Filet Mignon Erythemis: guaranteed to unfurrow the brow of any spinster aunt
The first season of “Deadwood†waits on my shelf, so I cannot explain why I got outside this exquisite dish while watching “Malcolm In The Middle.†This is a show that was once uttlerly hilarious, but which has now become so farcical–and not in a good way–that I am embarrassed for the actors. Even so, it’s better than 90% of the crap on television.
You’ll be needing the recipe for Filet Mignon Erythemis, which I name in honor of my favorite dragonfly. It takes about 15 minutes, and more than compensates for all but the worst TV. You soak a beef filet in soy sauce, grainy mustard, garlic, and red wine. Then you sear it on one side and flip it over. Then you stick the pan in a 450° oven for 8 minutes. Then you take the filet out and sauté some shallots in the pan drippings. Don’t forget the oven mitt! That’s one hot panhandle! Then you pour in some wine and some of the marinade–not too much; remember it’s got all that soy sauce in it–and reduce it by half. If you have a rosemary plant growing nearby, toss a few leaves in. Then you whisk in some blue cheese. Plate according to your whim, but if you serve it with roasted potatoes and cippoline onions, and a salad of green beans, red onions, almonds, and tangerines in orange vinaigrette, it cannot fail.
Now how do you keep managing to pull that off? My food porn keeps coming out all blurry ’cause I’m too distracted by the act to photograph it properly.
That just rocks.
You flatter me. Such success as I have been able to achieve relies on a three-pronged approach:
1) Last year I bit the bullet and laid out for a digital SLR and a couple of high-end lenses. Altogether the rig weighs roughly half a ton, but I never leave home without it.
2) I take about 7683 pictures a day
3) Adobe ImageReady’s “sharpen” filter is invaluable for pimping out lo-res JPEGs for the web