balsamic garlic glaze

Updated:  January 2021 

We love beef tenderloin and, to make it more affordable, we buy in bulk from Costco and split one (giant) filet between us.  It’s one of our splurges (along with only buying Charmin) and we’ve come up with the best methods for cooking steak.

I also found a really good looking recipe for Sweet Cornbread and after halving it and tweaking it a little, ended up with a fabulous and quick cornbread.  It is sweet, but I did end up cutting down the sugar quite a bit from the original.

But first, the steak!  I used my regular method to cook these and then drizzled just a bit of Cooking Light’s balsamic glaze over it.  

The sauce is tangy and garlicky and complements the steak without overpowering it.  Be sure and use low-sodium soy sauce, though, or it will be too salty.

We’re trying to eat smaller meals in the evenings, so besides the steak I made a little salad and served the Sweet Cornbread on the side.  

I love the perfectly cooked steak and the cornbread is over-the-top stellar.  It goes well with savory meals, but I promise you could put a little frosting on top and have a luscious cornbread cake.  

It’s hard to stop eating it, especially when it’s warmed up with a little butter.

The homemade cornbread is dense, but tender. Kind of like Jiffy corn muffins, but you can tell it’s homemade and the texture is better. We’ll keep this in the regular recipe file.

This Balsamic-Glazed Filet with Sweet Cornbread is one of our favorite meals.  Simple, fairly easy (if you’re patient with the steak) and so incredibly good.

Balsamic-Glazed Filet with Sweet Cornbread

Yield: Steak for 2; Cornbread - 6 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

A perfectly cooked steak along with the best cornbread you can make!

Print

Ingredients

• For the Steak:
• 1 (6-8 oz) beef tenderloin filet
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2 tsp. bottled minced garlic
• 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 3 tbsp. red wine
• 2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp. honey
• For the Cornbread:
• 1/2 C. milk
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 6 tbsp. melted butter
• 1/2 C. cornmeal
• 1 C. flour
• 1/2 C. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. For the Steak:
2. Sprinkle both sides of the steak evenly with salt and black pepper.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.
3. Add the steak to the pan; cook 4 minutes on each side, then turn on end and cook 2 minutes each on the edges.  Add more time if you like your steak more done .  Lower the heat and remove the steak from the pan to a plate.  Tent with aluminum foil while you make the sauce.
4. Add garlic and red pepper to pan and saute (stirring constantly so garlic doesn't burn) for 30 seconds.  Add the wine to the pan and simmer for 30 seconds.  Add soy sauce, vinegar and honey and stir well, bringing to a low boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce heat further and cook 1 minute. Drizzle one tablespoon or so over the steak and serve.
5. For the Cornbread:
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs. In a medium bowl, combine the egg yolks, milk, vanilla and slowly drizzle in the melted butter while briskly stirring.  
7. In a separate bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Stir the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture just until combined.
8. In a separate chilled bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the whites into the batter.  It won't be totally blended in after folding, but don't worry about that.
9. Pour the batter into a greased 8 or 9" baking dish and bake for 27-30 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  (It doesn't get very browned.)

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

For more of a medium stead, after the initial 4 minutes on each side and 2 on the ends, turn on the flat sides again and leave for 3 more minutes on each side.

For the cornbread, don't stir after folding in the egg whites.  There will be places you can still see the fluffy whites, but that's OK.  It will cook fine and have a great texture. Too much folding and it will be tough.

The cornbread can easily be doubled, but only use 4 eggs.  When I halved the recipe, I found out the egg industry, since the egg shortage, has been putting smaller eggs into the Large containers.  I used 3 eggs because they seemed very small.