Mr. Athena also likes them. To me, at best, they’re meh. But, like pulykamell points out, au poivre or Beef Wellington? I’m fine with those. Filet on its own, no sauce? Not for me.
I’ve had success using a combination of Dale’s seasoning and Italian dressing as a marinade.
Dale’s is one of those 30-minute marinade deals, so it’s very salty. I marinate steaks in that for about 30 minutes, then remove the steaks from that. Then I marinate the steaks overnight in Italian dressing. This seems to work well for our tastes; we get some salt from the Dale’s, but it’s not overpowering, and the acid and spices in the Italian dressing provides a nice complement to the steak without overpowering it.
I prefer to cook steaks on a charcoal grill, so once the steaks are ready to cook, I melt some butter and pour over the steaks when I put them on. The butter adds a richness to the flavor.
How about we compromise that the flavor of a filet is “subtle.” I really wish there was some way to hand any of the doubters a bite of the steaks I made last night as they were delicious plain. I have had boring Filets from average cuts and that is what I’m afraid many are thinking of… I’ve also had good ones from excellent sources which are very memorable and can stand on their own.
That said I also love au poivre (I make a variation with Green Peppercorns that is wonderful), and also Oscar prepared steaks. Wellington is good and I would never feel slighted if served one, but it just doesn’t make me as excited as everyone else seems to feel about them.
Thank you. Thought that was obvious. When I said:
I should have been more specific to reserve the marinade before using the rest on the meat. Poor wording on my part.
You are usually spot on (Spud on?) in food threads, but I have to go with the consensus that even a high-end tenderloin needs a little somethin’-somethin’.
I’m just going to continue to claim that my taste buds are just that much more finely honed than anyone else here and that I can appreciate the nuance of the Filet.
I know you New Yorkers are always looking for excuses to drop by the mid-west. Next time you are here drop me a line and I’ll make you a Filet that I guarantee you won’t describe as bland. If I’m wrong, I’ll pay your subway fare home.
It’s not so much that I find them ‘bland’, per se. It’s more that the beef flavor doesn’t come out, so the tend to taste like generic meat with S&P to me. I’m also not big on the texture.
As I said, Mr. Athena likes them a lot, so I tend to cook them regularly enough. I’ve tried all the ways - grilled, sous-vide, broiler - and they just don’t do much for me unless they’re sauced. One way that sorta works is if they’re relatively thin - an inch or so. I think that makes it so the crust, salt, and pepper are more prevalent than the meat itself. The big thick 2" ones are the worst IMO.
No, you see it often because it’s true. It’s relative to other cuts of course, the filet is loved because they are so tender, but many people prefer the “beefier” flavors of say, a ribeye or strip over filet. I agree a good filet is tasty indeed.
Everybody else does though, in popular usage a “steak” always means a relatively tender cut of beef that doesn’t require much in the way of special preparation or tenderizing. Wave it over the coals, and let’s eat. “We’re going out for steaks” means something very specific, and not Cutters & Canners.
Filet is very lean beef. This is why so many object and say they lack flavor. Typically they are wrapped in bacon for this reason.
A good “Kraüterbutter” or herbed butter is not a bad choice here. All this talk of steak has me decidedly NOT thinking of Turkey.
Well, not in my experience. I’ve had skirt, flank, and chuck served to me when I’ve been over to someone’s for “steak,” and none of those are usually tender cuts. They don’t necessarily need much either in terms of special preparation, but they tend to benefit from a bit of a marinade. And it’s also not uncommon to get the nicer cuts at select grade (see: steaks at most my relatives house). Those, too, I need to marinade or do something with as they tend to be tough and lacking in flavor otherwise.