Tonight for dinner we made one of our favorite meals: filet mignon and grilled artichoke. Any time we cook dinner on the grill, BF does all the cooking. (I don’t touch anything that starts with g and ends in rill. As it happens, anything BF makes on the grill turns out perfect. Why mess with perfection?)
The artichokes take longer to make, and thus BF starts these first. After rinsing them and cutting down the stem, BF quarters them (we each eat an entire artichoke).
Next he places all eight quarters inside a pot on top of a stainless steel veggie steamer. Add enough water to the pot so that the water does not rise above the steamer. Bring the water to a boil and then turn the burner down to a simmer and cover.
While the artichokes are steaming, BF takes care of prepping the meat and the butter. We dip our artichoke leaves into melted butter that BF melts over the stove and seasons with a little bit of Lawry’s seasoning. Sometimes he seasons the melted butter with minced garlic and salt.
After the artichokes have finished steaming, BF brushes them with a mixture of olive oil, minced garlic, minced onion, cracked peppercorn and sea salt.
Now the artichokes are ready to grill. While the artichokes were steaming, BF seasoned the filets with garlic sea salt and cracked peppercorn. I did the grocery shopping today, thus I picked out the filets. BF said they looked good, but slightly pale. (Note to self: buy meat more pink in color.)
Finally everything is ready to throw on the grill. Listen up! BF says there is a secret to cooking on the grill, and it applies to everything he cooks. If you recall, BF cooked the turkey burger patties on the grill over medium high heat, 3 minutes a side, cooking twice on each side for a total of 12 minutes. That’s the secret! That’s how he cooks turkey burgers, filet, and chicken. It doesn’t seem right to me that you can cook every meat the same amount of time, but BF swears that’s the secret. I don’t question his grilling expertise.
As for the artichokes, grill them for 2 to 3 minutes on each side for a total of 4 to 6 minutes. (You do not need to grill the back of the leaves.)
We like to eat our steak medium rare. He nails the temperature every single time!
With a little bit extra salt sprinkled on top we find the filets delicious (despite the pale coloring). I’m still going to let BF pick out the steaks next time! As for the artichokes, the meat from the leaves melts in our mouths. It’s been awhile since we made the artichokes this way. We got into the habit of steaming them whole and dipping the leaves into butter. Tonight we renewed our appreciation for the grilled artichoke, and gave each other a pat on the back for a dinner well cooked and ate.
Recipe Rating:
Food Snob 