The challenge: Paying $50 for a specific cut of meat when my grocery budget isn't much more than that. 2) Paying $10-$20 for a 10oz cut of meat if I skip the grass fed at the butchers and try to get it cheaper. There was some luck here, but I had to lower my meat standards a little. The beef wasn't fresh, and there's no guarantee it was grass-fed. But it was donated by a generous James, who looked forward to this dish almost as much as he looks forward to his video games.
Challenge Again: The ingredients list is nearly a column and a half(did you get through the title?), and the directions are a full page and a half...clear off your weekend calendar, here we come.
The recipe: Begin by wrapping the beef tenderloin in plastic wrap and then again in a baggie with all of the air squeezed out. Freeze until it is mostly frozen. Why did I defrost this meat again?
While the beef is freezing, make the lemon-infused olive oil. Bring a sauce pan of olive oil and the lemon zest on low heat and simmer for five minutes. Cover the oil and let stand for 30 minutes, then strain through a fine mesh sieve, and reserve the oil. Discard the zest. This was probably the easiest part of this recipe.
To make the vinaigrette, place the Sauvignon Blanc, vinegar, shallot, garlic, honey, mustard, 1/4 tsp of the salt and 1/8 tsp of white pepper(or whatever colors you blend) and blend well in the blender. With the blender running, add the remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil in a slow steady stream until the vinaigrette is emulsified, or thick and cloudy-looking, but it won't get as thick as mayonnaise-must be the onions and shallots. Transfer to a small mixing bowl, and stir in the parsley and chives. Set it aside. This wasn't so bad.
Next, remove the tenderloin from the freezer and dry-rub it with salt and cracked black pepper. The season should coat all sides. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium sized saute pan(or the pan you do have in your kitchen) over high heat. When it is hot, add the tenderloin and sear quickly. It should be nicely browned and caramelized on all sides, but not cooking through the meat...only about 1 minute on each side. Remove the tenderloin from the pan and place it in the fridge to cool, 15 to 20 minutes. ...Pick up a book and read a chapter or something.
After 20 minutes, take out the cooled tenderloin and slice it against the grain 1/8 inch thick. Place several slices on a sheet of plastic wrap, with an inch of space between each slice, lay another sheet on top of the beef. Pound with a mallet until the slices are paper thin but not torn. Repeat until all slices are flattened. Arrange the slices, slightly overlapping in a circle on each of four serving dishes....Reality check...I sliced off a few pieces, attempted to beat one or two, and decided to heck with it...thin sliced peppered beef would work well enough for this dish. And since it was just me, and later James...I only needed two of these at a time. I did season the meat again with kosher salt and cracked black pepper(or whatever colors I blend).
And we musn't forget the shaved celery-mix it with the celery leaves, salt and pepper in small mixing bowl. I did try it once, correctly.... Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of the vinaigrette, and toss to coat well. Mound the celery in the center of the carpaccio, dividing it evenly among the four plates.--Sarcasm intended, really, I thought you gave the biggest dish to the biggest fan...oh, never mind, I just scooped out a fair amount of celery, added the beef and drizzled with the vinagrette. It tasted pretty good. Then I remembered the lemon-infused olive oil. It tasted even a little better with that. But in the end, it was a pretty darn good tenderloin all by itself. Oh, and the parmesan shavings are good with the recipe too. I may make this tenderloin again one day, but probably without all the fixings. This feels more like an "I can shave celery better than you can" recipe, and I just wanted the beef tenderloin.
Enjoy.
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