Name: Blue Cheese Chive Butter
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened; 1 1/2 ounces blue cheese (mild), room temperature; 1/8 teaspoon table salt; 2 tablespoons minced fresh chive

Why This Recipe Works

For a pepper-crusted filet mignon recipe with a crust that wouldn’t overwhelm the meat, we mellowed the peppercorns' heat by gently simmering them in olive oil. We then used a two-step process to create a well-browned and attractive pepper crust: First, we rubbed the raw steaks with a paste of the cooked cracked peppercorns, salt, and oil; then we pressed the paste into each steak using a sheet of plastic wrap. The paste not only added flavor to the meat but also drew out the meat's own beefy flavor.

Before You Begin

This is an excellent accompaniment to Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon.

Instructions

Combine butter, cheese, and salt in medium bowl and mix with stiff rubber spatula until smooth. Fold in chives. While steaks are resting, spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons butter on each one.