Fillet Mignon with Garlic Rose and Garden Vegetable

Alice May Brock once said:” Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good”.  I could not agree more with her!

Today I brought home some tiny fillet mignon wrapped in bacon from a farmers market for shockingly only $ 2.50 a piece! I just had to buy not only because they were a good deal, but they looked so figure friendly, and cute. Later on I figured out that fillet mignon literally  really means cute cut in French.

As soon as I find my main ingredients, normally I start playing different scenarios on top of my head. This time, I had garlic written all over my head. I was so determined to keep it as simple as I could with the spices. So I pair the garlic with my pinky rose: and was pleasantly surprised how the best thing in life can be really simple.

I am not the meat expert but I can tell you a thing or two that I learned from a butcher at my store. He said you should choose the drier looking piece of steak with a nice marbling mark; this piece will taste so much better than the fresh juicy looking meat. This piece is typically a day old, so the juice is sealed inside the steak, but the key is you have to cook it right away on the same day because it has been aged for a day. It sounded weird, but this guy had more than 40 years experience! I wouldn’t even stand a chance to have a say. So today when I went to market I asked the meat lady exactly what Mo’ has told me. She seemed like she understood right away. So I felt a little bit on the right track and relieved. We also had a chance to pick up some very nice Ontario vegetables: the three colors carrots, gem potatoes, the zucchinis, and some gourds.

So today I end up cooking steak for dinner with zucchinis, carrot and some fries.

This is how you make the steak:

· In your cast iron pan, throw in 1 tbsp of butter/ margarine, and 2tbsp of olive oil.

· Sautee 1 tbsp of garlic and put in the fillet mignon to absorb the garlic flavor

· Brown each side for approximately 4 -5minutes

· Throw 3 cups of cut up vegetables

· Pre heat oven at 400 F and finish the cooking inside the oven for 10 -15 minutes for medium rare steak.

· Take out the steak and vegetable to rest, leaving all the juice on the pan

· Put the pan on heat and let it simmer, put a ½ block of beef bouillon cube and a 1 ½ cup of whatever red wine that you have ( I used my rose)

· Give salt and pepper to taste

· Remove from heat when the gravy is getting thicker.

· Serve with a glass of the same red wine!

Passion + Patience *Gastrobutterfly* A food to your soul.