Filet Mignon with Balsamic Pan Sauce and Truffle Oil

Okay… so this is a late one, but I’ll make it short. I totally forgot about Christmas dinner I made last year for my dad and I. I had purchased a small duo of black and white truffle oils back when Alex, Lingie, and I visited Andrew in Seattle last December. I had been meaning to try them out on something other than potatoes, pasta, and every other carb truffle is usually paired with. My diabetic dad doesn’t eat carbs at night, so I bought some grass fed filet mignon steaks from Whole Foods for us. For desert, I made the Apple Mosaic tart with Salted Caramel which I enjoyed so much I ended up making again for a Sho-Yu Christmas potluck. Sadly, my dad and I ate about 3/4 of the tart that night (it was supposed to make enough for 12 servings).

Here’s the recipe, as I found it on Food.com. The sauce was really good, and not too overpowering with the truffle as long as you aren’t heavy-handed with it.

INGREDIENTS:

4 filet mignon steaks, 1 1/2 inches thick
sea salt, to taste
fresh ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
white truffle oil, for drizzling

DIRECTIONS:

Sprinkle steaks generously with salt and pepper.
Steaks!
Coat the bottom of a large, heavy frying pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the steaks and cook to the desired doneness, 3-5 minutes on each side. I had thinner than 1.5″ steaks, so I only did a total of 2 minutes on each side.
After a Minute on Each Side
Transfer to a platter and let rest, tented loosely with aluminum foil, while you make the sauce.
In the same pan over medium-high heat, add the vinegar and deglaze by scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Cook until slightly reduced and thickened, about 3 minutes.
Balsamic Pan Sauce
Remove from the heat. Whisk in the butter to form a smooth sauce.
Whisk in Butter
To serve, transfer the steaks to individual plates, top with the sauce, and drizzle with a small amount of truffle oil.

I paired this with a made-from-scratch butternut squash soup (post to come soon), and an avocado and corn salad which I wasn’t really a fan of (won’t be posting about that one). A great special occasion meal!