Advanced Beef Tenderloin techniques?

JustineCaseyFeldown

I can't get them either. But we often have lobster because at $6 a pound it is cheaper than steak

differences are what make it great. 

Focker

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

I can't get them either. But we often have lobster because at $6 a pound it is cheaper than steak

differences are what make it great. 

Ah...another flavorless, overrated protein. 
http://scorchedearthnews.com/2016/07/05/chefs-weigh-in-lobster-is-by-far-the-most-overrated-food-in-america-expensive-gross-and-deadly/

Some good stuff here.
http://www.theoverratedtimes.com/uncategorized/lobster/
If I need to drown something in butter, it would be a chunk of sourdough.  Now that'll blow your hair back.
This "surf and turf" trend, predates your 3mp HP even, 1960s. 

Botch

Many years ago I did a "Tenderloin in a Salt Crust" for my then-GF and a few family/friends.  
The "dough" is made from several cups of salt and several eggs (don't remember the quantities) which I started mixing in my mid-grade KitchenAide mixer, which very soon overheated and shut down!  I began kneading the mixture by hand, which I imagine was like mixing cement with your hands.  I was showered and nicely dressed (for an engineer) but was soaked with sweat by the time I finished the operation.  Rolled it out (more physical labor) and layed the beef on it, and finally got it cocooned in the egg/salt sheet, temp probe inserted, and into the oven (this was pre-Egg for me, which wouldn't have made a difference anyway).
I gotta admit, the presentation at the table was killer.  It was a splotchy white/brown "ingot", which I smacked a few times with something heavy and lifted plates of salt off the top.  The most intoxicating smell came out (the salt/egg formed an armor in the oven, no juice or vapors released) and the beef looked good, floating in a pool of fat and juice.  
It was the tenderest beef I've ever had, juicy to a fault, and perfectly seasoned (something I was worried about).  It was great, lotsa compliments, but it missed that browned crust with its flavor, and was just a bit bland.
I'm glad I tried it once, but won't do it again.  I've seen some "salt-crust" recipes on the cooking channels for fish that looked like a lot less work, so I'm sure I'll dabble again, someday; just not with a beef tenderloin.
 
Should I ever do another BT for a crowd, I think I'd concentrate on providing 3 or 4 different sauces to sample with: a chimichurri, a light horseradish, some kind of roasted tomato, and ????
 
Let us know what you end up doing!   

smokeyw

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

GATraveller said:

Thanks @GrillSgt - I saved that pic for later use. Anything to help spice up one of the most boring/overrated pieces of meat on the cow (which I love). 

grass fed has a more interesting flavor profile, if you can get it.

most beef fat is from simple corn sugars.  the grass fed stuff has different flavors, flavors which used to be there in grandma's (or iguess grandpa's) day.

just as grass fed butter and eggs are often considered better in flavor, you'll (maybe) find the same for beef. you can get fat from grass.  it's just more complex, and usually grass fed beef have much less of it.

but it is not all about the fat. 

if you could get hold of grass fed beef that was slowly fattened (as opposed to merely finished on corn, as some is), it's said to be as marbled as you'd ever want.  smaller finer grain marbling, not big seams of fat, but more than typical with grass fed. no idea where i'd find that. maybe argentina or some frikkin place like that.

at the end of it, the differences (for grass fed beef) are subtle, but in something like tenderloin, it can be more apparent.

I may be in a minority here but I personally don't care for the flavor of grass fed beef. I prefer grain fed.

JustineCaseyFeldown

smokeyw said:

I may be in a minority here but I personally don't care for the flavor of grass fed beef. I prefer grain fed.

you're likely in the majority actually.

grain fed is what most of us have probably been raised on.

pgprescott

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

smokeyw said:

I may be in a minority here but I personally don't care for the flavor of grass fed beef. I prefer grain fed.

you're likely in the majority actually.

grain fed is what most of us have probably been raised on.

As you stated, I can remember the flavor, but I just don't care for it after years of grain fed beef conditioning. It's definitely mental in my case. 

GATraveller

My family did not care for the grass fed beef last time I cooked it.

JustineCaseyFeldown

"gamey" is what they usually say.

like lamb, which is grass fed. many people don't care for it.

people often don't like 'different', and it tastes 'different' than grain fed beef.  to each his own.  not proselytizing.  just offering an option for those who find the typical tenderloin lacking flavor, because it lacks fat. 

no need for a running tally for or against  

Focker

Brian Malarkey's comnents in the link above, on overrated grass fed beef was good.

So that's 4 grain, 1 grass. 

JustineCaseyFeldown

that list is for people who need to other people to tell them what to think.

Focker

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

that list is for people who need to other people to tell them what to think.

I like grass fed deer.

With all due respect, their opinion holds much more value, than a dude suffering from culinary atrophy, throwing up decades old food pics on a bbq forum. 

Eggcelsior

JustineCaseyFeldown said:

smokeyw said:

I may be in a minority here but I personally don't care for the flavor of grass fed beef. I prefer grain fed.

you're likely in the majority actually.

grain fed is what most of us have probably been raised on.

For me, grain fed has very little flavor, which is why it needs heavy seasoning or dry aging to produce appreciable flavor. My parents used to order a 1/4 side of beef from a local farmer ever six months which was fully pastured so I grew up on grass fed. Much better beef flavor with the grass-finished, but I get why people think it's overbearing if they are used to grain-finished. I'm guessing it's why people think bison tastes like really "beefy" beef.

SoCalWJS

Chateaubriand with Cliff Sauce is what I still aim for. I've tried a couple of different recipes with varying success. Trying to recreate one of my favorite meals "Chateaubriand for 2" at Metropolitan Grill in Seattle. I always forget the recipe for the simple sauce they make on it table side, but I love it. 

onedbguru

Here ya go:
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/01/ultimate-beef-stroganof-recipe.html

Instead of cooking the beef on the stove top, do a quick, hot cook to rare to med-rare and then finish everything else on the stove.  Had this last night - OUTSTANDING!!!

JohnInCarolina

Carolina Q said:

apl never wrote a recipe that wasn't complicated enough.

The funny part is that his beef tenderloin recipe is probably one of the simpler ones he has in Serious BBQ.  It's really pretty easy.