Steakhouse Steaks at Home

I guess steak ended up on the menu tonight because I have been feeling so run down with this sinus/congestion thing I have had going on all week. I am not 100% yet, but feel like I have rounded the curve on the way to wellness (at least I hope so). I was craving a steak tonight and so I turned to an Ina Garten menu: Steakhouse Steaks with a Roquefort Chive Sauce, Sauteed Wild Mushrooms, and Cornmeal Fried Onion Rings. It was an absolute feast of a dinner.

Here is the slate of ingredients before I started any part of dinner.



Once I got ready to start cooking, I started with the onions, by slicing an onion into thick slices, separating them and soaking them in seasoned buttermilk for about 30 minutes.

I then moved on to prepping the mushrooms, chopping the shallots, and peeling the garlic. I took the steaks out of the refrigerator to let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes while I worked on the Roquefort sauce by cooking down the heavy cream.

I moved on to frying the onion rings after dredging them in the seasoned flour and cornmeal mixture.


I did recruit Gerry to cook the steaks in the screaming hot cast iron skillet and to finish up the Roquefort sauce while I finished the onion rings and cooked the mushrooms. His help was invaluable in getting all components of the dinner to the plate at the same time.

We really enjoyed all parts of this dinner.



Steakhouse Steaks (serves 2)
Adapted from Ina Garten

2 filet mignons, 1 1/2 inches thick each
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 tablespoon Kosher salt
3/4 tablespoon coarsely cracked black peppercorns
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, optional
Roquefort Chive Sauce, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat a large, well-seasoned cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and brush them lightly with vegetable oil. Combine the kosher salt and cracked pepper on a plate and roll the steaks in the mixture, pressing lightly to evenly coat all sides.

When the skillet is ready, add the steaks and sear them evenly on all sides for about 2 minutes per side, for a total of 10 minutes.

Top each steak with a tablespoon of butter, if using, and place the skillet in the oven. Cook the steaks until they reach 120 degrees F for rare or 125 degrees F for medium-rare on an instant-read thermometer. (To test the steaks, insert the thermometer sideways to be sure you're actually testing the middle of the steak.)

Remove the steaks to a serving platter, cover tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 10 minutes. Serve hot with Roquefort Chive Sauce on the side.

Roquefort chive sauce:

3/4 cups heavy cream
1 ounce French Roquefort cheese, crumbled (2 ounces with rind)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Bring the heavy cream to a boil in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook at a low boil, stirring occasionally, until the mixture has become thick and creamy, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the cheese, salt, pepper and chives and whisk rapidly until the cheese melts.

Yield: 2 servings


Our rating for the entire dinner: