I was at a local coffee shop the other day, and I ordered Tuscan soup (Zuppa Toscana), which is creamy with potatoes, Italian sausage, and kale. It was so hearty and delicious and I wanted more. This soup is SO easy to make, and it’s great to get more veggies into kiddos.

Even though it’s hot and summer, this Tuscan soup hits the spot. So delicious, and it’s the Italian sausage that makes it really sing. I used a mild Italian sausage, since my kid can’t handle spice, but it is even more delicious if you use a spicy Italian sausage. SO good!

Enjoy!

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Easy Tuscan Soup (Zuppa Toscana) Recipe

An easy and delicious potato soup with Italian sausage and kale.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword Potato Soup, Tuscan Soup

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon, chopped
• 1 lb ground Italian sausage (mild for kids; spicy preferred)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 large russet potatoes, chopped (bite-sized pieces)
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 3 cups fresh kale, chopped
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Cook bacon is a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When bacon bits are cooked, remove from pan and set aside.

  Drain most of the fat, leaving only 1-2 tablespoon of grease.
• Cook the ground Italian sausage in the bacon fat.

  Add the onions and cook until the sausage is cooked through, and the onion is translucent.
• Add the chopped potatoes and saute everything together for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the chicken stock and kale.
• Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat.

  Simmer the soup and cover for 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
• (At this step, you can add vegetables, like squash and zucchini or eggplant, if you want to have more vegetables in this soup.)
• Stir in the cream, and taste. Add more salt and pepper, if desired.
• Serve and top with bacon bits from earlier. Enjoy!

Did you know that you can use your rice cooker to cook other things, besides just plain rice? This one pot rice cooker meal is so easy to make and only takes five minutes.

A few years ago, I learned that you can cook rice at the same time you can cook other vegetables and protein, and the result is easy and delicious. A full meal with protein and vegetables.

As a busy mom of two (one of them is only two months old), I’m currently only cooking easy, lazy mom’s meals (as I call them). Some days, I don’t want to have to think about cooking or using a lot of ingredients, and this one-pot rice cooker meal is a staple in my house. It’s a dump and forget about it. It’s so easy, and it’s an easy way to get vegetables into my five-year-old (who refuses to eat veggies) but he loves Chinese sausage (or lạp xưởng in Vietnamese). I often make fried rice for him using Chinese sausage and vegetables (I often use frozen vegetables in the freezer for convenience), but sometimes I don’t have time to cook on the stovetop. Hence, my one pot rice cooker meals.

What is Chinese Sausage?

I grew up eating lạp xưởng. It was an easy meal that my dad could make for us without actually cooking anything.

Chinese sausage (or lạp xưởng) is basically the Vietnamese/Asian version of a hot dog. It’s traditionally made with pork, though you can sometimes find chicken varieties. It has a salty, sweet flavor, and is absolutely delicious.

You can fry these sausages on a stovetop and it’ll render some fat from the pork, or you can microwave the slices and eat it that way.

You can find Chinese sausages at any Asian supermarket.

Why I Use Frozen Vegetables for this Recipe

For this recipe, I chose to use frozen vegetables. I always have a huge bag of mixed frozen vegetables that I get from Costco. It’s got green beans, corn, and carrots. It’s just an easy way to get vegetable into my veggie-hating child. You can also use canned vegetables. I often make this exact recipe but with canned corn instead. Use whatever you have on hand. You could probably make this with fresh vegetables too.

What if I don’t have a rice cooker?

Then you can’t make this recipe. Just make fried rice instead.

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One Pot Rice Cooker Meal: Rice with Lạp Xưởng (Chinese Sausage)

A one-pot meal using your rice cooker. Rice with lạp xưởng (chinese sausage) and vegetables. Cook everything at the same time for an easy dinner.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Keyword Rice Recipes

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Equipment

• Rice cooker

Ingredients

• 2 cups white rice
• water
• 3-4 Chinese sausages (Lạp Xưởng), sliced or cut into small pieces
• 1 cup frozen vegetables

Instructions

• Add rice to pot and rinse with water.
• Add water to the fill line.
• Slice or chop up the Chinese sausage to whatever size you want.
• Add the Chinese sausage on top of the rice and water.
• Add frozen vegetables.
• Close rice cooker lid and hit the button cook normally.
• Enjoy!

I love pierogies. If you don’t know what they are, they’re European-style stuffed dumplings. They’re often stuffed with potatoes and cheese, but sometimes you can find stuffed them with mushrooms and other ingredients. We first had them in New York, and we’ve been obsessed with them ever since. I buy my pierogies frozen at one of the local grocery stores here, and they’re amazing. The potato and cheese traditional pierogies are the best, but I love the veggie flavors too. They’re yum, yum.

Traditionally, you would boil the pierogies and pan fry them afterwards. But if you’re in a pinch or very busy, like I am, you can roast frozen pierogies in the oven, and they come out wonderfully!

Today, I’m making oven roasted pierogies with caramelized onions that have been cooked with butter and flavored with balsamic. They are so yummy!

If you’re short on time, you can also just eat pierogies with melted butter and sour cream, or just by themselves. But I love caramelized onions, so this recipe is a must-have in our house. Enjoy!

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Oven Roasted Pierogies with Caramelized Onions

Frozen pierogies that are roasted in the oven and topped with caramelized onions cooked with butter and balsamic. So delicious!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Vegetarian

Keyword Pierogi

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

For the Carmelized Onions

• 2 medium onions, sliced thinly
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

For the Pierogis

• 16 oz frozen pierogies
• olive oil to coat

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Toss the pierogies with olive oil. Make sure they are completely covered on both sides with oil.
• Oil your baking sheet. Add the pierogis.
• Bake for 20 minutes, flipping halfway.
• Meanwhile, make your carmelized onions. Add the oil and butter to a skillet and add the sliced onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the onions start to carmelize.
• Add balsamic vinegar and combine. Turn off heat.
• Spoon the carmelized onions on top of the pierogies (including any butter left over in the pan) and enjoy!

I grew up in the Tennessee, so I absolutely love eating Southern Style Green Beans that have been slow cooked in bacon and chicken stock. They are so tender, melt-in-your-mouth, and they are the perfect side dish to go along with any Southern dish (like fried chicken, meatloaf, etc.)

Green beans are so delicious, and this recipe is so easy to make. You cook the bacon until it’s nearly cooked, at the same time you’re cooking the onion, then add the trimmed green beans and chicken stock, and let it simmer on low for an hour and a half. You can cook your main dish in between this time, and dinner’s ready in no time at all.

I love this recipe for Southern Style green beans. It’s easy and so, so good. Enjoy!

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Southern Style Green Beans with Bacon

Easy and simple, Southern style green beans are cooked in bacon and chicken stock for 1.5 hours until they are soft. This recipe is full of flavor and so delicious!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword Green Beans

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 2 lbs green beans, trimmed
• 5 slices bacon, cut into small strips
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 cups of chicken broth

Instructions

• In a Dutch oven (or large saucepan), add bacon and chopped onions. Cook until bacon is almost done. Add garlic and cook for one minute.
• Add green beans to the pot and just enough chicken broth to cover the green beans. Bring to a low boil. Cover and simmer (cook on low) for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Drain the chicken broth and enjoy!

I love cucumber, but there are only so many ways that you can prepare it. You can add it to salads, or pickle it… but did you know that cucumbers are a great side dish when you dress it up just a little?

With common ingredients that you have in your pantry – like garlic, chili flakes, oil, soy sauce, sugar, sesame, vinegar – you can make a very simple Asian Cucumber Salad.

The flavor of this Asian recipe is very subtle, with just enough spiciness for a kick. Eat it over rice or by itself. It’s seriously delicious. I made it recently during one of our fridge cleanouts. You can use a normal cucumber, but for a better crunch, I’d recommend a mini cucumber or an English cucumber.

So yummy. I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

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Asian Cucumber Salad

A light refreshing cucumber salad with an Asian twist. Great for a side dish or served with rice.

Course Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Keyword Cucumber Recipes

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Dressing

• 2 garlic cloves, minced finely
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar

Instructions

Prepare the Cucumber

• Chop the cucumber into bite-sized pieces. (I sliced it in half horizontally, then halved each half, and then chopped it into 1-inch chunks).
• Add cucumber to a bowl and sprinkle the salt on top. Mix together. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Make the Dressing

• Combine the minced garlic and chili flakes. (Place in a dish that can withstand hot oil.)
• Add oil to a saucepan and heat until it's hot. Add the hot oil over the minced garlic and chili flakes. It will sizzle.
• Add soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar. Mix until well combined.

Assembly!

• Drain the water from the cucumber bowl. Add the dressing to bowl and mix well.

  Enjoy!

Notes

I prefer using English cucumbers or Mini Cucumbers for this recipe. They have a better crunch. 

Whenever my husband goes to a Chinese restaurant, he always orders either orange chicken or lemon chicken, so I decided to make this super easy orange chicken recipe for dinner this week. It’s sticky, sweet (but not too sweet), and tastes so delicious when served with white rice. It was so good that my entire family ate the entire dish in one sitting. No leftovers!

This is such an easy recipe to make. The hardest (and most time consuming) part of the entire process is frying the chicken pieces.

Orange chicken uses many staples you already have in your refrigerator, such as orange juice, chicken breasts, corn starch, flour, vinegar, garlic and ginger powder, and sugar. It’s so simple to make.

There are three steps to this orange chicken recipe. First, you need to cut the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Then you coat it in egg, then a mix of cornstarch and flour. You fry the chicken pieces in oil. Then you make the orange sauce, and you toss everything together. It’s quite delicious, and such a filling weeknight dinner. The entire process takes about 30 minutes, and most of that time is frying.

This is definitely a recipe that I’ll make again and again. Even my two-year-old toddler loved eating this Chinese Orange Chicken recipe. Enjoy!

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Easy Orange Chicken Recipe

This recipe for orange chicken is easy and uses staples that you already have in your pantry. The most time consuming part of the process is frying the chicken pieces. Dinner will be served in 30 minutes or less.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Keyword Chicken Recipes

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup flour
• oil for frying

Orange Sauce

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• cornstarch slurry ( 1 tbsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water)

Instructions

Coat and Fry the Chicken

• Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Put in a large bowl. Crack an egg. Mix chicken with the egg until well-combined.
• Add the cornstarch and the flour to the bowl. Mix together until the chicken pieces are well coated.
• Add oil to a large saucepan over medium heat. Wait until the oil reaches 350 degrees. (You can also dip a chopstick into the oil and if it sizzles/bubbles upon contact, the oil is ready.)
• Fry the chicken pieces in batches. Make sure they don't touch each other. The chicken is ready when it's golden brown.

  Remove onto a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

Make Orange Sauce

• In another pot, add the orange juice, sugar, white vinegar, soy sauce, garlic powder, and ginger powder. Cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until it begins to bubble. Whisk cornstarch with water and add to the orange sauce. Mix to combine and cook until the sauce is thickened.

Combine the Chicken in the Orange Sauce

• Toss the fried chicken with the orange sauce and enjoy!

Looking for a quick lunch idea? Try my Vietnamese-Inspired Salmon Salad. Perfect for anyone who loves the taste of Goi Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Salad) but wants to mix it up.

I always keep salmon on hand for easy dinners (we eat a lot of roasted or sautéed salmon with asparagus in our house), and I use the leftover salmon to mix with my favorite salad greens or vegetables. This is one of my favorite lunches when I’m craving fish.

I realized that the photos don’t capture how delicious this salad is, but you’ll just have to trust me

The magic is in the fish sauce dressing, which uses two types of sugar (brown and white) for a taste that’s similar to palm sugar. I didn’t use any red chilis, but you should if you like spice. I just didn’t have any on hand!

Enjoy and I hope you love it as much as I do!

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Vietnamese-Inspired Salmon Salad

Perfect for an easy lunch or healthy dinner, this Vietnamese Salmon salad uses fresh lettuce and sliced vegetables (whatever you have on hand) paired with a fish sauce vinaigrette (fish sauce, brown and white sugar, white vinegar, and garlic).

Course Salad

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 salmon fillets
• salt and pepper, to taste

Vinaigrette

• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp white vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Salad

• Any salad greens (lettuce, spinach, a mix)
• Vegetables, sliced thinly (any variety)

Instructions

Pan Fry Your Salmon

• Dry salmon fillets with a paper towel. Season all over with salt and pepper, to taste. (Add any other spices you'd like. Lemon herb seasoning is quite nice.)

  Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet until hot. Sear salmon for 2-3 minutes, pressing down so the entire flesh comes into contact with the hot pan. Flip and cook the other side until another 2 minutes.

  Check for doneness by using a fork and splitting it in half.

  Transfer to a plate and let cool.

Make the Vinaigrette

• Combine the fish sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, white sugar, and garlic and mix until well-blended and the sugar has dissolved.

  Taste. If you want it more sweet, add more sugar. For more tart, add more vinegar.

Make Your Salad

• Add lettuce/spinach/any greens you want to a salad bowl. Top with sliced vegetables (like cucumber, sliced bell pepper, etc.)

  Break the salmon in pieces and place on top.

  Drizzle the vinaigrette on top and enjoy.

Some mornings call for a hearty breakfast, and you’ll absolutely love this easy-to-make Hash Brown, Bacon, and Egg Skillet. So simple to make, and it doesn’t require a lot of time either. I made it this morning when my husband and son were still in bed, and the kitchen smelled so amazing when I was done. The power of bacon, my friends!

I buy dehydrated hashbrowns in a 4.2 oz container (it looks like a milk carton). You add hot water and wait 12 minutes for the water to soak up, and tada, your hashbrowns are ready to be eaten!

I love this breakfast skillet recipe because it uses ingredients I already have on hand – bacon slices, onions, and cheese. You can use any kind of cheese you want – lots of hashbrown skillet recipes use Cheddar, but I love Asiago cheese, so that’s what I used.

My toddler loved the egg and bacon, but he was unsure of the hasbrowns (haha!) but we LOVED them. One serving of this filled me up until after lunchtime. With all that protein, it’s a really great way to start the day.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

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Hash Brown, Bacon, and Eggs Skillet

An easy-to-make breakfast skillet made with sautéed onions, bacon, hash browns, eggs, and cheese.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword Bacon Recipes, Egg Recipes, Hash Brown Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 3 strips bacon, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 4.2 oz container of hash browns (rehydrated)
• 4 medium eggs
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3/4 cup shredded Asiago cheese

Instructions

• In a cast-iron skillet, cook chopped bacon over medium, stirring occasionally, until it renders its fat. Then add chopped onion and sauté together until bacon is cooked and crispy.

  Using a spoon, discard excess fat drippings from the pan.
• Add the hash browns. Arrange in a single layer and cook until the potatoes are crispy on the bottom.

  Make four wells with your spoon, and crack the eggs into each well. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the eggs. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the egg whites are set.

  Sprinkle with cheese, cover, and turn off the heat.
• When cheese is melted, eat and enjoy. Serve with fresh basil, scallions, or any other garnishes you like.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We are having Asian Lemongrass Roast Turkey this Thanksgiving day!

I apologize for not updating this blog since February. 2021 has been a whirlwind of a year! Luke’s two-and-a-half now, and anyone who has a toddler knows that trying to keep up is an exhausting task.

What’s the Difference?

So what’s the difference between an Asian Roast Turkey and an American one? It’s the Asian spices. I use cilantro, lemongrass, fish sauce, and garlic as my base, but I use the traditional turkey method of stuffing with aromatics, and I plan to make giblet gravy to serve for Thanksgiving dinner.

My dad grows pandan leaves, and I used that to give my roast turkey a more Asian flair. If you don’t have this, you can totally skip. Happy cooking, friends!

My Method

I roast this turkey in the same way that I would an American roast turkey. I stuff the cavity with onions, celery, and any aromatics I have on hand – this year, we have pandan leaves, which was great! I season the top with my Asian marinade (made with garlic, lemongrass, pepper, fish sauce, and black soy sauce) and then pour melted butter all over.

The key to a nice, brown turkey is buttering the layer in between the skin and the meat. I use my fingers to loosen the skin away from the meat (making sure that it doesn’t tear and stays attached), and I’ll add slices of butter underneath there. I’ve used melted butter to do this before, but I’ve found that solid, room-temperature butter slices work best.

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Asian Lemongrass Roast Turkey

A delicious Asian-style roast turkey marinated with lemongrass, garlic, black pepper, fish sauce, sugar, and dark soy sauce, before going into the oven.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Asian

Keyword Roast Turkey, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Resting Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours 50 minutes minutes

Servings 10 people

Cost 30

Ingredients

• 10-12 lb fresh turkey
• salt and pepper, to taste
• garlic powder, to taste
• 1 stick butter

Asian Marinade

• 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp lemongrass, minced
• 8 cilantro stems (no leaves), chopped
• 1 tsp black pepper, ground
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tsp black soy sauce (or dark soy sauce)

For Stuffing in Turkey Cavity

• 3 medium onions, quartered
• 3 stalks celery, chopped into 1-inch pieces
• 4 pandan leaves, halved (optional)

Instructions

Prepare the Asian Marinade

• Using a food processor, add the chopped garlic, minced lemongrass, chopped cilantro stems, black pepper, fish sauce, sugar, and black soy sauce. Blend together.

  (Alternately, if using a mortar and pestle, pound the lemongrass, garlic, cilantro stems, and black pepper into a rough paste. Then stir in the fish sauce, sugar, and black soy sauce.)

  Set aside.

Prepare the Turkey

• Take fresh turkey out of fridge and let sit for an hour at room temperature.

  Take the neck bone and giblets out of the turkey. (Set aside for giblet gravy). Remove any excess fat. (Set aside to render the fat and fry with cooked rice).

  Liberally salt the turkey all over and rinse with water. Pat dry.

  Add a generous amount of salt inside cavity and rub all over.

Stuffing the Turkey

• In a roasting pan, add one quartered onion and two stalks of chopped celery to the bottom.

  Add a turkey to a roasting rack (if you have one.) If you don't, lay the turkey on top of the aromatics.

  On the bottom of the turkey, generously add salt and pepper, and garlic powder. Then turn the turkey over.

  Stuff the cavity with two quartered onions, one celery stalk, and the pandan leaves (optional). You can also use any aromatics you have on hand.

  Using your hands, create a pocket of space underneath the turkey skin. Carefully separate and loosen the skin from the breast and sides (be careful not to tear the skin).

  Cut the butter stick in half. Half of the stick, melt in the microwave (30-45 seconds until melted). The other half, you will slice and place underneath the turkey skin.

  Spread the sliced butter underneath the turkey skin, rubbing your hands over the top of the skin to smooth it out as best as you can.

Adding the Marinade to the Turkey

• Generously season the turkey with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

  Then, pour the Asian marinade all over the top of the turkey. Using your hands, massage the marinade to make sure it reaches everywhere.

  Pour the melted butter on top. Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under its body.

Roasting the Asian Turkey

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  Bake for 2.5 to 3.5 hours, or until a thermometer reads 165 degrees. The juices between the leg and thigh should run clear.

  Rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before carving.

  Enjoy!

Filet mignon, there’s no better dinner when you are starving and don’t have a ton of time. This is my recipe on how to cook filet mignon. I pan sear it on my cast iron grill pan, and then cook it on high heat in the oven for 5-7 minutes. It’s delicious and super easy to make. This filet mignon recipe is great for a weeknight dinner.

I want to apologize for not posting any recipes on my cooking blog since September! With a very active toddler running around, a busy work schedule, my hobbies have been on the back burner.

OK, back to this Filet Mignon recipe. Oh my goodness is it delicious.

Filet Mignon is an expensive cut of meat, but it’s also the most tender. My husband buys a package of filet mignon every few weeks at Costco for about $45 for 6 steaks. It’s always a special treat for me, because beef is my favorite protein and I am always craving more protein in my diet due to breastfeeding.

It’s so easy to make. It takes less than 10 minutes and it pairs well with so many side dishes, from rice to potatoes to steamed or roasted vegetables. I love me some good steak!

I use my cast iron grill pan for this recipe, but you can use a normal cast iron skillet as well (or any skillet that you want – you just want to ensure that your skillet gets REALLY HOT so that it sears the meat well.)

You can use any of your favorite seasonings. Make sure you heavily season it with salt and pepper. There’s a lot of meat in a filet mignon, so you don’t want to under-season it.

Make sure you OPEN ALL YOUR WINDOWS so that you don’t set off the fire alarm. So yummy! I even made a Youtube video with my adorable toddler cooking this filet mignon recipe. Check it out:

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Perfect Filet Mignon Recipe using a Cast Iron Skillet

An easy and delicious way to cook filet mignon using a cast iron skillet and finished in the oven. This recipe is great for a weeknight dinner!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Filet Mignon, Meat Recipe, Steak

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4 steaks

Equipment

• Cast Iron Skillet
• Oven

Ingredients

• 4 filet mignon steaks (6 oz)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• your favorite meat rub, to taste
• 1 tbsp neutral cooking oil, like grape seed or vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 sprig of rosemary or thyme (optional)

Instructions

• Remove the filet mignon from the fridge. Dry with paper towels and allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Season ALL sides of the filet mignon with a GENEROUS amount of salt and pepper and your favorite meat rub. (You may use any spices you like).
• Over high heat on the stove, add a cast iron skillet and allow it to get hot. This may take 3-5 minutes. When the pan starts to smoke, add the oil. Wait 30 seconds, or until the oil is nice and smoking.
• Sear the filet mignon. Wait 2 to 3 minutes, or until a nice sear has formed. Then flip the steak over.
• Add butter, garlic, and any fresh herbs you want to use to flavor the butter. When the butter has melted, tilt the pan and spoon the butter over your steak.
• Transfer to the oven for 6-7 minutes for a medium rare steak.
• Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with your favorite sides. Bon appétit!

Notes

Don’t be afraid to overly season the meat. Filet mignons are thick, and you don’t want to under season. 

If your kitchen isn’t well ventilated, make sure you open ALL the windows to avoid setting off your fire alarms.