A small splurge every once in a great while can sometimes be good for the soul – or at least that is what I told myself in the grocery store the other day. I was buying items to have a beef tenderloin steaks for dinner the next day.
My extravagance was not the beef tenderloin steaks, in fact they were already thawing in my refrigerator at home. The steaks did not cost me any more than a pound of ground beef since we buy our grass-fed beef by the side from an area farmer. It was the butter to put on top of the steak that had me stewing in the aisle.
After much debate, I decided to buy truffle butter to put on top of the steaks after cooking them. A very small container of the butter was just over five dollars and I don’t usually spend five dollars on a pound of butter. However, I had been wanting to try truffles and I knew that the five dollar price tag was not bad for anything that contained real truffles.
They had black truffle butter and white truffle butter. Each contained butter, truffle oil and some shavings of actual truffles. I finally decided to go with black truffle butter as I vaguely recalled reading somewhere that black truffles were stronger and paired well with meat.
The next day, I made the steaks for dinner. They were the best steaks I have ever made (even if I do say so myself). Although I only used a small amount of the truffle butter after removing the steaks from the pan, the flavor was very apparent. I think it probably is because the butter also contained truffle oil and I chose the black truffle butter.
Although the butter added to the steaks, they did not make them the best steaks I have ever cooked. What made them the best was that they were melt-in-your-mouth tender, flavorful, and cooked to the temperature that I like – three things that I have struggled to achieve simultaneously.
Here is how I made it:
Recipe: Beef Tenderloin Steaks with Truffle Butter
Ingredients
- Beef Tenderloin Steaks
- Bacon
- Salt
- Pepper
- Butter Olive
- Oil Truffle Butter
Instructions
- Make sure the steaks have any “silver skin,” etc. removed.
- Heat 1/2 Tbsp. or so of Olive oil and 1/2 Tbsp. or so of butter in a skillet.
- Wrap bacon around sides of steaks and place them in the hot skillet side down where the bacon ends.
- Once bacon is crisp, move the steak sear all the way around.
- Season steak with salt and pepper.
- Lay steak flat in skillet and cook until desired doneness, trying to flip it over just once.
- To determine when it is done, either use an instant read thermometer or check firmness with finger on top of steak.
- A softer steak is more rare than a firmer one.
- Remove from heat when desired temperature is reached.
- Add the truffle butter to the top of the steak.
- Allow to rest before cutting.
Quick Notes
The bacon is optional.
Butter and oil amounts vary.
I use olive oil and butter because the oil increases the butter is less likely to burn. I like the flavor of the butter with the steak, thus I don’t want to use the olive oil alone. However, you could.
You just need enough to keep the very low fat meat from sticking.
Do not try and turn a steak too soon; it will stick.
If you wait until it cooks enough, it should release easily.
Tenderloin can be tough if you cook it until well done. It is not recommended.
Variations
Plain butter instead of truffle butter may be used.
How much did my small splurge cost me in the end?
Four steaks in the package…about a pound more/less… rounded way up $4.00
Entire package of truffle butter (only a small amount was actually used)….$5.10
Entire lb of bacon (although only four slices of bacon was used)…$3.50 (on sale)
Entire loaf of sourdough mountain bread (less than half used)…$3.50
Package of organic frozen peas…$1.25 (on sale with coupon)
Package of organic frozen broccoli…$1.25 (on sale with coupon)
Total Cost : $18.60 with lots of truffle butter, bacon, and bread leftover
Considering the only local restaurant that I know of that currently serves any dish with black truffles (a risotto) charge between $24 and $33 dollars for one serving their main courses…I don’t think less than twenty dollars for four servings plus is that much of a splurge.
Now, my problem is figuring out how to use the rest of my truffle butter before its May expiration date. Any thoughts?
These sound heavenly! I, too, love a good beef tenderloin … now that our kids are grown and flown, we tend to buy tenderloins when we want a steak. They are just so tender! The addition of the truffle butter puts such an elegant spin on the dish doesn’t it? BUT… I don’t know about you, but a little bit of that butter goes a longggg way! It’ has such a strong flavor!
As for leftovers, we had a side dish of macaroni and cheese at a restaurant in Boston recently that was made with mushrooms and a bit of truffle butter … again, a little went a long way, but it was really good. Ina Garten has a pasta recipe that uses truffle butter too … long thin noodles in a mushroom sauce. Hope this helps!
Susan, you are so right about a little going a long way. In fact, I took the picture of the butter after I used plenty on one of the steaks. Thus, I have most of the truffle butter leftover.
I was thinking about making a pasta dish or risotto. I will have to look up Ina Garten recipe. Thank you!
By the way, I am so embarrassed by my filet (fillet) spelling…I let auto-correct take over and only noticed the errors yesterday ….I should not doubt myself again. I have edited to the post to eliminate the word:)