Every holiday, customers line up in the meat section to have one of Stew Leonard’s 50 expertly-trained butchers custom-cut their beef tenderloin to their exact specifications.

Stew Leonard’s filet comes direct from ranchers in the Midwest. “Stew Leonard’s butchers and I have personally been to visit our ranchers throughout the Midwest and we’ve met their families,” said Stew Leonard Jr., president & CEO of Stew Leonard’s. “You won’t believe the buttery melt-in-your-mouth fork tender texture! This is restaurant-quality beef.”

Taken from the tenderloin, filet mignon is the most popular cut at steakhouses. It’s lean and fork-tender, with light marbling that makes it juicy and delicious. Here are some of Stew’s butchers’ tips for selecting and storing filet mignon:

• A good rule of thumb to use when shopping for whole tenderloin is that one pound of untrimmed filet will feed one person.
• When picking a filet, squeeze the meat and make sure it is soft—this means there is not a lot of fat. The softer it feels, and the more it bends, the better. A tenderloin that feels hard inside the package or does not bend as easily is higher in fat.
• Store the tenderloin in the coldest part of the refrigerator—usually this is on the bottom shelf. Be sure to cook and serve the filet within three days to ensure its freshness.

While people love to serve filet mignon for holiday entertaining, the most frequently asked question customers ask is how to prepare it. One option is to purchase Stew’s Leonard’s oven-ready filet, which is trimmed, garnished with rosemary, and ready to be cooked. However, when Stew Leonard Jr. visited Kansas, his rancher friends suggested a great recipe for filet: the garlic browns on the outside of the beef and gives it a very special flavor, making it the perfect centerpiece for your holiday table.

Stew Leonard’s Ranchers’ Famous Filet Mignon with Garlic
Ingredients:
1 Stew Leonard’s Famous Filet Mignon, hand-trimmed by our expert butchers
Salt & pepper, to taste
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tbs. Stew Leonard’s Olive Oil

Directions:
Chop the garlic and mix it with the olive oil.
Make small slits around the filet and generously rub the garlic over the filet.
Cover the tenderloin with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Preheat the oven to 500° F.
Remove the plastic wrap and season the meat with salt and pepper.
Place the filet in a roasting pan and cook for 15 minutes. (This gives you a nice crust on the outside.) Reduce the heat to 450° F. Continue cooking for another 15 to 20 minutes.
Cut into the steak to check for the desired doneness, or use a cooking thermometer (140° to 150° is medium-rare).
Let the beef rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Far From Home for the Holiday?
Let friends and family know you’re thinking of them by sending four tender 6 oz. filet mignon steaks from StewLeonardsGifts.com. Each steak is approximately 2″ thick and is shipped fresh (not frozen) via next day air. To order, please click here.