't cook your steaks past the doneness that a specific temperature should yield. What cooking time does affect is the texture of the meat. I like mine with a bit of chew so I went for the shortest recommended time. If you don't have an immersion circulator yet, be sure and check out my post about the best immersion circulators.
It's a great way get started with sous vide in your own home, or upgrade your current device. They are relatively inexpensive these days compared to just a few years ago!
Give those tenderloins a generous seasoning. Get your favorite blend of spices out. Personally though, I think that a good aged cut of beef is glorious on its own and needs nothing more than a touch of salt. I even skip on the pepper which I also find a bit overpowering. Give the salt around 5 minutes to work its way into the steaks.
Though unnecessary, I like trussing my tenderloin too so they'll hold their shape better as they cook.
I usually sear my steaks for about a minute per side after they've cooked in the water bath. I find this searing time too long, with a great chance of overcooking them.
I thought of giving one of the steaks a pre-sear while the meat is still cold, hoping to get my final searing time down.
Beef tenderloin is relatively lean, with less intramuscular fat, so I've added some butter into the sous vide bag. You may add your aromatics at this time too.
Time for these steaks to cook.
While the steaks are cooking, work on your compound butter. Start by whisking soft butter until fluffy and a bit pale colored.
Then get your choice of flavors in. I chose to add some liver pate in, which should add a subtle richness to the beef without masking its flavor.
Stretch a good length of cling film on your kitchen counter and get the butter on it. Wrap it up neatly and put in the freezer to solidify.
When the steaks are done, submerge them in an ice bath to stop any carry-over cooking. Also, this should bring down the meat's internal temperature so they won't overcook later in the final sear.
The pre-seared steak took only 30 seconds per side to develop a good crust compared to the other which needed a minute per side.
Let the steaks rest for 10 minutes so the juices get redistributed within the meat fibers.
The pre-seared steak did come out more evenly medium-rare.
Ingredients
Filet Mignon
- Filet Mignon
- Butter
- Salt
Liver Compound Butter
- 1 Stick Butter, unsalted softened
- 2 Tablespoons Liver Pate
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
Filet Mignon
- Season beef with salt.
- Put beef into sous vide bags with some butter.
- Cook the beef for 45 minutes at 130F.
- Submerge the steaks into an ice bath.
- Sear the steaks in a cast iron pan.
Liver Compound Butter
- Whisk softened butter until pale yellow.
- Whisk in the liver pate.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Roll in cling film and set in the freezer until ready to use.
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