Last Tuesday my partner David was bringing home two colleagues for dinner, one visiting from Japan, one local to New York and both eager to see Julia, our 17-month old daughter. Vaguely recalling of an episode of Bewitched (Wasn’t she always whipping up something for Larry Tate and some client of poor old Darren’s?), I thought about what to serve. It needed to feel special — a little luxurious, but not decadent– and it needed to be quick to prepare, since I lack Samantha’s special abilities (Stevens, that is, not Jones), and I was a making dinner at the end of a busy weekday.
After a little research, this is what I came up with. The recipe is inspired by a dish created in the Bon Appetit test kitchens and published in the May 2007 issue of that magazine. It went over so well that I made it again on Saturday for a group at my good friends Jon and Oliver’s place in the Sonoma wine country.
The toasty, earthy flavor of the porcini crust beautifully complements the rich beef, while the herbs with just a hint of garlic provide a fresh, fragrant counterpoint. This dish isn’t winning any awards from the American Heart Association, but it’s truly delicious, and a modest portion served with simple sides makes an easy, reasonable indulgence for a special occasion.
Recipe
Ingredients (for six)
6 filet mignon steaks, 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives (approximate)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves (approximate)
1 small or 1/2 large clove garlic
2 -3 ounces dried porcini mushrooms (available now in most good supermarkets)
salt and pepper
Herb Butter (can be prepared several days in advance)
1. Put the garlic through a press or mince in very finely and mix it, the chopped herbs and the butter in a small bowl. Use a light hand with the garlic — too much will overwhelm the flavors of the fresh herbs.
2. Enclose the butter mixture in a sheet of plastic wrap and form it into a rough log; chill until firm.
Steaks
3. About 45 minutes to an hour before you’re ready to cook, take the meat out of the refrigerator to allow it to warm to room temperature.
4. In the meantime, grind the dried porcini into a powder using a spice grinder. (The hand-held coffee grinders widely available for about $20 make excellent spice grinders — just don’t use them for coffee afterward.)
5. Salt and pepper the meat, then press it into the porcini powder to coat.
6. Melt about 2 tablespoons of the herb butter in a skillet over medium heat and then cook the steaks to the desired level of doneness. As the mushroom crust cooks it will turn a very dark brown. Don’t worry — it’s not burned.
The cooking time for the steaks will depend on their thickness, their starting temperature and the heat of your pan. The best way to cook meat, particularly steaks, is by temperature rather than time. For a medium-rare steak (small warm red center, pink interior), pull the meat off the heat when the center measures 140F using an instant-read thermometer. Over the next few mintues, as the meat “rests,” the internal temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees more. If you don’t have this tool (which is a wise investment considering the price of good meat), make a little slice into the meat to peek at the interior after it has cooked for about 5 minutes on each side. Experienced grillmeisters can also tell the doneness of a steak by pressing on it with their index finger, but I’ve never found this method very reliable.
Serve with a large pat of the herb butter on top of each steak. I found that simple sides of sauteed broccoli rabe (parboiled first until tender) and fingerling potatoes roasted only in olive oil, salt and pepper made excellent accompaniments to this rich, fragrant meat dish. For a little more luxury, a gratin of potatoes is also a delicious pairing. 
