- I'm Joey with Red Meat Lover, and today we're making filet mignon in a cast iron skillet. I'll show you how this versatile pan can be used on the stove and in the oven to make a perfectly cooked steak. Now, let's get ready to sizzle. Today we're combining one of the most desirable cuts of beef available, the filet mignon, with one of the most versatile pans in the kitchen, the cast iron skillet. The cast iron is so versatile because it can be used on any number of heat sources, everything from the camp fire to the grill, to the stove and to the oven. And as a matter of fact will be using both the stove and the oven, to cook this steak perfectly today. As I've said before if you don't already own a cast iron skillet, well you should pause this video right now, and go buy one from our store, redmeatlover.com. You'll be glad you did. If you don't know what a filet mignon is, well you've really been missing out. It's one of the most tender steaks available, like melt in your mouth tender. It's so tender the filet comes from a larger cut known as the tender loin, which is a pretty creative name right? It's also a very lean steak, there's not a lot of fat or marbling, but remember that's where steak gets it's flavor. So, if you buy this steak at a restaurant, it's not uncommon to see it served with a sauce, or a gravy to promote some additional flavor. If you buy it at the store like I did, it's not uncommon to see the steak wrapped in bacon like it is right here. And that bacon fat will help promote some additional flavor, as this steak cooks. We've talked about the filet mignon before in our porterhouse video. As you'll remember the filet portion comprises one side of a porterhouse or T-bone steak. This side right here. As a matter of fact the only difference between a porterhouse and a T-bone steak, is that the porterhouse has a noticeably larger filet portion. This filet mignon is simply this part of the steak cut away from the bone. Now before we get started there's a couple other tips to remember about cooking your steak. One I say every single video, be sure to let your steak rest, for at least twenty to thirty minutes room temperature prior to cooking. Guys, this is such an easy step, literally takes no work, there's no reason why you should skip it. Allowing your steak to rest will promote an evenly cooked steak, that will provide more predictable and consistent results, every time you cook. The other thing is about seasoning, today we're gonna go ahead and season this steak with our big tasty steak rub. Our big tasty steak rub is a simple combination of spices, commonly found in most kitchens, including garlic and onion powder, kosher salt, coarse ground pepper, some paprika, and even some beef bouillon, which will promote some additional flavor, as this steak cooks. Not only will it add some additional flavor, but this seasoning will help promote a brown, crusted and tasty exterior, as this steak sears, in the cast iron skillet. So now that we've explained what the filet mignon is, we're ready to cook, the very first thing you need to do, is preheat your oven to 435 degrees, let that achieve temperature, before starting anything else. As I said we're gonna use both the cast iron on the stove and then we're gonna transfer it to the oven, to let it cook. The next thing that you need to do, is add a tablespoon of oil to your pan, and let that get nice and hot. If you bought your steak bacon wrapped as I did, what you can do is you can remove the bacon, and let it cook first. And then use the remaining lard that's in there, to sear the steak in that, instead of using the oil. Either way, I don't cook my steak with the bacon on, and the reason I don't is because I like crispy bacon. I've tried cooking this enough with the bacon on to know that it will just never get crispy. So what I'm going to do, is I'm going to cook the bacon first, I'm actually going to reserve that bacon to make a compound butter for the steak, which I'll show you in a different video. Let's get started. Alright while this bacon is cooking, I'm gonna go ahead and season the steak. First of all there's no need for this toothpick anymore now that the bacon is in the skillet. And next we're just going to go ahead and season this liberally on both sides. Again, the seasoning, liberal seasoning, will help promote nice brown, crusted and tasty exterior, as this steak cooks. We want to go ahead and leave all that awesome bacon grease in the pan, 'cos we're going to use that to help sear the steak, add some additional flavor as it cooks. Now we're ready to drop the steak. And I follow very strict timing guidelines for searing the steak, I'm gonna cook it for three minutes on one side and I'm going to flip it and cook it for one minute on the other side. Can you hear that at home? Can you hear that steak sear? If delicious could make a sound that would be it. Alright the steak is cooked on this side for three minutes, so I'm going to flip it now, and let it cook on the other side for just one minute. Look at that great, crusted, tasty exterior on that steak. That's gonna provide some nice crunch once we bite into it. Now that the steak is seared on this side for one minute, I'm gonna go ahead and take this pan and transfer it over to the oven, where again I have this oven heating at 435 degrees. We've placed that steak in the middle rack, and we're going to allow it to cook in there for about another six or eight minutes. As I mentioned earlier, there's absolutely no need to flip the steak as it cooks. So why are we using the oven today? Well, while we're cooking a filet this method works well for any thick cut steak, any steak that's an inch and a half thick or greater. The reason we can't just cook it on the stove top is because of the thickness, if we only cooked it there, what would happen is, it would take A, a very long time, and B, the exterior would become actually burnt, and once it burns it will provide really bitter flavor, and trust me I know I've messed a few up in my time. So what we're going to do for a really thick steaks is, again, put them on a stove top, move them to the oven. This method works really well with filets, like we're cooking today, porterhouse, T-bones and rib eyes, just to name a few. Right, so we're going to pull the steak out, this steak's been in the oven for about 10 minutes. If you're comfortable with the feel method, you can try using that, or you can never go wrong with an instant read thermometer. I suggest pulling the steak out of here at about 140 degrees, and once you remove the steak, you'll let it cool for about five to 10 minutes, or let it rest. During that resting period the temperature of the steak will actually rise an additional five to 10 degrees. Before I put the steak in the oven, I thought it might take six to eight minutes, but you need to know at home, that not all ovens cook at the same temperature, even if they say the same degree on the outside. So this steak took a little bit longer then what I anticipated but we'll be back in about five minutes, we'll cut it open and see how it looks. Okay, so this steak is now cooled for five minutes, let's cut it open and see what it looks like. Look at that right there, it's a perfectly cooked medium to medium rare color, as I've said before, there's absolutely no need to spend $50 at a steakhouse, when you can make this right in your own kitchen. Our motto at Red Meat Lover is any cut of meat, any type of heat, which reflects our belief, that there are many, many right ways to cook and prepare meat. We would love your feedback in the comments right below this video, or you can send them to me, at Joey at redmeatlover.com. If you liked our video please give us a thumbs up like, or subscribe to our YouTube channel for future updates. You know since I make a lot of cooking related videos, people often ask me how I like my steak, and my answer is always, right next to my other steak. I'll see you next time. Thanks guys.