Kentucky Steak au Poivre et Frites for 1

With Helen out of town for a few days, tonight saw the revival of an old PB.com tradition; namely, bachelor night. Long time readers know what this means; namely, steak, potatoes, red wine, followed by a couple of Dunhill Peravias and either Port or Wild Turkey's American Honey Liqueur, depending on how hot it is, while watching a sci fi or fantasy DVD.

It was fairly warm tonight by So Calif standards, so it was a night for American Honey Liqueur and an old favorite: The Two Towers-The Extended Version, mainly because I felt like watching the Helm's Deep battle again.

The steak

• 1 10 oz. filet mignon, cut in half lengthwise to make 2 steaks approximately ½ to ¾ inch thick (or, if you're me on bachelor night when all bets are off, with neither spouse, personal physician, nor Obama's health cops around to supervise, 2 8 oz filets cut the same)
• sea salt 
• freshly ground black pepper 
• Pam® olive oil spray
• 1 tablespoon unsalted organic butter 
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots 
• 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic 
• ½ cup Maker's Mark® bourbon
• ½ cup organic low sodium beef stock 
• ¾ cup organic heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 
• dash Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce®

Season filet steaks with salt and lots of pepper, pressing salt and pepper into the meat with heel of your hand, spritz with olive oil spray, and allow to marinate briefly while heating a large nonstick skillet (I'm a big fan of Calphalon) over medium-high heat.

Add steaks to skillet and cook for 3 minutes. Turn and cook 3 minutes. Remove to a plate and tent loosely with aluminum foil.

Return skillet to heat, turning it down to medium. Do NOT clean skillet. You want the brown bits.

Melt butter in skillet. When butter stops foaming, add shallots and garlic. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Cook up to 1 minute, but do NOT let shallot/garlic mixture burn!

Add bourbon. Turn heat up to high. Use a lighter wand to ignite alcohol. Swirl pan until flames die out. Add stock and reduce to a glaze.

Reduce heat to medium and add cream. Reduce until sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Turn heat to low, add mustard and Worcestershire sauce, stir well.

Taste sauce and add salt and/or pepper as needed to taste.

Return steaks and any accumulated juices to pan. Coat steaks with sauce.

Plate steaks, topping with sauce.

I'll probably lose whatever standing I have as a foodie for admitting this, but I don't fuss with homemade frites. Instead, I use Ore-Ida® shoestring fries prepared as per package instructions.

Serve with a young Loire red or, as I did, a mature Napa Cabernet-based wine.