Sous Vide Filet Mignon

Sous what?  If you don't watch Top Chef and you're not a bigtime foodie, you might not have ever heard of sous vide before.  Without going into long and boring detail, sous vide is essentially a technique where you vacuum seal the food you're cooking, then immerse it in very carefully temperature controlled water that's at the temperature you want your food to be when it's done.  Until recently, it was a technique that was primarily done in very fancy kitchens, because the equipment to keep water so carefully controlled (the temperature varies less than 1 degree F) was extremely expensive.  There have been some ways to do it with less expensive gear, but it usually involved several pieces of equipment or didn't quite give the right level of temperature control.

In March of this year, the first consumer-targeted sous vide machine hit the market.  It's not particularly inexpensive, but we decided it would be my 10th anniversary/33rd birthday/Father's Day gift this year.  I have all sorts of ideas of things I want to cook in it, but the first thing I wanted to make was filet mignon.  We had a couple frozen filets from Omaha Steaks in the freezer, and since the only difference between frozen and thawed in this technique is how long you cook them, I decided to go for it.

I don't have a fancy vacuum sealer, and based on today's results, I'm pretty sure I don't need one.  I bought a Ziploc pump and vacuum seal bags at the grocery store, and both the vacuum and the seal were great.  The steaks stayed under water the whole time, which is extremely important to get the temperature exactly right. 

When the steak came out of the sous vide cooker, it didn't have the nice crust that you'd get from grilling/broiling/pan-frying it.  This is fixed with a quick sear, about 45 seconds per side, on a hot cast iron skillet.  The end result: the best steak I've ever made, hands down.  It was super tender and perfectly cooked all the way through.  Next up: medium rare short ribs, cooked for 48 hours.

Sous Vide Filet Mignon

Ingredients:

• 2 6-ounce filet mignons
• Salt
• Pepper
• Extra-light olive oil

Directions:

1. Lightly coat the filets with oil, then rub salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Place filets individually in vacuum bags, seal them, and suck out all the air.
3. Cook at 138F for 1-2 hours.
4. Just before removing from sous vide machine, heat oil in a cast iron skillet until almost smoking.
5. Remove meat from sous vide machine, take it out of the bags, and sear for approximately 45 seconds on each side.

Notes:
While it's basically impossible to overcook something with the sous vide technique, it's not recommended to cook tender cuts for longer than 4 hours.  If you want to finish the food at a different time than you prep it, take the bags out of the sous vide machine and put them in an ice bath until chilled, then move to the refrigerator or freezer.  When you're ready to serve, remove from fridge/freezer and bring back up to heat in the sous vide machine, then sear.

Comments

[Kimbo]

I just drooled all over myself...Thank you for the inspiration to try something new.

[Vicki]

Justin is entirely jealous. Not that I'm not, but he asked me specifically to tell you. He's not sure he can speak to you anymore ;)

[Maggie]

I had a fillet sou vide a couple days ago at a 'fancy' restaurant and it was terrible! They took it right out of the bag and plated it. There was no searing and the texture of it was just weird. What a terrible thing to do to such a beautiful piece of meat! Wish they had seen this recipe first!!

[Dave]

I was in the store and they have these whole beef tenderloins... vacuum packed... what about just throwing the whole thing into the sous vide bath? thing is it's about 85mm thick which if i'm right means about 9 hours of cooking at 131F... 1. will i ruin it without salt? 2. should i just cut into steaks and do it that way?

[jkelber]

Dave,

You could probably do it, depending on how big your sous vide bath is and how long the tenderloin is. You won't ruin it without salt, you'll just want to season it after it's cooked. Odds are, it's packaged with a bit of salt in it anyway. You'll want to check on it periodically to make sure the vacuum pack is maintaining its seal.

As for cutting it into steaks, it would certainly cook faster that way, so I guess it depends on how you want to serve it!

[Tony]

I was wondering the same thing as Dave. I also have a freezer full of Omaha Steak filets, pork chops, chicken breasts, etc - all individually vacuum packed already. As you know, they are all uniform size. Can they go directly into the sous vide?

Also, what about pork tenderloins that are already marinated, like the ones from Trader Joe's or Safeway?