Preparing fillet mignon?

[MaggieTheCat]

Picked up some fillet mignon last night...going to prepare it Friday for dinner. We just started using a George Foreman grill, which I'm enjoying quite a bit, so I'd like to try "grilling" it that way. Any suggestions on what I should do with it first? Should I marinate it for a while, or just keep it simple with salt and pepper?

[Docmayhem]

Rub it with salt, pepper and garlic.

Don't overcook it.

[Sheldonrs]

Wrap it in bacon. :-)

[MaggieTheCat]

Wrap it in bacon. :-)

Oooooh good call!

[Whiskey]

Don't cook it past rare.

[KiaKat]

I'd actually use a cast iron pan or a stovetop iron grill rather than a Foreman. You want the fat to melt into the meat, not drip off. Otherwise you lose most of the flavour that makes Filet so delicious.

Salt & Pepper. That's it. No herbs, spices or anything else is necessary. You can use a little olive oil or butter if you want.

Cook it to just under Medium Rare (you really need to let the fat get up to 120 for it to taste right), then pull it and LET IT REST. DO NOT SERVE OR CUT INTO THE MEAT FOR AT LEAST 5 MINUTES.

If you want, you can make my mushroom sauce:

1 pkg button mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
1/2 white onion
1 cup red wine
1 dab Better Than Bouillon

Slice the mushrooms into 1/4" slices.
Dice the onion
Crush & mince the garlic
Put olive oil in a pan (preferably the one you cooked the steak in) and add the garlic.
Cook until soft, but not brown.
Add the onions & cook until translucent.
Add the mushrooms & rosemary.
When the mushrooms start to wilt & reduce, add the bouillon.
Cook for a few more minutes, then add the red wine.
Cook the whole concoction down until it's reduced, then if it hasn't thickened, add a touch of flour or thickening agent.

Pour over the steaks and NOM.

[Stormraven]

Contrary to the advice being given here, I will tell you to cook it how you like. I can handle a medium-well Filet, but no matter how high the quality, I will not eat rare or med-rare beef. I cannot abide the texture or taste, and I know I'm not alone in that.

So, if you like Rare or Med-Rare, by all means go for it - if you prefer Med-Well or Well, go with it.

The rest, about seasoning, I agree with 100%.

[MaggieTheCat]

I generally do not like anything cooked less than Medium, myself, usually Medium-well. I got horribly sick once from eating some of a Raw steak and I've had an aversion to it since then. I will probably shoot for about Medium with these steaks if I can.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Don't take any advice from me as per cooking time; I love my steak rare as rare can be. If you want to season it, a little salt and pepper will do. You can always try making a pepper sauce tho, if you're feeling ambitious.

[Imprl59]

A filet is the only thing I didn't like cooked on the Foreman grill. The weight of the top flattened it out and it just didn't come out good. I cook them on the outside grill since that experiment. Best thing I can tell you is to sear it on both sides then cook to the temp you like. Now here you have gone and got me craving a filet at 9 in the morning!

[lordlundar]

Wrap it in bacon. :-)

Oooooh good call!

It's not just to "baconize" it so to speak. Beef tenderloin (which is what Fillet Mignon is cut from) Has very little fat in it, so it tends to dry out quickly. The bacon functions as a sort of "fat injection" when you cook it, making it a lot less likely to screw it up. And if you're going for medium or medium well (I'm a medium rare man myself), you are going to want to do it, as anything beyond medium rare and it will dry up quickly.

[MaggieTheCat]

So, we had our steak tonight, and it was delicious. I did try it on the Foreman and I think it worked great. I wrapped it in bacon, and some of the fat/juices did run out into the drip pan, but not a whole lot...I think the bacon really helped to keep it moist and juicy. The bacon didn't actually get done enough to eat, at least not for us. But that's okay 'cuz the steak sure tasted good! Will definitely be trying that again!

[Lace Neil Singer]

Chicken also works very well with bacon; one thing you can try maybe is a chicken steak with bacon and cheese. It's yummy. ^^

[MaggieTheCat]

Chicken also works very well with bacon; one thing you can try maybe is a chicken steak with bacon and cheese. It's yummy. ^^

I've had something like that as a sandwich before, and it was very good. Go bacon!