Every year for the Holidays I always end up making some kind of steak or red meat. Last year I made prime rib (Here) and even though I told myself I was going to make it again this year, my dad really wanted Filet. He brought over a large filet for me to trip and cut into steaks. I made the cuts 1 inch to 1.5 inch thick depending on who it was going to be for. There were a total of 5 of us so I sliced 6 steaks in case someone wanted more. There's about 2-3 steaks left after the cut (that we cooked up the next day) with the tail of the steak that I am just going to use for some sauté. They are sleeping in the freezer now.
The steaks were seasoned simply with Lawry's Garlic Salt and a good about of freshly cracked black pepper. I wanted a really high sear, so I decided to use peanut oil in my cast iron skillet. After I got great color on both sides of the steak, I turned down the heat to cook the steaks slowly. I don't use the oven. I've done it once and it turned the steaks to medium well. I'm sure there are techniques out there, but this works the best for me. Feel free to cook your steaks to your liking. I like mine medium rare, or just medium with a deep pink. I normally pull the steaks out when there's a nice spring when pressing on them (thumb and middle finger together, touch your palm slightly under your thumb. That's medium rare).
Cognac Sauce
- 1/2 a stick of butter
- 2 large shallots - diced
- 2 garlic cloves - minced
- salt and a lot of cracked black pepper (1 tablespoon or so)
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup of cognac
- I used about 1/2 a cup of milk. If you use cream I would drop it down to 1/3.
After the steaks are removed, I immediately added the shallots and garlic while scraping the bits from the bottom. 1/2 a stick of butter is added with the salt. Once the butter has melted, the cognac goes in and I light it on fire with a gas lighter. Let the alcohol burn off before adding the milk. I finish everything off with black pepper. Put this in a serving cup and just pass it around.
Mash were just Yukon potatoes boiled with 3 large cloves of garlic. Drain out the water, add 1/2 a stick of butter, season generously with salt, add your cream of choice until you get the consistency you prefer.