A Friday Dinner Where I Violate My #1 Rule
Well, my number #1 rule in the kitchen, that is.
The ShopRong had a crazy sale the other day: whole trimmed tenderloins for $4.99 a pound in the cryovac. How could I resist? Hell, if I had the freezer space I would have bought 20 of them, but since the Chief has dropped a few subtle hints about the amount of flesh I’m carrying (in the freezer) I figured I’d best demure.
Anyhoo, so I picked up this oh 4 1/2 lb tenderloin and I decided to make a Shat Ho Bryant as the fancy folks say (the Rule Violation occurs because I also was making a Rosti and sauteing some fresh veggies) so I de-cryovaced the tenderloin and cut off about a 2 1/2 lb thunk from the big end (I vacpacked and froze the rest) and schmeared it with a teaspoon or so of dijon
then I covered it with a mixture of salt, pepper, dried cilantro (1 tbl), chipotle powder (1/4 tsp) and thyme (1/2 tsp)
then seared it in an oven-safe pan in oh say 2 tbl of olive oil for a couple of minutes on each side until it got a nice little crust
then into the oven at 400 went the pan for 35-40 minutes (pull it when it hits 125 or so internally for medium-rare)
Now here’s where I got schtupid. When I was in Zurich last month I had Rosti, which seemed to be basically hashbrowns that you make while wearing lederhosen. So I decided to try my hand at them.
The rosti, not the lederhosen, that is.
Earlier in the day I boiled some white spuds (you want to use a gooey starchy spud, not a flaky baker type) and let them cool for a few hours. Then with my Brides able assistance I peeled them and grated them in the Cuisinart
in a skillet I put a couple of three tablespoons of butter and a couple tablespoons of crumbled bacon and let the flavors co-habitate over medium heat
then I added the spuds to the pan and pressed them down to make a cake, adding a touch more salt and pepper
I let it sizzle for about 10 minutes then got to the ‘flip it’ stage. As the rosti is somewhat crumbly there’s no graceful way to do it. The accepted method seems to be to put a dinner plate in the pan atop it upside down
and, er, turn the pan over
looks tasty. Then you put a little more butter in the pan and let it melt to cook the other side and then slide the rosti back in the pan for another 10 or 15 minutes.
In the meanwhile the Shat Ho was ready to come out of the oven. Look at this stove top. Crowded and crazy. The covered saute pan in the backround has the veggies in it: thin strips of yellow squash, zucchini and carrots that I was simmering in butter with a little chicken stock and thyme but I didn’t have a chance to take any pics of that. The pan I the back-left has some more chicken stock I was heating up for the gravy. I barely had time to drink while making this…
Anyhow, once the Ho comes out of the oven remove it to a platter and cover with foil for the 10 minutes or so before eating
pour off the excess oil from the pan the meat was in. Oh, a word of warning. A pan that just came out of a 400 degree oven will be very hot, especially its handle. So unless you want to go all Kung Fu on your hand make damn sure you remember the hot pads. Trust me on this.
so into this hot pan put another 2 tbl of butter and 1/4 cup of minced shallots and sizzle away
then add 1/2 cup of cognac and bring it to a boil to release all those tasty vittles that are stuck to the pan. Let that boil down a little then add a cup of stock, a tsp of thyme and a tbl of dried parsley and boil away, stirring and reducing in volume by at least 1/2
then slice the cow, drizzle with the sauce and plate with the rosti and veggies
turned out quite tasty, I must say. I liked the little zing that the chipotle added, and the rosti had a nice buttery crispiness. I’ll flavor it with more bacon next time.
Swill Food and Grog | Mr. Bingley | 
June 28, 2011 8:35 am
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OOOoooh, tres elegant!!!
Mmmmmmmmm……
then slice the cow, drizzle with the sauce and plate with the rosti and veggies
Best line ever!
I love rosti myself and that plateful looks like the best thing ever.
“I’ll flavor it with more bacon next time.”
Well, yeah. Couple tablespoons. Shame on you. 😉
Ooooh… I’ll have to try the rosti… tomorrow for breakfast.
So where is he? No pictures? Yeah, you were busy, but how much time does it take to click a picture of the resident kitchen monitor?
He managed to steal some trimmings from the tenderloin, like always.
Damn. I’m coming to your house. Will there be Circus Peanut Pie for dessert?
Fleisch und Rosti! Mmm Mmm Mmmm!