Welcome Home Dinner: The Next Generation

So once again, my husband had to travel to L.A. for training. Since he was subjected to fast food and hotel meals for two weeks, I wanted to give him a top-notch welcome home dinner. The last time I did this, I selected Ina's Steakhouse Steaks as the main course. To keep with tradition, and because we are both huge fans of steak, I decided to keep steak as the main course, but I wanted a different way to do it.

While taste, and ease of preparation were integral to my final recipe choice (aren't they always?), my main goal was a meal that would not mess up my kitchen. I wanted my husband to come home to a nice, clean house so he could relax. Plus, I needed to compete with two weeks of hotel maid service! So, I decided to go back to a recipe we had tried once, but had not had in some time: Ina's Truffled Filet of Beef Sandwiches. Taste: phenomenal. Ease: super easy. Cleanliness: very few dishes and no prep. chopping. We had a winner!

While a little on the expensive side because of the large piece of filet mignon and truffle butter, this recipe is well worth it. Paired with a homemade Caesar salad (recipe in a previous post), and this was a great welcome home dinner that was quick and easy, and allowed us to catch up after two weeks apart.

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1 1/2 to 2 pounds fillet of beef, trimmed and tied
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
• Kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper
• 2 French baguettes, 18 to 20 inches long
• 3 ounces black truffle butter, at room temperature
• 1 (2-ounce) chunk good Parmesan cheese
• Fresh baby arugula

Directions

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. (Be sure your oven is very clean!)

Place the beef on a sheet pan and pat the outside dry with a paper towel. Spread the butter all over the beef with your hands. Sprinkle the beef evenly with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Roast for exactly 22 minutes for rare and 25 minutes for medium-rare.

Remove the beef from the oven, cover it tightly with aluminum foil, and allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Remove the strings and slice the fillet about 1/4-inch thick.

Open the baguettes lengthwise but not all the way through. Spread the bottom halves generously with the truffle butter. Top with a layer of sliced beef and sprinkle it with salt and pepper.

Using a vegetable peeler, shave the Parmesan into thin shards and scatter the shards over the sliced beef on each sandwich. Finish with a sprinkling of arugula leaves. Fold the tops of the sandwiches over, cut each baguette diagonally in 3 or 4 sandwiches, and serve right away.

Food Network

My Recipe Notes:

• Don't skimp on the truffle butter! It makes all the difference. (Mine was from Williams-Sonoma. dartagnan.com also sells it)
  
• Filet of Beef is Filet Mignon. I have tried it once tied like the recipe says, and once not tied. I didn't notice a difference.
• My grocery store has horrible baguettes, so I use their Rustic Country Loaf (Safeway) and it's perfect for these. Anything with a crunchy texture on the outside is great.
• Really take your time and slice the meat as thinly as possible. The first time we cut it a little thick and they were hard to eat. I slowed down this time and got it thin enough so the meat wouldn't fall out.