Filet Mignon – a rare treat - again

Filet Mignon is a dish that has a real retro vibe for me.  I don't often buy really expensive cuts of beef like eye fillet so this was a real treat.  There were 2 glorious pieces of eye fillet marked down to half price because they needed to be used.

I let the fillets come to room temperature and then patted them dry with a paper towel.

I wrapped bacon round each fillet – in this case 2 strips each because the bacon I had was quite narrow and the fillets were very thick ones.  It would have been easier if the sizes had matched more closely.

I secured the bacon to the fillet by a combination of  bamboo skewers (soaked in water) and toothpicks.  As you can see the results weren't particularly neat.  Typical!

I seared each side in a mix of butter and oil, then seasoned each side and popped them into a low-moderate oven to finish – covered loosely with foil. 

I used my trusty meat thermometer to make sure the steak got to the right amount of doneness (which for me is medium rare and for my better half a little closer to medium). 

I made a little gravy by deglazing the pan with ½ cup of stock (homemade chicken with a splash of Worcestershire sauce).  I would have used beef stock if I'd had any.  I add a small amount of wine/cognac and a touch of horseradish sauce.  To thicken the sauce a little I added a teaspoon or 2 of a packet light brown gravy mix.

I know – it's cheating but what the heck!  The results were mouth-watering.