Filet Mignon & Blue Cheese Sauce and Random Miscellaneous Musings

by Amy

“He looked at Clara Morrow. She was also in pajamas and a dressing gown and, he glanced down, slippers. Could this be a new, and nightmarish, fashion trend? How long had he slept? While he knew flannel was an aphrodisiac to Anglos, it did nothing for Beauvoir. He’d never, ever worn it and didn’t plan to start.”

I love this scene. I love, love, love their pajama day idea! I think that it is the very definition of a lazy day - even if you get bucket loads of things done. Actually, it’s one of my favorite things about hospital work. Scrubs are as comfortable as pajamas. Doctors (and other healthcare professionals) don’t really wear scrubs here in Brazil unless it’s hospital work that involves operating rooms. Since I work in neonatal care and delivery rooms, I get to wear scrubs when I’m in the hospital. At the office the white coat is more appropriate. I consider scrubs to be glorified pajamas.

 “It’s very relaxing. I stay in them all day.”

“Beauvoir tried to look disapproving but had to admit, she did look comfortable. She completed the look by having bed-head, though that was nothing new. Her hair always stuck out in all directions, probably where she ran her hands through it. And that would also account for the crumbs in there, and the flecks of paint.”

I know. Not the same. But this scene gives me flashbacks to my residency years. Beauvoir was so tired he crashed. Then he wasn’t sure if it was early morning or evening. He wasn’t sure if he wanted breakfast or dinner. The people around him were wearing comfortable – although not very elegant – clothing (what could be worse than scrubs and crocs?). And bed-head? Yeah. Flashbacks.

“He laughed, surprising himself. He’d never had an actual conversation with Clara. With any of them. The Chief had. Somehow he’d managed to become friends with most of them but Beauvoir had never been able to pass through that membrane, to see people as both suspects and human. He’d never wanted to. The idea repulsed him.”

I love Beauvoir. And I love watching him mature through the series. This is a huge milestone. He’s

started to blur the distinction between “them” and “us”. Although the idea still “repulses him” to an extent, he’s already started to see people as human. One of the things I love in The Long Way Home is when Gamache asks him what it is with him and the elderly. He answers that he just treats them like people. This is one of the scenes where he begins to see people as human – even if they are suspects.

“Clara hesitated. She didn’t like the idea of being a spy but if he was right then an innocent man was in prison and a murderer was among them. Almost certainly in the room with them at that moment.”

Clara, on the other hand, had no difficulty in seeing people as human. The hard part here, for her, was seeing them as suspects. In an earlier post we talked about how hard it is to let go of those we love and remember grace when we are constantly made aware of the evil that is in the world (https://thenightisastrawberry.blogspot.com.br/2016/01/chicken-pesto-sandwich-and-letting-go.html). Clara is made uncomfortably aware of the fact that, even in idyllic Three Pines, a murderer was – or is – among them.

I once read an interview in which Louise Penny said she had originally thought Peter and Clara would be amateur sleuths who would assist Gamache. I think this book (BURY YOUR DEAD) has Clara playing that role. She isn’t always discreet. Beauvoir frequently cringes in his interactions with her. But, all in all, he’s both impressed and grateful. And it is in this book that his own bonds of friendship are established with Three Pines. Up until now he'd investigated them. He now befriends them.

 “Myrna and Peter arrived and Beauvoir joined them for a bistrô dinner, ordering the filet mignon with cognac blue cheese sauce. They chatted about various events in the village, the ski conditions at Mont Saitn-Rémy, the Canadiens game the night before.”

I was looking forward to the sauce. I’m not much of a meat eater, but my husband loves filet mignon, so I thought this meal might possibly please us both. I’d eat potatoes and blue cheese sauce. He’d have the filet. In the end, he was happy with the filet. He tolerated the sauce. He ate a couple of potatoes, but preferred rice. My son gags with baked potatoes – even when they’re on the firm side – and can’t stand most sauces. He tried it. But stuck to filet and rice. I thought the sauce was a bit too rich for my tastes, but happily ate potatoes.

So… I think this meal was a bit of a failure. I’m having a hard time writing about it because it wasn’t a particularly enjoyable meal. It was okay. I also consider the presentation to be flawed. But then, I think meat is always kind of ugly. It’s easy to see I’m not a meat lover.  Although I wasn't pleased with it, I must concede that the only thing left over was the sauce. So I guess it was okay.

Part of me wants to start over and try a different recipe. The other part thinks that part of being a non-cook posting about cooking is posting failed attempts – or less than stellar meals. So voilá!

Filet Mignon with Potatoes and Blue Cheese Sauce

Potatoes:

Quarter the potatoes and boil them in water until they’re al dente. Dip in cold water and then flavor with salt, olive oil, rosemary and garlic and bake in oven until “ready”. Mine were on the undercooked side this time.

Filet Mignon:

Season with pepper and garlic and sear on both sides (I used olive oil).

Blue Cheese Sauce:

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan. Add 1 tablespoon of flour. Whisk in 400ml of milk. Once it’s creamy (or doesn't drip from the spoon), add 60g of blue cheese and some nutmeg. Allow cheese to melt. Sauce is done.

If I were to make this again (and I don’t plan to), I’d bake the potatoes whole, I’d make the filets in strips and add them to the sauce – kind of like a stroganoff. Or serve it on pasta.  

I do recommend we all grow and mature and mellow as did Beauvoir. His choice in meals? Nowhere near my own tastes.