Len's Recipe of the Month - October 2019

Um, this is more of a kitchen clinic than a recipe.   But you will get some tips on how to make something.  It's just that there is a story going with it all.

Two weeks ago, a friend of mine was having a dinner party.  Since she was a fan of the beef tenderloin I have made the past several Christmases, she outsourced the cooking of the meat to me.  

"Can you do the same thing?"

Sure, just give me the meat.  Dutifully, she went to a butcher and spent about ninety bucks on a piece of beef.   Except when I opened the package, it was clearly not a beef tenderloin.  To be honest, I didn't recognize the cut at all.  

Ultimately, I took a photo of it on my phone and showed it to another butcher at the super market.

"That's a prime piece of beef but you would probably make steaks out of it."

Oh.

This is where Len had to call on all his new-found kitchen tips to get this done.  Flying solo and a little bit blind.  

First off on the day before the meat would be cooked, I prepped a rub.

Kosher salt, ground black pepper, rosemary.  

Rubbing it liberally on all sides, I put the meat in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, I took it out and laid it on the counter at room temperature.  Here's a tip.  The more expensive the beef, the longer you leave it out at room temperature.

I did the actual cooking over at my friend's kitchen and I totally made up the process.

In a cast iron skillet, I melted a tablespoon of butter.  Meanwhile, the oven was pre-heated to 350 degrees.

I placed the beef in the skillet and seared it on all four sides.   Four minutes a side.  With all surface area sufficiently brown, I took the skillet and put it in the oven.

Twenty minutes later, I removed it and took the internal temperature with a digital thermometer.   You want it to be 125 degrees.  If it is, put the meat on a rack and tent it with some tin foil.  And left it for 15 more minutes.   The cooking still continues and, when the internal temp gets up to 135, that will be a perfectly medium rare piece of beef.

And it was.   The taste was amazing and I literally astounded myself.   Because just by using my culinary knowledge of the last four years, I ad libbed myself to a fabulously cooked piece of meat.

America's Test Kitchen, eat your heart out.

Dinner last night:  Leftover roast chicken thighs.