Cooking a Filet without a Grill: UPDATED

H

Horny04

100+ Posts
I have never tried this, but have a recipe for making pepper-crusted filet's in a pan using olive oil. It seems almost too easy actually, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips on cooking a filet minus a grill.

What's the best way to do it? Can you really make a good filet in a pan? Are there better ways, say, maybe using an oven or something?

I am sans-grill right now so this info would be helpful. Thanks!
 
You'll actually find that most of the posters on this board prefer a steak grilled indoors. It's much easier to get a good sear on meat with contact heat. Cast iron at 500 degrees with no oil is the best choice in my opinion, but if you don't have it, I would recommend using clarified butter instead of olive oil due to its lower smoking point.

The last thread on this topic.
 
There's a classic French dish called steak au poivre (steak with pepper) that your recipe might be close to, and this is typically cooked indoors over the range, and it's delicious. It involves covering the outside of the meat with crushed peppercorns, as well as making a sauce from the remains in the pan. I've actually made this for my wife for Valentine's Day several times, and she is always so impressed that I've never told her how easy it is.

If you're interested, here's a link to Alton Brown's recipe for it, but there are dozens of them out there on the Intertubes.



www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_32817,00.html

Bon apetit.
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A filet in the pan and making a rich reduction sauce is so much tastier than a grilled steak in my opinion.
 
You guys are awesome.

I plan on making simple things that look not so simple. I think I'm going to have twice baked potatos with cheddar and bacon, and a fancy cooked green bean side dish as well.

I'm getting hungry about it already. And I'm doing this for the girlfriend on V-day as well...but it's kinda also for me
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i like broiling them with just olive oil and salt and pepper and a tad of worcheshire. about 4 minutes on each side.
 
"Sear 4 minutes per side in a cast iron skillet and then finish in a 400 degree oven to preferred internal temperature. "

Same concept, but I do 2 inch filets three minutes a side in hot olive oil and stick them in a 500 degree oven for eight minutes. They are a perfect medium rare.
 
Don't read any further unless you can get some Creme Fraiche. It's a Frenchy dairy product kinda like sour cream.

Put some salt on your filets, 12 oz each, then crack 2 Tb pepper. Don't grind it, just break each peppercorn in two or three bits with a coke bottle or enamel rolling pin or a highly adjustable peppermill. Coat the steaks with the pepper, mash it in with the back of a spoon, and let them sit for 15 minutes or so.

Heat up 2 Tb butter in a saute pan on a hot fire, until the foam subsides. Then throw the steaks in the pan, 5+ minutes a side. Remove and keep warm. Take them off the heat, and add 6 Tb Creme Fraiche and 1+tsp Dijon mustard, stirring this up to dissolve the butter and bits in the pan ("fond"). Put it back on the fire just long enough to heat it but not bring to a boil. Pour the sauce on the steaks and serve.

No wine, garlic, or herbs or any of that stuff, but this is good; it is an early Paul Bocuse recipe. It is easy to vary the recipe for strips or ribeyes, but try the tenderloins first; if you like it, you can adapt.
 
Mix equal part of cracked black pepper, lemon pepper, and spice islands garlic powder. Coat the steak in that seasoning and sear the outside. We do this at my family's restaurant and it's absolutely the best. Then throw in some sliced onions and mushrooms, nice combination.
 
"The flavor of the Cognac will be more subtle than red wine. I'd stick with using Cognac, Armagnac, or some other brandy, rather than wine. "

If you did want to substitute with a red wine, go with a Port, which would be fortified with Brandy.
 
The key to high temp searing is to use clarified butter or an oil that can take high temps (i.e. not olive oil). Clarified butter works best and is what the restaurants slather over everything.
 
Well, I figured out what I wanted to do, and I have photographic evidence of how awesome it turned out.

I will freely admit that I used recipes that I found on the internet, and all of them were great. Two were from food network, and another was from some other website.

So I used Alton Brown's Steak au Poivre recipe in a cast iron skillet.The Link
I used 2 filets, about 1.5 inches thick, probably close to 8-10 ounces each. I was in a rush and went to Kroger, which I was skeptical about, but I had the butcher go cut me 2 fresh ones because everything in the display case was wrapped in bacon, which I did not want. They surprisingly tasted very good. Here are the steaks after being prepared and thrown onto the skillet. The hardest part of this routine was crushing the pepper corns. Those ******* are hard to crush in a plate since my skillet was bigger than the plate. I used a pot instead. I found that after 4 mins on each side it was a little more raw in the middle than I wanted, so I threw them in the oven on broil for an extra few minutes.
steaks.jpg


I made some fancy green beans which tasted amazing. They have cashews, red peppers, onions, bacon, and a sauce that is made up of teriyaki, honey, and butter. I will def. make them again.The Link
beans.jpg


I also made some twice baked potatos. Nothing extroardinarily difficult, but they took the longest to make. But they were worth it. I put bacon, green onions, and cheese in 'em. The Link
taters.jpg


Here's the whole production. The one thing I did different was create a red wine reduction sauce using the cabernet that we drank with dinner. I didn't want to buy cognac for Alton Brown's recipe. The sauce was easy too, and only required adding the red wine to the skillet and mixing in some butter. Very good on the steaks.
plate.jpg


The lady loved it. Said nobody has ever cooked her anything like that in her life.
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I'll probably make all 3 again in the near future.

Oh, and I used unsalted butter and olive oil in the skillet and had zero issues with smoke or whatever.
 
A couple of things:
First that looks like it came together in a top notch way. Congrats on that.

It looks like you served this on a paper plate. That is unacceptable for a meal of this caliber. Now please take 10-15 bucks and go to Bed Bath and Beyond or someplace and buy a couple of those plain white place setting for yourself. It isn't expensive and will be a much better presentation for the lady.

Two - IMO and it is only my opinon that it is tough to get an electric stove top hot enough to really get good carmelization on the outside of the steak. It looks like you got it okay, but not quite there on the crispy aspect. You might consider goign all broiler in your cast iron pan next time. Good effort and it looks like it turned out as you hoped. Awesome and thanks for sharing your pics!
 
Hah, my plates are pretty cheap but I used the bigger ones that I have because my slightly smaller, normal looking ones wouldn't hold as much food.

Plus at this stage in my life I'm good without a set of nice dishes...the ladies don't seem to care.
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But thanks, it did come together well.
 
It looks delicious!

Well done.

I have to try this myself as I have been a grilled steak fan for a long, long time.
 
I too have used that same Alton Brown's recipe and it is amazing everytime. As much as I love grilling steaks outside, this recipe and others like it have made me think twice about firing up the grill.

On a side note, I usually pair this recipe with some kind of potato side dish, but the last time I tried this potato cake recipe with my meal and it was a hit. I added some good cheddar cheese in these potato cakes as well.




Mashed Potato Cakes
 
I love my steak seared in a castiron skillet. Do try coating the steak with fresh cracked peppercorns.
Hint, put the whole peppercorns in a ziplock bag and crack them with the skillet before you heat the skillet. I put a lot of salt and pepper on it like a dry rub.

It makes the most delightful "crust" on the steak but do not move it for two or three minutes. You will not get the crust if you move it or flip it too soon. Flip it on the other side until it has seared and made a crust and it should be a perfect medium rare.

It is very good and very tender. Even though it was caked with salt it is not salty tasting and the pepper caked on it gives it a lot of flavor. No steak sauce needed because the juices are sealed in the steak.
 
The recipe calls for medium heat and does not use the oven, so I don't think that will be an issue with the non-stick pan/plastic handle. Would a plain stainless pan be a better choice, though?
 
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