Celebration Mignon

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: December 2023

For December, Laurel writer Deena Bouknight suggests a voluptuous recipe for filet mignon just in time for our holiday celebrations.

A lifelong writer and author, Bouknight, who asserts she “loves to cook,” regards her time in the kitchen as her de-stress time. Her ambitious writing diet, which has seen publication of three novels (Light Fracture, Broken Shells and Playing Guy), includes her many articles for this magazine, as well as stories for American Essence Magazine, and her job as Managing Editor of Franklin’s Macon Sense bi-weekly newspaper. She’s currently hard at work on her next novel, The Rucksack.

In the recipe that follows, Bouknight proves that she can navigate the kitchen as deftly as she does the writer’s room.

Indeed, the recipe title alone, “Celebration Filet Mignon,” makes it worthy of its status as the centerpiece at her family Christmas Eve table.

And, in fact, it has been at that very place since Bouknight discovered the recipe in a cookbook gifted to her by her mother nearly three decades ago. In the years since, the recipe has been woven into the family history – copied and distributed to her four siblings, included in her mother’s recipe box and forever on the table at family special occasions and celebrations.

One would be wise to take seriously Bouknight’s urging to source the filet from a local butcher – as she does in Franklin from Brasstown Beef. The joy of this recipe is not only the succulent beef, but the sauce – “so delicious I could drink it,” says Bouknight. The mushrooms, onions and tomatoes lend an earthy umami foundation, and combine with the tang of the mustard and capers and the added richness of the butter and half and half to yield a sumptuous delight.

Celebration Filet Mignon

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
4 (6-ounce) filet mignons, each about 1 ½ inches thick
¼ pound mushrooms of your choice, sliced thin
1 – 2 regular tomatoes, chopped or about 20 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium onion, chopped.
½ cup water
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons capers (optional)
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup half and half

Directions

1. Heat a large skillet over high and add 1 tablespoon oil. Generously season the filets mignons with salt and pepper and sauté the filets mignons over high heat for 4 minutes a side for rare or 5 minutes a side for medium-rare. Remove the filets from the skillet, set aside and keep warm, reserving the oil in the skillet.

2. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the skillet. Add the mushrooms, tomatoes and onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply browned and no longer watery, 10 to 12 minutes. Be patient: The mushrooms will first release some water; then, once that liquid evaporates, the vegetables will start to brown.

3. Stir in water, mustard, and capers until combined, and gradually add half and half and stir in butter to make a silky sauce.

4. Return the steaks to the pan for a minute or two to warm and serve.