Ina Garten-Inspired Filet Mignon

Compiled by Igor Kukolj, Editor. Nobody here has cooked this — how these are made.

Fillet is thick, narrow and almost fatless, which makes it the cut most likely to come out with a perfect crust over a ring of grey, overcooked meat.

Reverse the order. Warm the steaks through in a low oven until the centre reaches about 45°C — thirty minutes, unhurried — and then sear them for sixty seconds a side in a ripping hot pan. The interior comes up slowly and evenly, so there is no gradient, and the crust forms too fast to cook anything beneath it. Edge to edge pink, with a proper brown surface.

It also removes all the guesswork. You know the internal temperature before the steak ever meets the pan.

Dry the surface or you get no crust

Browning cannot begin until every trace of surface water has boiled off, and on a wet steak that takes long enough to cook the meat underneath. The half hour in a low oven dries the surface for you, which is a second reason the method works. Blot them again before they go in the pan.

Fillet has no fat, so the flavour has to come from somewhere

This is the leanest cut on the animal and it is prized for tenderness, not taste. That is why it is nearly always served with something — butter, peppercorn sauce, béarnaise, a slice of blue cheese. Season it more aggressively than you would a ribeye, and do not skip the butter baste.

Rest it, but not for long

A reverse-seared steak has no steep temperature gradient, so it needs far less resting than a conventionally cooked one — five minutes is plenty, and twenty would only make it cold. This is the other advantage of the method that nobody mentions.

Storing

Two days. Do not reheat it — leftover fillet is excellent cold and sliced thin, and dreadful warmed to grey.