I’m Home Alone. My family is at a cottage on Lake Erie…but I’m out of vacation days at the day job, so I go to work each day and come home to an empty house. I’m a big proponent of home cooking, but what do I do when I’m used to cooking for five, but suddenly only cooking for one?
In my case, I go out a lot more than usual - see my Instagram feed - but even that gets old. When I want to relax at home, and cook for one, I turn to my sous vide cooker.
When my local grocery store has their “7 Steaks of Summer” promotion, I stock up. I vacuum seal each steak in its own bag, and drop them in the freezer. Then, when I need an emergency steak dinner for one, they're ready to go straight from the freezer to the sous vide water bath.
Today, I’m going with a filet mignon. There are actually two filets in my vacuum bag - I'll have the second one for lunch tomorrow, if I can restrain myself and not eat them both. I like my sous vide steaks cooked to Medium Rare Plus, 133°F, about halfway between Medium-rare and Medium. I salt the steaks, add a peppercorn crust one one side, and sear them quickly in a cast iron pan. Then I slice the steak, fan it out on a bed of baby spinach, call it a “steak salad”, and I’m a happy man.
Recipe: Sous Vide Peppercorn Filet Mignon
Equipment
- Sous Vide Water Bath (I used an Anova Sous Vide Circulator and a Rubbermaid Commercial Food Storage Container)
- Heavy frypan (I used an 8 inch lodge cast iron skillet)
Sous Vide Peppercorn Filet Mignon
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 filets 1x
Description
Sous Vide Peppercorn Filet Mignon recipe. Simple filet mignon, with a big hit of pepper, cooked perfectly in a sous vide water bath.
Ingredients
- 2 thick (2 ½ inch) filet mignon steaks
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoons peppercorn blend, coarsely ground
Instructions
- Sous vide the steaks: Set the sous vide to 133°F/55.5°C for medium-rare plus. (131°F/55°C for medium-rare, 125°F/51.5°C for rare, 136°F/58°C for medium, 141°F/60.5°C for medium well.). Vacuum seal the filet mignons in quart vacuum bags, 2 steaks to a bag. Drop the bags in the sous vide and cook for 1 hour, or up to 4 hours. (You can freeze the steaks after vacuum sealing; if you do, cook them for at least 1 ½ hours, up to 4 ½ hours.)
- Season and sear the steaks: Preheat a heavy frypan over medium-high heat until searing hot. (I use a 10 inch cast iron pan for 3 or 4 filets, and preheat it for at least 5 minutes.) Remove the steaks from the vacuum bags and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the steaks evenly with the salt. Put the crushed peppercorns in a single layer on a plate and press one side of the steaks into the peppercorns to help them stick. Set the steaks in the pan, pepper side down, and sear on one side until the peppercorns start to brown and blacken around the edges, about 1 minute. Flip the steaks, and sear until browned on the bottom, about 1 more minute. Remove from the pan and serve.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Category: Sous Vide
- Cuisine: American
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My other Sous Vide Recipes
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Sarah says
Why is there a 3hr difference for how long you sous-vide the steaks? I want to cook mine at medium rare plus. Do I only sous vide them for an hour?
Thanks!
Mike Vrobel says
The beauty of sous vide is that once the meat reaches the temperature of the water bath, it can't overcook. The steak is cooked to temperature after 1 hour because that's how long it takes to reach medium-rare plus, 133°F. At that point, the steak and the water are the same temperature. At that point, you can pull it out, or leave it for a few hours - whatever works for you. I say to stop after 4 hours because the meat can start to over-tenderize at that point, and get a little soft around the edges - but it will still be medium-rare plus, 133°F, no matter how long you leave it in the water bath.
Bill says
Mike, quick question.....I am doing sous vide filets tomorrow night for my famialy who LOVE IT as well as 2 other famalies who have no idea what they have been missing! Some prefer medium well (cringe) while most prefer medium rare.... my plan is to cook all to medium rare then remove bag 1 and sear it for longer (med well) than I do bag 2 (med rare)...my question: any sear time recommendations or other approaches?
Mike Vrobel says
Other approach - cook in two batches. Cook the medium-well steaks first by starting them an hour early. (I don't have a temp for medium-well - you'll have to look it up). Then leave those steaks in the water, set the temp down to medium-rare, and add ice to drop the temp. Add the medium-rare steaks once your sous vide temp stabilizes. The med-well steaks will stay warm while the med-rare steaks cook. Then, sear everything at the same time.
Iain says
OMG, that is so obvious, yet genius that I wish I had though of it!
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome!