Steak Oscar: Filet Mignon, Dungeness Crab, Asparagus & Bearnaise Sauce

A Classic Steak Restaurant Offering! Warning: this is on the rich side so bring out your really big reds as the anecdote :) Seriously though this is not an entree we make often but given the spectacular spring weekend upon us we just could not resist getting back to the barbeque! In addition we had a couple of special guests from Quilceda Creek Vintners join as for dinner at Cafe 1853 and needed some red meat to pair with the amazing Cabernet Sauvignons they produce. www.quilcedacreek.com Look for more about our experience with their 2004 & 2006 Cabs in a following post. Our heritage contains four generations of restaurant industry participation and our minds drift back to my father describing how to grill the perfect steak, a recollection we share with you here.  Memorize this simple approach to your benefit: 1) Make the steaks happy with your choice(s) of salt, pepper and steak seasonings while bringing them to room temperature 2) Meanwhile get your BBQ to about 550 degrees 3) Grill the steaks 7 minutes on each side to achieve Medium-Rare to Medium (make slight adjustments for "how you want it" preference and thickness of the steak) and that's it, that simple! Steam the asparagus in a little bit of water, undercook it, remove from heat and place the lid on as you wait for the filets to come off the grill.  Prep the Dungeness Crab by rinsing and patting dry (makes the crab taste "cleaner"). Right before the steaks go on the grill make your bearnaise sauce: as you can see we "cheated" by using a packaged sauce and enhancing it with butter, cream, white wine, vinegar (splash), fresh tarragon, salt & pepper.  This is a personal preference, but we like this approach not only because it is easier with so much happening at once, but also it is lighter than using fresh egg yolks. Hint: go light on the tarragon, especially if you are not a big "licorice" fan. If you want a lighter steak approach, just stop at steak completion and put the asparagus on the side.  We served this with garlic mashed potatoes to complete the plate.  This is RJ Kirk with Cafe 1853, Enjoy!