I was lucky enough to have a couple of filet mignon steaks in my freezer, so I had to find a really good recipe to use them in. Hello, Filet Mignon with Porcini Compound Butter! I already knew I loved steak and mushrooms, but I don’t think I’ve ever tried porcini mushrooms. Even better since I love to try new things. So it’s off to the grocery store to hunt down some dried porcini mushrooms. And a few other ingredients.
Butter is the secret to this tender and flavorful combo. You could flavor your butter with herbs, onions or garlic, but our favorite is mushrooms. Because steak and mushrooms means true love. And when the butter melds with the pan-grilled meat, suddenly you have a succulent sauce all of its own, and for very minimal cooking effort.
The Ingredients
The filets I had in my freezer were 6 ounces each but 1/2″ thick. The recipe calls for 1 1/2″ thick steaks, so I knew I would have to adjust the cooking times. Other than that, I only had to pick up a few things: dried porcini mushrooms, fresh thyme, and salted butter. The thyme and mushrooms were a bit pricey at about $5 each. I also had to make a special trip for the mushrooms since my local Publix didn’t have them (Fresh Market did).
The Process
This recipe is made in 2 parts, the compound butter then the filet. Both are easy, but there was some guesswork involved in the compound butter. The recipe calls for whole dried porcini mushrooms, but I was only able to find them sliced.
Since Step 1 calls for 10 whole mushrooms, I decided to start with Step 2 and grind 2 tablespoons worth of mushrooms first. Then I rehydrated the leftover sliced mushrooms per Step 1. That worked out really well, and I had my compound butter blended and in the refrigerator in 15 minutes.
I cooked the filets later that evening, and they were even quicker at 10 minutes total. Of course, I adjusted the cooking times for the thinner steaks to 2 minutes on the first side, 1 minute on the second, then 2 minutes in the oven. They didn’t get as brown as the recipe’s pictures, but I didn’t want to overcook them since they were so much thinner.
I also added the pat of porcini butter before I put the steaks in the oven to make sure it would fully melt. I don’t think they really needed to be finished in the oven because they were so thin, but it is a good idea for thicker cuts.
