Matty's a touring musician. That means the night before he leaves for a tour = lockdown. :) We throw all other responsibilities out the door and have a romanceful evening, either at home or at the next lovely restaurant on our ever-growing list.
This time, he was only leaving for 5 days with Jay Nash, but it was still cause for a special meal. It turned into a very Epicurious evening, as I chose to go with Porcini-Crusted Filet Mignon with a side of Potato- and Asparagus-Stuffed Cheese Crisps.
When I first saw the recipe for the cheese crisps, I couldn't decide whether or not they would be magnificent or disgusting. But then I had a Joey moment ("meat...good! custard...good!"), and decided that anything that had potatoes, asparagus and cheese involved couldn't be that awful. :) I halved the recipe because it was just going to be the two of us, and I substituted Asiago cheese for the Montasio because a) I couldn't find Montasio, and b) I probably couldn't have been able to afford it anyway if I had.
They're not exactly the fastest things to make - the grating takes forever, and you have to let the cheese melt and cook enough to set on top so you don't try to flip them over and have the potatoes and asparagus exit the crisps. Not that I know from experience or anything. :P The first one turned out beautifully (all beginner's luck, I'm sure), but the second two were less attractive because I hadn't grated enough cheese, and had to make them increasingly smaller. They were really, really good, though. No need to salt anything as the cheese has enough saltiness for it all.
Only two substitutions on the steaks. I couldn't find dried porcini at Gelson's, so I used dried shiitakes. I also didn't make the herbed butter because I didn't think it would be necessary (and it wasn't) to make the steak any richer than it was.
The meat was freakin' stellar. I wasn't the biggest fan of the mushroom coating, not because it was bad, but because it didn't really bring anything to the dish for me. Maybe it would have been different with the porcini. I'm willing to try it again. :P