New Years Eve Dinner at Home

5-4-3-2-1!! Happy New years everyone!!!!!!!!! It is 2014, I can not believe it is already 2014. Time seems to be going by way too fast. But, that is not important right now, what is important is what I had  for dinner last night. Two words, FILET MIGNON!!!!! Yum. If I am going to stay at home and cook on New Year's Eve, then might as well do it big!!!!

I decided around 7:00pm last night, that going out and venturing all the drunk kids out just really did not sound like anything I wanted to do. So, I stepped out of my jammies and headed to Central Market, where I was greeted by a lovely meat guy, who pointed me in the direction of some beautiful 2 inches thick prime filets.

Get ready for some Steakage 101!!!!

Oh that marbling!!!!

Now, anyone that knows a little about a kitchen knows that a prime filet should be enjoyed at a perfect pink center right at medium rare. In order to get that temperature with my babies, I cooked them over a Really High Heat (450' F to be exact) on my grill, and 5 minutes per side gave me perfect results. I can usually tell the doneness of my steaks by touching them and feeling for the firmness, but I would highly recommend investing on a meat thermometer and measuring the inside temperature. A good one costs about $7.00 at Target and it is something very useful in the kitchen.

Now since we have gone through the method of cooking, and temperatures, etc...the recipe that follows is for the secrets of a prime steakhouse. While working in the restaurant business, I made a lot of friends in the kitchen. Anything from free food to free recipes could be achieved with just a bat of the eyes, so I took advantage of it ;)

There are a couple of things chefs do to your steaks. The seasoning before cooking and the compounded butter after the cooking is done.

For the secret seasoning, just mix in a container:

4 teaspoons of kosher salt (DO NOT use table salt on this, please)

2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon of paprika

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of onion powder

Keep this in your pantry, it comes in very handy in my house.

Now for the compound butter:

3 tablespoons of softened regular butter

2 large cloves of garlic, grated or finely minced

1 tablespoon of the herb of your choice. I have tried parsley, cilantro, and chives and all came out delicious

Again mix all these ingredients together and keep in the fridge until ready to use.

Now, while preparing my meal last night, I was also hitting the booze so I completely forgot to get a picture of a crucial step in the steak cooking process. The seasoning shot! Most people make bland steaks because they just do not put enough seasoning on the beauties. So I went to good old Google and got a picture of how your steaks should look after seasoning.

Make it look like this.

Now lets put everything together. About 1 hour before you want to eat, pull your steaks out of the fridge and season both sides with the secret seasoning, generally as illustrated above. Leave the steaks out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.

30 minutes later, turn on your grill to high heat.

After about 15 minutes preheating, you are ready to start cooking.

(So the steaks rested outside of the fridge for a total of 45 minutes)

1. Lightly oil the grates of your grill and place steaks. Keep the lid of your grill closed so the temperature inside remains hot.

2. I cooked 5 minutes on one side, flipped the steaks and cooked an additional 4 minutes on the other side.

3. Grab your butter and place about 1 tablespoon of the mixture on each steak while still on the grill and cook for just about 1 more minute. (just to let the butter melt a bit)

I cooked my steaks exactly 10 minutes total, but cooking times will depend on the thickness of the steak and on desired doneness.

4. Remove steaks to a plate and cover with foil, let it rest about 5-7 minutes before even looking at it. (For God's sake, DO NOT take a knife to the meat right after it comes out of the grill. If you do that all the yummy juices will come out)

After the steaks have rested, you are ready to eat. I served mine with buttered, herbed potatoes and asparagus. I really hope you enjoy this recipe and hopefully this method will work for everyone who tries.

This turned out Wonderful!!!!

I really wanted to show you guys the center of the filet, look how yummy!!! My family and I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. Hope you try it out and Happy New Years to everyone.