This is the greatest secret at the butcher. The best deal you get on meat in a grocery store. Then I'm going to take that piece of meat and show you how to perfectly cook steak every time.
INGREDIENTS
1 Petite Filet Mignon
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
DIRECTIONS (preheat oven to 425 degrees)
Remove the silver skin from the meat and clean it up so there are no gristly bits. There are two options for salting steak.
Option 1: Season ahead of time (Salt or "Dry" Brine) If you have time, season the steak with kosher salt about 2 hours in advance, at least. Season with 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat (1/2 teaspoon if you like it salty). Then put that in the fridge uncovered and let it brine and let the surface of the meat dry out a bit. Then 30 minutes before cooking remove from the fridge and let it come to room temp. Then you'll pat it dry with a paper towel to remove the surface moisture, then coat with olive oil and season with fresh black pepper and then proceed to cook.
Option 2: Season right before cooking (the route I take in this case) Get you pan on the stove and preheated, and the oven ready to go. Then Pat the steak dry, coat lightly with olive oil, then coat with salt and fresh black pepper and go directly into the pan.
So now your steak is seasoned, you pan is searing hot, and your oven is preheated. Add the beef to the pan and sear until deep brown on all sides. You may smoke out your kitchen or apartment but...just deal with it. That's what it takes to cook a good steak. Once you see a nice color on once side then flip and repeat until all sides look really nice. Add a little bit of oil as needed if you see things drying up a bit.
Once all sides are really browned, then transfer the beef to a cool pan or sheet tray, insert an internal digital thermometer probe into the thickest part of the meat. Make sure the thermometer is oven safe and then place that into the oven and cook it until the thermometer reaches 128 degrees internal temperature. This took me about 7 minutes in the oven so if you don't have an oven-safe thermometer, then just check the meat with an instant-read thermometer after about 5-6 minutes until you reach the temp. Then take the steak off the hot pan immediately and let it rest for about 15 minutes. The rest is very important. After the rest, the internal temp of the meat should be about 140 degrees which is a perfect medium to medium-rare depending on various factors, but its how I like to eat my steak. After a few attempts, you can adjust the time you pull the meat, based on your preferences. If you like it a bit more well done, then just cook the steak until closer to 135 and then let it rest.
Otherwise, slice it up and enjoy and perfect steak that cost $5 but tastes like $50.
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