Thanks Mad Max--one botched and one huge success (long)

Trouble · March 2005

Well, I'm sorry to say that I botched the carbonnade de boeuf. It was my bad. All ready to go into my new Lodge Dutch oven and I opened it to find that it's not a preseasoned Lodge. Much of their stuff is preseasoned, and I just assumed. Bad one. So I tried to cheat on time on the seasoning process and it was obvious that wouldn't work, so I selected another pot for cooking and started the egg phase about 45 minutes later than I intended. Then I was hurrying. Mistake number 2. I cut it a bit short and should have waited another 15 minutes before adding the parmesan. The next morning, noticed that my thermometer was off so I may have cooked at too low for too short a time. Gee, how many mistakes can one make on a single dish? All that said, it was pretty good. It just could have been excellent. My mom absolutely loved the potatoes, so that was a bonus that I didn't really deserve.[p]Now the stuffed beef tenderloin was a huge success, beginning with the aroma in the house as the mushrooms, pancetta, shallots, green onions and other stuff sauteed in a bit of white wine. I had no problem "unrolling" the tenderloin to smear the delicious stuffing on it. I think I would take it off the fire a little sooner next time. It ended up at medium rather than medium-rare in the middle. My father goes for medium well so the ends were perfect for him, and that's what I was shooting for. I might try more strategic placement over the fire or chilling part of it with ice (like turkey breast) to achieve a better difference in temp if I ever need it again. Around here, we all like medium rare so it shouldn't really be an issue. The flavor of that stuffing in the tenderloin is absolutely fantastic and the dish is really elegant to serve. I served it sliced over a bed of rice that I made using the liquid from the previous night's carbonnade. Yum.[p]So, the folks loved my cooking over the weekend and we raised our glasses to you on more than one occasion. Many thanks.[p]Trouble

mad max beyond eggdome · March 2005

Trouble,
i'm really glad it all worked fairly well for you. .. regarding the lodge pot... i know its after the fact, but with all the liquid, you probably could have gotten away with doing the carbonade in an unseasoned pot. .i typically use my le creuset (enameled cast iron) or a regular aluminum pot for this dish. ..oh well.. .one thing you didn't mention was how the meat turned out? . .was it too tough cause it didn't cook long enough in the liquid? or were the potatoes still too hard? . .. guess you'll just have to try that one again. ..heee[p]on the tenderloin, again, glad you were able to butterfly it successfully. . .there is nothing in the world like the smell of that pancetta mushroom mixture on the stove. ..and i'm finding that that mixture is good for other things as well, like stromboli stuffing or pizza topping. .. .the temp thing is tricky, as you need to make sure your thermometer probe is in the meat and not the stuffing. ...i think you almost need to simply judge it by time, rather than trying to insure the internal temp is accurate. . .. sure sounds like you did a great job though. . ..i bought a whole tenderloin the other day. ..may have to do this one again, rather than just cut it up into steaks

Trouble · March 2005

mad max beyond eggdome,
Ya know, those tenderloins are so big sometimes that you can do it all...[p]I cut mine up reserving the skinniest portion for something upon which I haven't decided yet. Next came about 8 steaks packaged and frozen in pairs (except the two we ate that night)--little ones for me and bigger ones for my husband. The widest end of the tenderloin still had about 10" that's what I stuffed last weekend. Served five adults nicely.[p]The Lodge is all seasoned, now. Too late :0. I should have sent a quick note to you while I was underway but I was scrambling too hard.[p]The meat and potatoes were just a bit underdone. As my mother said, it's one of those dishes that's going to be perfect the next day. But I froze it. So it will be perfect next week or so.

mad max beyond eggdome · March 2005

Trouble,
gotcha on the meat and taters. .. and the lodge pot. ..[p]on the tenderloins, sounds like you butcher them the same way i do. .. .fat end for a chateubriand (although next time, i'm butterflying and stuffing it as discussed), middle portion for steaks (but rather than 8, i do 4 really thick ones), and i save the 'tails' and freeze em. .when i have 2 or 3 of them saved up, i use them for chili. ...coat them good in chili powder and dizzy cowlick, grill them direct till done, then cut them up small and add them to the chili. . ..yummy. . .and now you have a well seasoned lodge pot to cook your chili in :-) [p]

Thanks Mad Max--one botched and one huge success (long)

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