Jason and I try to do an “experimental” recipe almost every week, but one area where we haven’t really explored much is the world of steak. When I saw Giada De Laurentiis make Filet Mignon with Balsamic Syrup and Goat Cheese, I knew the time had come. I mean, goat cheese and balsamic vinegar? How bad could that be? I’d never had filet mignon before (the price at restaurants is pretty prohibitive) and Giada’s recipe looked simple and delicious.

So on Saturday afternoon we made the trek over to East Lansing to see Dr. Beef at Goodrich’s. We ended up getting two ~7oz prime cuts (we just recently learned that “prime” and “choice” are two separate levels of goodness). The prime had just come in, and we figured if we were already going to get the most expensive cut of beef there is, we might as well go all out. That way we could definitely rule out the meat as the problem if the recipe didn’t turn out well. I also picked up some baby yukon gold potatoes for a quick skins-on mash.

I cut the potatoes into like-sized chunks and dropped them into some boiling water. I don’t think I salted the water but I meant to. I also started to reduce the balsamic vinegar. I actually think my balsamic vinegar might have been too good for this purpose. As proof that Jason knows me better than I know myself at times, he got me some 25-year barrel aged balsamic vinegar for Christmas. It is nothing like the grocery-store stuff and definitely a worthwhile splurge at least once! Anyhow, I don’t think I needed to reduce the vinegar quite as long or add as much sugar because of the age of my vinegar, so it turned out kind of sticky. Next time I will cut the cook time in half or try something younger, maybe like only a 4-year old balsamic or a pre-made glaze.

Meanwhile, I seasoned the steaks on both sides with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and melted the butter in a medium sized pan. Giada’s recipe was for 6 servings but I used the same amount of butter for just two.

After the butter had melted and the pan was appropriately hot, I dropped the steaks in for their first side. The hardest part was to stand there and not move them for 3 minutes straight, but the thought of seared crusty goodness was enough to keep me from fiddling with them.

While I finished up the steaks, Jason got to mashing the potatoes with a little milk, chives, and some of the leftover goat cheese that we wouldn’t be using for the steaks themselves.

When the steaks were done on their second side, we topped them pretty liberally with goat cheese and popped them under the broiler for just a minute to get the cheese melted. We plated the steaks up on a bed of mashed potatoes, drizzled them with some balsamic sauce, and were ready to eat!

I must say, they turned out FANTASTIC! The meat was a perfect doneness and the combination of flavors was excellent. I wish I had a picture of the inside of the steaks but I was too busy devouring it to stop for a photo. Was that TMI or TMB (too much bragging)? Whatever the case, I would definitely recommend this recipe. It couldn’t have taken more than 45 minutes to prepare and the results were excellent.