If someone told me I could never eat beef again ... no big deal. Dh grills filets a few times a year and we eat burgers weekly during my tomato harvest. Maybe meatballs & meatloaf once a year. That’s about it. Grew up eating ribeyes and occasionally flank. I don’t care for any steak with fat or one that I have to chew and chew. That’s why I love a buttery filet. That said, tonight we dined at Sullivan’s steakhouse. It’s restaurant week (prix fixe menu) and that was dh’s choice; mine was Galatoire’s earlier in the week. I chose the filet (it is a steakhouse after all) with no sauce. I wanted a real comparison to the steaks dh grills. It didn’t even come close! Zero flavor and far from melt in the mouth tender. I can understand why some of you don’t like filets if you’ve eaten ones like that. And to think that they normally charge $32 for that cut is nothing short of criminal.

Can't remember where I got this, but I tried it last week and we LOVED it! Arthur Treacher's Fish Recipe #17040 45 min : 15 min prep SERVES 10 -12 * 3 lbs fish fillets * 2 cups all-purpose flour * 3 cups pancake mix * 3 cups club soda * 1 tablespoon onion powder * 1 tablespoon seasoning salt * oil (for deep frying) Dip moistened fish pieces evenly but lightly in the flour. Dust off any excess flour and allow pieces to air dry on waxed paper, about 5 minutes. Whip the pancake mix with the club soda to the consistency of buttermilk-- pourable, but not too thin and not too thick. Beat in the onion powder and seasoned salt. Dip floured fillets into batter and drop into 425F oil in heavy saucepan using meat thermometer. Brown about 4 minutes per side. Arrange on cookie sheet in 325F oven until all pieces have been fried.

Tossing in a couple of ways I've been cooking fillets lately - simple, utilitarian, and you can prep it up then when everyone is at the table enjoying the appetizer, you can sneak away and do the cooking in 5 minutes. These are usually tilapia, halibut, cod, or other whitefish. Salmon doesn't taste right if cooked this way, to me. Miso-marinated and simmered - Make a miso soup, cool it to room temp - Marinate fish for 1 hour. Can be fillets or small steaks, less than 6 oz - Meanwhile, bring to boil 1 cup sake, 1 cup miso, 2 TBSP mirin, 1 TBSP soy sauce, 1 TBSP sugar. Turn down to a high simmer and reduce for the hour that the fish is marinating. Should reduce by appx 1/2 to 2/3. If desired, mix 1 TBSP cornstarch with a little water and add that to the sauce. Adjust taste with sugar and salt. - Remove fish from the miso marinade, bring the marinade to a full boil for a few minutes, then turn down to a high simmer and add the fish back. Simmer fish for 5 minutes only. Longer simmering will produce tougher fish. - Place each piece of fish in a small bowl. Add a little of the simmering liquid, to keep the bowl and fish warm, but not to cover the fish. Pour the sauce over the fish. Garnish with something pretty and serve. Milk simmered - Pat fillets dry and salt lightly - Melt two pats of butter to coat bottom of a pan - Optionally, sautee some minced garlic or onion in the butter - Raise heat, place the fillets in the pan and cook for 30 second per side on med-high heat - Pour 1/4" of half-and-half in the pan, turn down heat, simmer for 5 minutes for 1/2" fillets, a few minutes longer for a thick fillet - Remove fish to plate. If desired, thicken liquid with some flour and add another pat of butter plus salt to taste, to use as a pan sauce. Parsley or a little plop of bright green pesto looks nice with this. Wok fried - assumes fillets - coat fillets with cornstarch and salt, knock off excess - Mix up a sauce from 2 TBSP rice wine, 1 TBSP soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp rice vinegar, 1 TBSP finely minced ginger, 1 TBSP finely minced garlic, 1 TBSP cornstarch, 1 TBSP chopped green onions, 1 TBSP fine diced red bell pepper (this last is just for color). I like some hot sauce too. - Place wok (a cast iron pan works too) on high flame, leave to heat for 4 minutes. Pour in enough veg oil to be 1/2" deep at center of wok (if using a flat-bottom pan, don't try for 1/2"), leave on high heat until oil starts to shimmer and then to smoke - Slide two fillets into the hot oil (slide, don't splash!), tilt the wok so that the hot oil gets to all parts of the fillets, after 30 seconds flip the fillets (flipping away from you!), after 30 seconds remove the fillets to blot on paper towels. Replenish oil if needed, heat to just smoking, cook two more fillets, etc. - When all fillets are cooked, place them on serving dish. Pour off the oil, return the wok to heat up, then pour in the sauce. Cook until liquid is bubbling and garlic is fragrant but not burned, pour sauce over fish, and serve. - If you want the fish more cooked or more thoroughly sauced - or if they are thicker fillets - lay each fillet in the wok with the sauce just long enough to cook to your desired doneness. I like my fish just barely cooked, personally, so for me this step would be 5 seconds.

I spent some time at an appliance dealer yesterday comparing the user interfaces of the Wolf and Miele steam ovens. I like the look of the Wolf better and the UI seemed simpler to use, but I feel swayed to the Miele because you can do a search on their programs instead of having to drill down all the time. What I want to know is if you can successfully cook something like a thick beef filet in the Miele. I watched a video of someone cooking a filet in the Wolf and it looked like it came out pretty good. The only program that Miele has for something steak-ish is beef tenderloin medallions up to 3cm. By filet standards, that's not very thick, right? I'm planning on getting a Miele speed oven too. Would something like that come out better in the speed oven? I like the idea of the steam oven keeping it juicy.