Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon

After a day of strenuous exercise (today was a long hike on the Dipsea Trail), I like to make a nice filet as a recovery dinner. And the perfect recovery beverage, a hearty red wine.

I've made pepper-crusted filets in the past, but this method is different - cooking the cracked peppercorns in the oil mellows out the flavor a bit and helps the pepper really stick to the meat. We both really loved the filets and I'll definitely use this recipe again. Larry liked the reduction sauce better than I did - I think a standard pan sauce would have been just as good. He especially liked the cherries. The potatoes were good but nothing special. The salad was different. The dressing has just a teeny bit of oil in it so it's a good, flavorful low-fat alternative to a standard dressing, and the cantaloupe makes it kind of creamy. Still, I'm not sure I'd make the salad again.

• Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon (America's Test Kitchen)
• Port Cherry Reduction Sauce (America's Test Kitchen)
• Potatoes Lyonnaise (America's Test Kitchen)
• Mâche with Spicy Melon & Pink Peppercorn Dressing (Fine Cooking #86, July 2007, p. 51)

Wine: Merryvale 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley, California). A nice soft Cab that was a gift from a former co-worker. Good with the steaks.