Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon with Bearnaise Sauce

Sounds fancy, right? Actually this is so simple to make I'm almost embarrassed blogging about it. Honestly, I don't eat much steak. It's always so tough and dry, especially when my husband makes it on the grill (sorry honey, but it's true). The only cut of beef I really like is the filet, so for our anniversary I thought I'd give my husband a treat and make him a steak my way (no grills involved). I've seen the Food Network chefs make it before, so I didn't bother to look at a recipe. Looking back, this was probably stupid...thank goodness it worked out! But this came out just like how you get it at a restaurant. Fork tender delicious melt in our mouth filet. And now that I know how easy this is to make, I think I'll treat us with it more often!

I really had to get creative with the bearnaise sauce recipe since I pretty much didn't have any of the main ingredients at home! But it worked out and the sauce turned out great (even though I don't know how true to the actual flavor of bearnaise it was!) It was perfect with the filet!

Ingredients
2 servings of beef tenderloin (filet mignon) between 6 and 8 oz. each
4 slices bacon
salt
pepper
extra virgin olive oil

For the Bearnaise Sauce
Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 shallot, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons dried tarragon (Unfortunately when I got home I realized I didn't have any tarragon, so I used herbes de provance instead! It still tasted great!)
2/3 cup white-wine vinegar (Again, I didn't have any of this. So I used 1/3 cup white wine and 1/3 cup white vinegar!)
4 large egg yolks (I only had 3 so I used them!)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Coarse salt

Directions
Let the beef come up to room temperature and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Pour extra virgin olive oil into a large skillet so it completely coats the bottom. Heat on medium high until almost smoking, and then add the beef. Cover and sear for about 3-4 minutes. Turn beef over and sear the other side for another 3-4 minutes, or until browned to your liking. Remove from pan and cover with foil. Let sit for a few minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and cover with non stick spray, set aside. Wrap 2 slices of bacon around each filet, and secure the bacon to itself (do not poke holes in your beef!) with a toothpick. Place beef on the top rack of your oven and bake until beef is cooked to your liking. For us (our steaks were about 6 oz.) this took 15 minutes for medium, and 20 minutes for medium well. Let sit for about 5 minutes before cutting into it.

While letting the steaks cook in the oven, you can make the bearnaise sauce. In a small saucepan, bring shallot, tarragon, and vinegar to boil over medium. Cook until liquid reduces to 2 tablespoons, about 4 minutes; strain. Rinse pan; return mixture to pan. Whisk together egg yolks and 2 tablespoons water. Add to pan. Cook over low, whisking, until mixture thickens and forms thick ribbons when lifted with whisk, 3 to 4 minutes. Gradually whisk in butter (if sauce bubbles at any time, remove from heat, and whisk in a piece of butter). Continue whisking until all butter is incorporated, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Season with salt.