One of my best performances...

Two words: Oh WOW! When the BF won a bet and I was obligated to make him a meal of his choice of protein, he requested steak. I was a little nervous, my previous steak encounters have been alright, but not fantastic. I surprised myself with this one. The BF even called it exquisite, heavenly, tender and more! I read about steak and protein cooking in my Cookwise book (awesome book, I can't stop reading it!), and armed with knowledge, I went to my average, local, grocery store. I contemplated a cheaper cut of meat, but decided to go with the King of Steaks, the Filet. Expensive, yes, but juicy, tender and full of flavor. After this meal, I'm ready to go back to the store RIGHT NOW and buy more.

Using my Cookwise smarts and after reading a few bloggers experiences I went for it. I decided to marinate the room temp steak for 30 min. Then I wrapped the steaks in center cut bacon, and seared. There was some smoke, and a lot of noise, but it created a nice crust. After searing on all sides I transferred the whole skillet to the oven which had been set at 275 for the Mini Cheesecakes, and let them finish off for a few minutes in there while I got on with the sauce. I sauteed mushrooms coated in flour and bacon with some olive oil, added wine, fish sauce, soy sauce, sour cream, pepper, water and let it reduce a bit.

For the potatoes, I started them in the oven, but they had a failure to progress, so I nuked those suckers until they were soft. Then I mashed them with whipping cream, butter, brown sugar, nutmeg and white pepper until they were silky smooth.

All the BF could say was, "whoa, this is really good....really really good." For the next hour after he keep talking about how good the steak was, how it was better than a restaurant. He gushed praise for it. My brother got a small piece of steak as a leftover, and he loved it. He also said it was better than a restaurant. My recipe is definitely different and interesting, but it works! Who needs to spend $100 bucks at an expensive steakhouse when you can beat the flavor at home!? Jess 1, Steakhouse 0.

Seared Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon

2 8 oz filets

approx 4 tbsp: soy sauce, fish sauce, red wine

4 strips center cut bacon

3 tbsp oil

Marinate steaks in liquid mixture in a zipper bag and leave to come to room temp for 30 min or more. Remove steaks from bag, pat dry, season with salt and pepper. Wrap each with bacon, and secure with toothpicks or wooden skewers.

Heat heavy non coated ovenproof pan over med-high heat until hot, add oil. Turn on fan. It will begin to smoke almost immediately, so work fast and put steaks in immediately. Let cook a few minutes on each side....maybe 3-4 min each side, so bacon gets crispy and steaks have a nice crust. Move entire pan to hot oven preheated to 275. Turn off oven, and let finish cooking to desired doneness, about 8 min or so.

Mushroom Wine Sauce

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 package baby bella mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp flour

2 strips center cut bacon, sliced into bite sized pieces

1/4 cup red wine

3 Tbsp fish sauce

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp sour cream

Water

Heat med skillet on medium heat, add olive oil and bacon. Cook bacon until crisp. Toss mushrooms with flour to coat lightly. Drain extra flour off with sieve (or your hand), add mushrooms to pan, sautee about 5 min until starting to become tender. Add red wine, fish sauce, soy sauce and sour cream. Let reduce 10 minutes on low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

3 med sweet potatoes

nutmeg

1/4 c brown sugar

4 tbsp whipping cream

3 tbsp butter

Cook potatoes thoroughly. I punched holes with a fork in the skins and microwaved for about 10 min on high heat or until soft throughout. peel skins and put flesh into bowl. Add butter, brown sugar and whipping cream and whip with a fork or potato masher until homogeneous. Add 2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg, or to taste. Serve!