Filet Mignon with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Syrup

Filet Mignon with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Syrup

Bring the five star restaurant to your own home! This is an absolutely simple dish to prepare and has such wonderful flavor and beautiful presentation. A juicy piece of filet is topped with creamy goat cheese and drizzled with a thick balsamic syrup. Filet mignon, aka beef tenderloin, is one of the leanest, moistest cuts of beef but has very little flavor and is often paired with sauces such as bearnaise. There is only 170 calories in a 3 0z serving of filet - so you have a lot of room to move here (just to give you a comparison boneless,skinless chicken has 140 calories). You can get filet on sale for $7.99/lb, so this entire meal cost less than $14 for two people. I chose to grill the beef and serve over a bed of yukon gold mashed potatoes (made low fat!) and topped with grilled asparagus. Even if you think you don't like goat cheese, just try it.....I promise you will be surprised. A beautiful wild mushroom risotto would be a nice pairing too. I obviously cut this recipe in half!


origin - Giada DeLaurentis
difficulty - easy
health meter - medium, if you include the potatoes!

1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar *you don't need the expensive stuff because you are reducing it
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons butter *or rub steaks with olive oil if grilling
6 (5 to 6-ounce) filet mignon steaks (each about 1-inch thick)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp freshly chopped rosemary - to rub on the steaks!
2 ounces soft fresh goat cheese

Boil the balsamic vinegar and sugar in a heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 1/3 cup, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. Be very careful not to boil too high or the syrup with burn. Once it coats the back of a spoon it is complete - it will continue to thicken as it cools.

Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. I like to tie kitchen twine horizantally around each piece of meat so that it grills more evenly. Or heat the grill to medium high heat and grill turning only once for approximately 4 minutes per side depending on size and desired doneness. Melt the butter in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper. Cook the steaks to desired doneness, about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer the steaks to a baking sheet. Crumble (I spread the softened cheese) the cheese over the steaks and broil just until the cheese melts, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with pepper.

Transfer the steaks to plates. Drizzle the balsamic sauce around the steaks and serve. Or serve over a bed of mashed potatoes and top with grilled asparagus.