Thickness is key to Stoney River's horseradish encrusted steaks

A: Steve Hill, managing partner of Stoney River, was happy to share the recipe. Stoney River offers this topping with any steak, but it's most often requested on filet mignon.

The trick when cooking filets is to get even cooking, so choose filets of uniform thickness. Because you want the coating to adhere with minimal flipping, choose steaks that aren’t too thick, so the coating doesn’t overbrown. Cooking time will vary greatly with the size and thickness of your steaks and the desired doneness.

Your idea to try the horseradish coating on salmon sounds like a good one.

Horseradish-Encrusted Steaks

Makes 6 servings

Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus time to cool

Cooking time: 10 minutes

1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs; available at Whole Foods and some supermarkets)

1/2 cup grated horseradish (jarred is fine)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

1 tablespoon oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

6 (1-inch-thick) filet mignons

1 tablespoon butter

In a bowl, combine panko, horseradish, melted butter, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix until well-combined. Cover and let come to room temperature.

Coat top of each steak with about 1/4 cup horseradish mixture and press to flatten.

In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon butter. Place steaks in pan, topping side down, and cook to golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook second side 3 to 5 minutes, or until cooked to desired doneness (you might need to do this in two batches).

Per serving: 566 calories (percent of calories from fat, 76), 24 grams protein, 10 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 48 grams fat, 133 milligrams cholesterol, 375 milligrams sodium.