Blue Cheese Crusted Filet Mignon

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme. Cook, stirring constantly, until onion is tender. Stir in beef broth. Scrape any onion bits off the bottom of the pan, then stir in the port wine (I used a “red cooking wine” and still got wonderful results). Bring to a boil, and cook until mixture has reduced to about 1/2 cup. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat vegetable oil in a cast-iron skillet over high-heat. Sear the steaks quickly on both sides until brown. Place the whole skillet into the oven.

Roast steaks in the oven for about 15 minutes for medium rare. (I like mine a little more done and kept it in 20 minutes, and it was medium.) Remove from oven and place on a baking sheet.

Stir together the blue cheese (I don’t really like blue cheese, but this was so amazing, I couldn’t tell it was!) and panko bread crumbs. Top each steak with a layer of this mixture.

Preheat the oven’s broiler. Place steaks under the preheated broiler 3 to 4 minutes, until cheese topping is browned and bubbly (mine never got to the bubbly part, but it was brown and I didn’t want it burning). Remove from the oven and let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Serve on top of red garlic mashed potatoes and spoon port wine sauce over top.