Grilled Filet with a Red Wine Shallot Butter Compound

We started making filets at home when we were first married. It is another one of those dishes that you can really pay more than you would want at a restaurant and yet it is something that can easily be made at home any day of the week inexpensively if you watch your ads and check the meat manager’s specials. The butter compound is what makes this extra special and is very easy to make. The butter compound for this dish will yield plenty to serve on this dish and for other dishes that would pair well with the dish, such as, Baked New Potatoes.

Ingredients

Filets
2 – 8 oz. filet mignons
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper
Red Wine Shallot Butter Compound
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup of shallots finely chopped
1 cup of red wine
2 sticks of butter at room temperature

Technique

Place filets in a flat baking dish, sprinkle filets with a little kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper. Add Worcestershire sauce. Rub salt and pepper into filets and place back into Worcestershire sauce. Place into fridge for at least an hour. Turn filets half way through the process to let the both sides of the filet season with the Worcestershire sauce. To make butter, heat olive oil over medium high heat in medium sized skillet and add shallots. Cook until lightly browned and add red wine and reduce by half. Transfer red wine shallot mixture to a mixing bowl and mix together with butter. Once well combined transfer to a smaller dish and refrigerate until ready to use. Heat grill to medium high heat, cook filets for 5 minutes on each side for medium rare and top with a tablespoon of the red wine shallot butter. If looking to achieve grill marks, at 2 ½ minutes turn filet a ½ an inch, and continue cooking. This can be done on both side or just one side. Adjust cooking times for your preference of doneness

Suggested Beverage

Estancia Meritage, this will change throughout the meal. Nice tannins to compliment the grilled filet. The McManis Red Zinfandel is another option. With its peppery undertones it will bring out the freshly cracked pepper you used in the marinating process. These are two great Italian wines – Masi Costasera Amarone Vintage 2001 or Conte Di Bregonzo Amarone della Valpocella Vintage 2004 that would pair nicely.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.