Cooking Filet Mignon in Oven

There is more than one way to cook a filet mignon, but cooking filet mignon in an oven is one of the best ways to ensure that the steak is cooked properly.

The Heat Is On

There are several different ways to cook a filet mignon. You can pan fry your steak, you can grill it, and nothing smells as good as a steak on a grill, but to get the best flavor from your filet mignon without having to deal with the whole grill thing, cooking your filet mignon in an oven is the thing to do.

Cooking filet mignon in an oven is a two-step process. Step one involves searing the steak. Step two is when you finish cooking the steak in your oven. Searing does three things for your filet mignon. It adds color, texture, and flavor to your steak. Once your steak has been seared, you pop it into the oven and let it finish cooking.

While searing is a good way to cook a filet, the oven helps it cook more evenly. The oven surrounds the steak with heat and this cooks the filet from all sides. By starting the filet mignon on the stove but finishing it in the oven, you get the best of both worlds--A steak with a crispy outer crust but tender, juicy, and perfectly pink on the inside.

Choose Your Pan Wisely

There two basic methods to cooking a filet mignon in an oven. One starts with a pan that has been heated in the oven first, the other starts with the pan on the stove. Either way you end up with a great steak.

In any case, you are going to need a pan in which to cook your filet mignon. I would suggest a steel pan that is not a non-stick pan. The reason you do not want to use a non-stick pan is that when you sear the filet in the pan, you will end up with little bits of caramelized beef stuck onto the pan. This is called "fond" and is the foundation of your sauce.

Fond dissolves in the wine or stock you add to the pan to make the sauce. This process is called deglazing. Once the pan is deglazed, you can then add different ingredients to the liquid to add or enhance the flavor of the sauce. Mushrooms are the most commonly used ingredient because steak with mushroom sauce is a wonderful combination.

Oven-Finished Filet Mignon

You will need one 1&1/2-inch thick filet mignon per person. This recipe serves two.

Ingredients

• 2 1&1/2-inch thick filet mignons at room temperature
• 2 strips of bacon
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 pound of button mushrooms, washed and sliced
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• 2 cups of red wine
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper.
3. Wrap one strip of bacon around each filet mignon securing it with a toothpick.
4. Place a steel pan that is not a non-stick pan over a medium high flame.
5. Add the oil to the pan.
6. Once the pan is very hot, add the steaks to the pan and do not move them for 3 minutes.
7. Flip the steaks over and continue to cook them for three minutes.
8. Place the pan in the oven and let the steaks finish cooking for 4-6 minutes for a rare steak or 6-8 minutes for medium rare steaks.
9. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and place over a medium flame.
10. Remove the steaks from the pan and place them on a plate, loosely cover with foil.
11. Add wine to the pan and scrape the bottom of the pan with a rubber spatula to remove the fond from the bottom of the pan.
12. Add the mushrooms and cook until they give up their liquid.
13. Add the butter and reduce the liquid to half.
14. Add the butter and stir until the butter has melted and fully mixed in with the sauce.
15. Place the steaks on a plate each and pour the sauce over the steaks.
16. Once you become comfortable with making this sauce, you can experiment with adding cream, using brandy, or any other ingredient you think will work well with steak.