Mushroom Crusted Beef Tenderloin Steak (Filet Mignon)

My husband and I go cruising in our sailboat every summer for 2 weeks in the San Juan islands located in the Straits of Georgia just off the coast of southern Vancouver Island. Its in the US so our first port of call is usually either Roche Harbour or Friday harbour so we can check in with US customs.

When we go cruising the majority of our meals are made on the boat, but when we do go into port we really like to look for a fine dining establishment so we can splurge on a fancy gourmet meal. This summer for the first time we tried the signature restaurant of the tiny Roche Harbour community instead of going for the more casual balcony cafe with it's umbrella tables overlooking the harbour.

The dining room is definitely more formal but unlike other years if my memory serves, THIS year I think they changed their menu cause it was much more appealing to me than I remember it being. I usually *wanted* to eat there in other years but after checking out the posted menu by the door we usually gave it a pass. The items were SO high end gourmet and/or seafood that it was definitely not my thing. I am not overly fond of seafood and lambs brains and such curdle my stomach.

This year however among other tasty menu items (gone were the lamb brain type offerings) I saw they offered a filet mignon steak (beef tenderloin much more my style) so we decided to give it a try ... oh man am I glad I did!

It was perfectly cooked with a delicate delicious crust and was served with some sort of red wine reduction. My idea of heaven! I am still drooling and I sure hope they have it available next year as well!

When I got home, I made tenderloin a few times ... did it the simple way I always did with the results I always had. A 'tasty' or so I thought, tender steak, BUT, it wasn't even a fraction as good as the one I had this summer in Roche harbour and it just wasn't good enough any more ... even for an easy Sunday meal. Steak on the grill, baked potato and a couple cobs of fresh corn on the cob. So I started to look for recipes to mimic my favourite steak dinner of all time.

I succeeded.

The following recipe is AMAZING gourmet fine dining and it is simplicity itself. This is now my 'go to' tenderloin recipe and it is perfect every time. Since I usually have the herb butter made in the fridge already, and the dried mushrooms already pulverised, it is super fast too. It isn't an exact replica of the tenderloin recipe I had at Roche Harbor but it is similar and in my mind just as good.

Herb Butter :

• 1 stick unsalted butter, for herb butter, don't panic we wont use all of it for this recipe, I keep this in the fridge for all sorts of applications, it's great with chicken too.
• 2 Tbsp dried Chives
• 1 Tbsp dried Tarragon
• 1 small garlic clove, pressed or 1/2 tsp garlic puree, that's what I usually do, I roast my own garlic and store the puree in the fridge just for occasions like this, use more if you really like garlic ;)

Beef Tenderloin :

• beef tenderloin, 1.5 inch thick, (too thin and it is hard to get the crust on the outside right without overcooking the inside, too thick and the reverse is true. Use as many tenderloins as you want for the number of diners you are serving, I always take off the little bit of silver skin the butcher often leaves behind and I trim any excess visible fat
• 1 or 2 small bags (1/2-ounce each) dried mushrooms, I am not sure it matters what type, I just used a small bag of assorted dried mushrooms from the grocery store produce section. (Last time I was in Costco they had the big plastic jars FULL of dried mushrooms for a fraction of the cost of the tiny bags I get at the grocery store. I bought one and threw it in my garage fridge. I used a handful or so to pulverize in my magic bullet for this steak recipes among others and the rest I left in the fridge to be used in all sorts of dishes! I have never been a mushroom fan, in fact they used to make me gag but they add a marvelous flavor dimension to almost all beef gravies and/or stews and pulverized you'd never even know they were in there ... it's even helped get me over my aversion to WHOLE fresh mushrooms  ... who knew?)

Preparation:

1. Mix first 4 ingredients in small bowl to make herb butter. NOTE: after mixing, I sometimes put the butter on a piece of saran and used it to roll the butter into a tube shape about an inch in diameter. Twisted the saran ends to form a wrapped tube and chilled in the fridge to harden. Makes it easier to slice and it looks nice on the steaks. You can do this wayyy ahead ... days even ... keeps forever in the fridge and is nice with other recipes ... or you can just keep it in a plastic tub ;)
2. Process dried mushrooms in spice grinder or blender to a fine powder (a few larger bits are nice so you don't have stress over this too much.  I also do this way ahead ... I buy a couple small bags of dried mushrooms and grind them into powder, then store in a small mason jar in my cupboard. Whenever I want to make steak I just spoon a couple Tbsps onto a plate as needed to coat the steaks and save the rest for use in other recipes. I add some to my beef gravy recipes quite often to add a little earthy mushroom flavour and no one is the wiser.
3. Season steaks with salt and pepper.
4. Transfer a bit of the mushroom powder to a small plate (a couple Tbsps) and press steaks into the powder to coat both sides well. (don't worry about the sides .. just coat top and bottom , I press it in real well to get as much mushroom powder on each steak as I can, but it sticks on nicely so it shouldn't be a problem) Add more powder to plate as needed till all steaks are coated on both sides, reserving remaining powder for future use.
5. Melt 2-3 tablespoons herb butter or as needed, in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium heat. I used my well seasoned cast iron skillet but any heavy bottomed pan will do. Add steaks to skillet and cook to desired doneness, about 6-8 minutes per side for medium-rare to medium (depending on how thick your steak is and how hot your element is. It should be sizzling but not smoking) I think I do mine for roughly 7 minutes and they are usually PERFECT but my stove may not be the same as your stove and my steaks may have been thinner or thicker than yours .. so time is approximate.
6. Transfer steaks to plates. Put a dollop of herb butter atop each hot steak and serve. The original recipe called for a rounded Tbsp of butter to be served on top but I think the MOST I used was a tsp and it was plenty ... as it melts it drips over the sides and flavours the meat with each bite ... truly, this recipe is divine and it doesn't get any simpler than this, especially for a gourmet meal, and I DO mean gourmet. You should try it.

I figure each steak absorbs a tsp of butter (for calorie counting, no idea if it really does but I doubt it would be too much more) while cooking and I add another tsp on top so it has about 2 tsp of added fat. Depending on your sides and how you serve them that isn't too bad, of course the final calorie count of this depends on the size of your steak but a small raw weight 4 oz steak is plenty and is only about 165 calories without the added butter of course that adds another 140, the mushrooms add almost nothing calorie wise .. maybe 15-25 calories so all together with a little buffer maybe 350 calories for a small tenderloin... and a generous 6 oz steak only comes in about 100 calories more, which should leave plenty of room for a small baked potato.  Calories dependent on how large the potato is and what you top it with of course, but mine usually end up in the 300-350 calorie range which isn't too bad for a splurge meal. A simple vegetable side is usually under 50 calories so if you were careful early in the day you should STILL have room for a light dessert.