Ingredients

1 pound Irish-style bacon
1/2 to 3/4 stick butter (2 to 3 ounces)
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 leaves fresh basil, cut into fine strips
2 tablespoons horseradish cream
1 1/2 cups fine bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
4- to 5-pound filet mignon (cylinder-shaped fillet or tenderloin steak), about 18 inches long

Directions

Dice about 6 ounces of the bacon. Melt 1/4 stick (1 ounce) of butter in a skillet and add the bacon. Saute until cooked but not crisp. Add garlic and cook gently until transparent. Add the remaining butter and allow to melt. Add the basil, horseradish cream and bread crumbs, and mix in well. Allow to cool.

Score the sides of the steak with three long, deep incisions, and stuff the incisions with the bacon mixture. Sprinkle the meat evenly with salt and pepper. Wrap the remaining bacon around the steak and secure with butcher twine tied at 1 1/2- to 2-inch intervals. Place in an 18- by 12- by 2-inch roasting pan.

Put the pan on a rack on the second level from the bottom in an oven preheated to 500 F. Roast for 10 minutes on one side; turn and roast 10 minutes on the other side. (This will give quite a rare cut; if you like your meat less rare, it will need a little more time). Remove from oven and allow to rest for 7 minutes. Carve and serve. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Note: Served hot, this dish goes well with roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes. It can be served cold with a dressed salad of seasonal greens, or as an appetizer thinly sliced with mustard.