Fancy French Filets

The three F's. That's my introduction to this post.

As for a real introduction, today I made a 3 day dry aged steak au poivre, a dish consisting of beef tenderloin cut to one and one half inch thick filets, crusted with peppercorns and pan-fried. Following that was a sauce made from the sucs (brown stuff stuck to the bottom of the pan after frying) with cognac and cream. I also made an herb salad with a balsamic vinaigrette, roasted asparagus, and more of the mashed potato medallions from my new years post (which, unfortunately, began to fall apart while cooking).

So what all do you need for about 2 servings?

For the beef:
1 lb. beef tenderloin
1-1/2 tbsp. black peppercorns, crushed coarsely
salt
Olive oil*
Butter
*A note on olive oil: DO NOT use extra virgin for pan frying. Extra virgin olive oil has too low a smoke point for pan frying and will result in a burnt taste on your food. It's also a lot more expensive than regular olive pomace oil, which is pretty much any bottle of olive oil under $10. Fun fact, most olive oil that's branded as "extra virgin" is NOT extra virgin because there is no governing body to list specifications for an oil to be called extra virgin. So if you're paying below $15 for a 750mL bottle of oil, it's most likely not extra virgin, it's simply labeled as such. The best olive oil you can buy for pan frying should either be labeled as just "olive oil" or "olive pomace oil". Additionally, if you buy olive oil in bulk (gallon metal container), it's ridiculously cheap compared to buying 16 oz. bottles at the grocery store.

For the sauce:
~1 oz. cognac
~2 oz. heavy cream

For the herb salad:
3/4 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves
2 tbsp. chopped mint leaves
2 tsp. chopped chives

For the vinaigrette (with plenty to spare):
2 oz. balsamic vinegar (use good quality vinegar since this is a vinaigrette)
1/4 tsp. dry mustard powder
4 oz. extra virgin olive oil (again, use good quality)*
2 cloves roasted garlic, chopped finely (roasted at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes)
1/2 tsp. chopped thyme
8-10 black peppercorns, crushed finely
pinch of salt
*A note on picking out good oil: It's pretty difficult to do without tasting. Generally though, good extra virgin olive oil should cost at least $15 for 750 mL and have a very dark colored glass bottle since it is light sensitive.

For the asparagus:
It's asparagus. Just drizzle some olive oil (don't use extra virgin) on as well as salt and pepper to lightly coat it, put it on a tray and toss it in the oven for 350 degrees Fahrenheit until it's done. That's all I'm going into on that.

Mashed potato medallions:
Read my post Ghetto Sous Vide: New Year, New Techniques. Same thing.

Let's cook.

Actually, you'll have to wait 3 days before cooking. This is to dry age the tenderloin. Some people would argue with me that a tenderloin does not require dry aging saying that since it's such a tender cut of meat, it does not need aging to increase tenderness. And this is true, I couldn't agree more. However, tenderness is not the only thing affected by dry aging. See, dry aging has two main effects on beef. One being that enzymes within the beef begin to break down connective tissue, resulting in a more tender end product. This is what gives the proposed argument validity. The second effect of dry aging is that water evaporates from the muscle tissue. The two main elements of the meat for this explanation are water and beef flavor compounds. Beef flavor compounds do not have the same qualities of water, meaning they won't evaporate out of your tenderloin. Water will simply leave. Say for instance that your tenderloin has a ratio of 90 water molecules to 10 beef flavor molecules (these proportions are entirely made up). If you dry age your beef and end up losing 15% weight (which is all water), you will be left with 75 water molecules to 10 beef flavor molecules. Thus you now have a higher concentration of beef flavor, resulting in a beefier, more delicious tenderloin. So that's why we dry age.

To actually dry age a cut of meat is extremely simple. All you have to do is make a rack out of a foil pan and bamboo skewers, lightly salt the meat, wrap it in a paper towel, place it on your rack and into the refrigerator for one day. Then take off the paper towel, replace the tenderloin on the rack, and let it sit undisturbed in the refrigerator for the next two days. It will become an extremely sexy crimson red streaked with white fat strands as the exterior dries. Seriously, this will be an alluring piece of beef. The hardest part is resisting the temptation to just eat it right away. This is a test of patience. You will be rewarded.
Here are photos of the whole process:

 

 

Meal day has arrived. If you want the potatoes, start making the potatoes. They take the longest.

The time has come. Pull out your tenderloin about 45 minutes prior to cooking time and cut it into one and one half inch thick rounds. This lets the meat warm up a little bit so that when you cook it, the core temperature doesn't have to rise from 36 degrees F all the way too 130 degrees F (perfect medium rare). Instead, it makes a shorter trip from around 50 degrees F to 130 degrees F. Since the temperature has to rise less, it can spend less time in the pan, meaning the outside surface of the beef doesn't have to cook (and thus heat up beyond 130 degrees F) for as long. Essentially the beef will be more evenly cooked by pulling it out of the fridge early.

While your tenderloin warms, make the herb salad and vinaigrette.
Whisk the mustard powder (emulsifier) into the vinegar. In a separate bowl, whisk the garlic, thyme, peppercorns and oil together. The idea is to beat up the garlic to release its oils into your olive oil. Then whisk the oil while slowly pouring in the mustard-vinegar. That's all.
For the herbs, coarsely chop the cilantro and finely chop the mint and chives. Gently hand toss and set aside until serving time to add the vinaigrette.

Put your asparagus in the oven right before cooking the beef.

If you're making the potatoes, start a pan of duckfat and get them in the pan 3 minutes before your beef. Flip them when you flip the filets. Kill the heat on them once your sauce is almost done and plate them.

To get the beef going, lightly salt all sides of it. Then crush the peppercorns coarsely and put them on a plate. Press each flat side of each filet into the peppercorns. It may seem like a lot of pepper, but it's just right. A lot of the intensity of the peppercorns will be broken down by heat. Now they're ready for some pan action. Heat a medium heavy pan with the butter and olive oil in it. Just as the oil begins to smoke, lay your filets into it, peppercorns on the metal. After 3-4 minutes, when the filets are brown to just under halfway up the meat, flip them. After 3 more minutes, check your core meat temperatures. Ideally you're looking for 125-130 degrees Fahrenheit. If you like your steak well done, I'm really surprised that you are still reading, as that indicates you don't really care how your food tastes. Cooking a tenderloin (or any steak) well done is heresy and I will not stand for it. Please do not do that. If you intend to do that, stop reading. My advice hasn't reached you and your reading further is pointless.

So once you have your steaks at 125-130 degrees, take them off and onto a separate plate. You want to let them rest for at LEAST 4 minutes. If you cut into the steaks immediately, all of the juices will run onto the plate and you will be left with dry, tough, unpalatable meat. You have a sauce to build, anyways.

Keep your pan hot after taking off the steaks. It's time to make some fire by deglazing your pan. Turn off your stove burner (optional really, but it gives you better control over the ignition of the alcohol) and pour enough cognac* into your pan to have the bottom completely covered by about two millimeters. It should steam a lot and be boiling. Use whatever fire-lighting device you have handy. My most reliable method is my awesome blowtorch since it has one button ignition. Have another pan (or a lid) nearby in case you need to cover the flame to put it out. It's also a good idea to have a fire extinguisher around in case you let things get out of hand. Now just be a happy person and stare at your pan of fire.

*Sidenote on alcohol: Cognac and brandy are the same. They are both made by doubly distilling white wines. The only difference is that cognac goes through an appellation d'origine contrôlée, or a controlled designation of origin. Through this process, cognacs can be branded with the name of a cru, which is a certain area where the grapes are grown.
For a cognac be branded with the name of a cru, a brandy must meet the following criteria:
The wine to be distilled from must be made of 90% of either Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, or Colombard grapes and may contain up to 10% of Folignan, Jurançon blanc, Meslier St-François, Sélect, Montils or Sémillon.
A non-cru cognac has freer standards of grapes, and may have up to 90% of Colombard, Folle Blanche, Jurançon blanc, Meslier Saint-François, Montils, Sémillon, or Ugni Blanc, and up to 10% Folignan or Sélect.
So if you're at the liquor store wondering which booze you should buy to cook with in this recipe, just get some cheap brandy or cognac. You won't taste every note of a $50 bottle of liquor after you light it on fire.

Once the fire dies, pour in the heavy cream and reduce by half, stirring often. Your meat should be rested enough to eat by now. Plate it. Whatever juices came off of the beef while it was resting, pour into your sauce. More beef flavor can only benefit your beef sauce. Now your sauce is done, and so is your asparagus. Plate the asparagus, mix the herb salad with a couple teaspoons of vinaigrette and plate that, and pour some of the sauce over the plated filets.

I said that patience would be rewarded. Now is the time. Cut into a filet and realize that everything you just went through was worth it a thousand times over. Huge beef flavor, extreme tenderness, a wonderful crisp of peppercorns and a rich, creamy sauce to bring everything together. This is steak au poivre.

Extra special thanks to my friend Chris from the climbing gym for making this meal possible!

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Sorry for the poorer quality photos. My nicer camera is being repaired right now.