Pairing Challenge

Winner Winner Filet Mignon Dinner + Recipe

Filet Mignon?  Really?  Let’s just say that at first glance I was a little disappointed with this month’s pairing challenge from If It Falls on the Floor.  While many consider filet mignon to be a delicacy because it’s oh so tender and expensive, I think it’s bland.  Where’s the flavor?  Where’s the fat?

Now a ribeye?  That’s a real steak.  All that marbling, all that fat, all that flavor.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  If I were on death row and given a choice for my last meal, it would be a ribeye served medium rare.  (This notion isn’t too far off.  If my boss keeps it up, I may very well be in line for the chair.)

Blue Cheese Stuffed Filets - Are You Hungry Yet?

Blue Cheese Stuffed Filets – Are You Hungry Yet?

But then I read further.

Filets stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in bacon.  Hmm… the addition of two kinds of fat would definitely add back the missing flavor, and then some.  In fact, I was so convinced, that I had to try it myself.  I mean, how was I to vote without sampling a few of the contestants?  Much to my budget-hawk wife’s chagrin, filet mignon made the grocery list along with a Belgium Quad and a Riesling.  Yeah, the suggestions got weird creative this month.  But hey!  That’s the fun of the challenge, to question norms.

Suggestions this month were split right down the middle between beer and wine with six of each.  Each was unique from The Winegetter’s above mentioned Riesling to The Killer Cook’s rec of Left Hand Breweries Wake up the Dead Stout.  In the end, a winner did have to have emerge.  Once again, this month was a nail biter between two beers (Come on winos!  Put down the glass for a sec and vote!).  The Blue Cheese Stuffed Filet honor goes to the Belgian Quad as suggested by Bryan at This is Why I’m Drunk (Not to be confused with this Bryan).  Congrats! Look for his pairing challenge here at The Wandering Gourmand the first week of June!

Bacon Wrapped Blue Cheese Stuffed Filet Paired with the Winner - A Belgian Quad

Bacon Wrapped Blue Cheese Stuffed Filet Paired with the Winner – A Belgian Quad

And now, a recipe straight from Megs cookbook, If It Falls on the Floor, It’s Mine.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Filet Mignons

The Ingredients:

  • 2 – 2 inch filet steaks
  • 4 oz blue cheese crumbles
  • 4 oz of cream cheese
  • ½ cup green onions or green chile, chopped
  • 4 slices of bacon, thick cut
  • Salt and pepper to taste

The Cooking:

  • Cut a pocket in the side of each steak
  • Lightly season steak with salt and pepper
  • Mix blue cheese, cream cheese and green onion together
  • Spoon mixture into steak pocket
  • Wrap two bacon slices around the rim of the steak to cover the pocket
  • Use a toothpick to secure the bacon ends
  • Cook on grill until desired doneness