Horseradish Crusted Filets

When I received the recipe for the Special Occasion Recipe Swap, I was pretty excited.  I had all the ingredients at my house already.

I can't eat a lot of spices, so I swapped the steak seasoning for a little bit of ranch and dried minced onion.  The horseradish creates most of the flavor in this dish though, so you really could use almost any seasonings on your filet.

Horseradish Crusted Filet
slightly adapted from  The Jey of Cooking
Ingredients
2 Filet Mignons (we used Turkey Mignons intead)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon ranch seasoning
1 teaspoon dried minced onion
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons horseradish
1/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

Directions
1) Remove filets from refrigerator about a half hour prior to cooking to allow the meat to reach room temperature. 
2) Season filets on all sides with steakhouse seasoning or salt and pepper, to taste.
3) Heat a seasoned cast iron pan over high heat.
4) In a medium bowl, cream the butter with a wooden spoon.  Add the horseradish, Parmesan, and panko and mix to combine.  Set bowl in the fridge for 5 minutes to stiffen.
5) Preheat broiler or turn oven to its highest setting.
6) Add the filets to the skillet and sear for 2-3 minutes.  Flip and sear for another 3-4 minutes for medium rare. 
7) Top each steak with the horseradish mixture and place pan under the broiler/in the oven until the crust is golden brown.

(I baked mine and broiled it at the end, but still left the original instructions)

I can't wait for the sun to be up again, so I can get better pictures of how the food turned out.  These filets turned out nicely.  Our turkey filets are wrapped in bacon, and putting them under the broiler made the bacon crispy.  I would use a little less horseradish next time and not put that in the mixture.  I'd spread the horseradish along the top of the filet and then spread the panko and butter mixture over that.   Our horseradish mixture was just uneven, and we ended up with big chunks of horseradish in one bite and none in the next.  This is a great special occasion meal though and I'd gladly make it again on Valentine's Day or anniversary.